SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Professor Florin Ioras, Director of Research and Enterprise, is leading the Bucks New University team alongside Research Fellow Ioan Dutca and Research Associate Dr Indrachapa Bandara. The project started in October 2017 and will continue for four years, completing in August 2021.Further information is available on the SOCLIMPACT project website.

Student projects: –Art & Design project: Without Bees, a design project which is graphically exploring the implications of a world without bees.

Textile Design student, has researched and depicted extinct species of animals in her print collection and is also using recyclable materials such as Pinnatex, a new sustainable fabric made from Pineapple leaf fibres and also Nettlefibre based fabrics.

Another Textile Design student has developed vegan ‘leather’ to make lampshades for her final project and says she believes it is an example of the kind of materials which the textile industry could use instead of its staple sources of cotton and polyester.

SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Bucks Students’ Union Ensuring that students feel that they are a part of a peaceful and inclusive institution, is very important to Bucks Students’ Union as they recognise that this could have a very significant impact on the overall student experience. It is their mission to ensure that an inclusive environment is actively promoted and maintained throughout a student’s academic journey. Various campaigns brought forward by the 2019-2020 sabbatical officer team and driven by the SU’s sports clubs and societies mirror this mission.

The beginning of any academic year can be quite daunting for university students, especially for first years who are found in very different social environments from those they are used to. ‘UniGotThis’ was a week-long campaign following on from Freshers’ Fortnight where students of various clubs, societies and courses shared their advice on how they dealt with the social and academic pressures which one could face during their university experience. By normalising these pressures, the students came together to create a more inclusive environment and promoted a sense of community.

On a similar note the mental-health campaign ‘Break the Stigma’ was re-launched following its success from the previous academic year. Students and staff were invited to break sticks in representation of their pledge to break the stigma around mentalhealth and to be more open in talking about issues surrounding the topic. The campaign this year saw strong collaboration with the University’s Head of Students and Wellbeing, Emma Binnie; the SU Advice Centre, and University support services which resulted in a total of 500 pledges to break the stigma.

Bucks Students’ Union also launched a ‘BanterOrBullying’ campaign with an aim to invite the University to challenge the culture around banter and bullying and to educate students as well as staff that there is a line and that it can be crossed. Without dismissing the importance of banter within English culture and especially within team-bonding situations, the Vice President Student Involvement wanted to highlight the negative impact that “banterous” behaviour could potentially have for different student groups. Artwork was created to tackle discriminatory behaviours such as bullying, homophobia and racism which reached more than 3,000 Instagram users alone. In an attempt to strengthen the foundations in creating some lasting change within the community, the Union invited the ‘Good Lad Initiative’ to deliver a workshop educating on positive and inclusive behaviour within sports clubs.