October 14, 2024, by sustainablenottingham
An enriching and enlightening sustainability secondment – a personal reflection
Beginning in November 2023, Alex Cummins started a 9-month secondment in UoN’s Sustainability Team with a project to “Build a sustainable workforce.” The role was to create a package of training resources on environmental sustainability for all university staff to engraining sustainability into our university community.
Building a sustainable culture
The main assignment was to create a short, introductory, online training module. Working alongside the Learning and Development Team, we decided it would be more impactful to create values-based training rather than something simply filled with facts. When it comes to the climate crisis and sustainability, it’s important and much more effective to connect with people’s values and experiences. Through many, many redrafts, edits and updates, we created a short, interactive training unlike any other on offer at the university. The resulting 30-minute Introduction to Environmental Sustainability training module takes ‘players’ through a day-in-the-life of a university staff member, facing decisions they may make in the real world, all with environmental consequences.
Carbon Literacy Training (CLT) is an established 8-hour training course about the impact of increasing carbon and other greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere, and the available solutions. To begin making our staff carbon literate, we recruited colleagues from Nottingham Trent University to run a great CLT session with staff from across UoN. We now have around 20 Carbon Literate staff members, some of whom intend to become facilitators themselves. It’s early days but it was encouraging to see how engaged and energised everyone was during and following the training.
Within the Estates and Facilities department, new staff undergo in-person sustainability training as part of their induction. I reworked this to include more details about the climate crisis, its causes and consequences alongside the information about sustainability at the university. The training is delivered monthly to small groups of up to 25 people. I always found these sessions rewarding using my knowledge to communicate emotive and sometimes complex concepts to a range of audiences. There would occasionally be challenging questions, but I enjoyed engaging in conversation to discuss the topics further. I genuinely believe that with greater knowledge of how our actions are negatively impacting our planet and way of life, people will make more conscious choices.
The breadth of sustainable opportunities
Attending fairs and events
I found myself at many different events, talking to staff and students from all over about the climate crisis and how we can help our environment. I filmed and edited videos and created marketing materials. I became a Carbon Literacy facilitator and a Climate Fresk facilitator.
I helped monitor hedgehogs and got messy helping clear the Memorial Woodland. I discussed climate anxiety and found out about Edible Campus. I was able to get to know our campus so much better.
What’s interesting though, is that I didn’t need to be within the Sustainability Team to do any of these things. Anyone at the university can get involved.
Summary
Very proud of our second place for the Sustainability Team at the staff sports day. Best dressed winners without question.
One of my greatest takeaways from my time on the Sustainability Team was how a surprisingly small group of people are working tirelessly, against the tide, to make things better. The range of responsibilities the team faces, including carbon management, waste, data reporting, biodiversity, engagement, transport and building management systems, are each massive areas. They’re complex and complicated, everyone in the team needs to care otherwise they would not work so hard. What needs to happen is that everyone across our entire university community needs to care too. Pay attention to what you do, buy, teach or how you travel at work. Take responsibility for your impact and actions. Work with sustainability in mind because ultimately you will need to eventually, and the sooner you adapt to easier it will be for all. Especially the champions within the Sustainability Team.
I am inspired to continue learning and growing in my sustainability journey following my time with the team. I am sure that this is the future of my career, I just hope I find a team as fun and dedicated as this one again.
Alex Cummins
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