The Liverpool Guild of Students (LGoS) has been awarded around £300,000 after a successful bid to the National Union of Students (NUS) Student Green Fund.
The grant will help LGoS to set up the Green Guild project – a programme of student-led sustainability projects based around three main themes: sustainability education, engagement and outreach.
Environmental education
The project was selected from 120 applications after being judged by assessors from the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and other key sector agencies. The Guild is one of 25 student unions across the country to have been awarded NUS funds which are provided for the first two years of the project’s delivery.
Commenting on the funding, Guild President Sam Butler said: “We are delighted that NUS has put its faith in LGoS to deliver a joint ambition that will change the way students approach environmental education and make a difference to our future.
“This money will allow us to take our work to the next level and develop us into a sector leader in delivering substantial positive change for our community and environment.”
The project, which will be delivered in partnership with the University of Liverpool, will set up a range of initiatives led by students, including an expansion of the roof garden with an additional site for allotments and bee keeping, rolling out Student Switch off – an energy-saving, recycling and water-saving initiative in the University’s Halls of Residence – and widening participation through the Green Schools Project.
Student-led sustainability projects
The project will also initiate a review on Education for Sustainable Development to create a study skills module for sustainability and employability, as well as encouraging student-staff collaboration by working to develop student-led sustainability projects mentored by University staff.
Overall the £5 million Student Green Fund will engage some 50,000 student nationally, and aims to embed sustainability into the core purpose of higher education across England.
For further information on the Student Green Fund please visit http://www.studentsgreenfund.org.uk/, or for more information on the LGoS green initiatives please go to http://lgos.org/content/784333.
