Talk of the Town

Sustainability Happenings: Semester One

Respecting the traditional owners and their deep history with the lands and waters, the palawa peoples in lutruwita/Tasmania and the peoples from the Eora Nation in djubuguli and cadi regions/ Sydney, we strive to act in the best interests of the current generation and the generations to come. We aim to provide holistic opportunities for staff and students to collaborate and practice sustainability in our everyday lives, and to celebrate the initiatives you take. As part of this ongoing commitment, the Sustainability Team at the University recently launched the Green Impact Program for Students!

Making a Green Impact for Students Green Impact is an education program run around the world, which encourages social and environmental change by supporting staff and students at universities to engage in sustainable and socially responsible actions. The program was first developed in the United Kingdom by the National Union of Students (NUS) and is regionally delivered in Australasia by Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS), UTAS is a member of ACTS in Australia. For the first time in 2021, we are extending the program for students! The Green Impact program is a fun and structured way for students to engage in simple sustainability actions, which are based on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. You can register for the program as an individual (and we will put you in a team) or get together with a group of friends to form your own team. After registering, you will receive a weekly Green Impact Student Newsletter featuring a new sustainability action each week, along with advice for completing the actions. This usually involves taking a photo or writing a short description of the action you have taken. You can either do one action a week, or submit all at once at the end of the Semester. We have created 22 sustainable actions or behaviours for you, whilst allowing you to create 8 actions of your own! Every section completed earns points and the team that collects the most points will be eligible for a Green Impact award. The program ends in August, but if you are graduating mid year you are still welcome to participate. Take part in a friendly competition and learn more about sustainability and how you can participate in the movement towards a more sustainable lifestyle and mindset. Become responsible custodians of the environment, for ourselves and for future generations. If you have any queries about the program, please contact green.impact@utas.edu.au.

Register yourself or your team for Green Impact: utas.edu.au/infrastructure-servicesdevelopment/sustainability/green-impactprogram

—Kawinwit Kittipalawattanapol, Sustainability Projects Officer

A New TUSA Postgraduate Initiative: Shut Up & Write!

In the first semester of 2021 TUSA will be offering new weekly group writing sessions for postgraduate students: Shut Up & Write! The idea behind Shut Up and Write! is as simple as its title: bring a piece of writing or general work to the session and work on it in short, silent bursts. Following the Pomodoro timing technique, these 2-hour sessions will consist of twentyfive minutes of writing time followed by a fiveminute break. The 5-minute breaks ensure you stay focused for the entire 2-hour session as well as help make a solitary activity a bit more social! Additionally, they give you an opportunity to chat with other postgraduate students, grab a coffee, scroll Instagram or enjoy a free snack. There’s no pressure to share your work. Whether using the time to write, edit, read, or mark assessments, we only ask that it’s study or work related, and you’re able to do it silently and with minimal disturbance to others. For example, this isn’t the space for silent gaming! But if you have headphones and need to power through a thirty-minute lecture recording you’re welcome to join a session. Shut Up & Write! groups operate in universities and public spaces all over the world. After being a part of an informal Shut Up & Write! Group via Zoom during 2020’s lockdown, I found the sessions to be incredibly beneficial. My group stayed on task for the duration of the two-hour sessions, but the most rewarding aspect was the friendships that were formed. We all bought Paint-By-Numbers kits (so wholesome) and shared our painting progress with the rest of the group at the end of each session. The experience was comforting, demanded minimal social energy, and provided valuable structure to an otherwise vague and stressful time. When the Victorian COVID-19 restrictions lifted at the end of 2020 the group disbanded, I found myself missing the consistency of scheduled group writing time. I contacted Rohan Puri, the SRC Postgraduate Education President, to see if TUSA would support my starting up UTAS-based Shut Up & Write! sessions. Rohan was enthusiastic about the idea, and now we’re excited to offer the same experience at UTAS. Shut Up & Write! is starting in Semester 1, 2021, so sessions will be offered oncampus at Sandy Bay, and for all other campuses and distance students, you can join us via Zoom. As more people participate and interest grows, we hope new convenors step up to run their own Shut Up & Write! groups at their own campuses.

When: Every Tuesday morning in Semester 1, 10am – 12pm

Where: Sir Stanley Burbury Boardroom, back of the Union Building. Enter via TUSA Reception on Level 4

Sign up for our mailing list: https://tusa.org.au/ shut-up-and-write/

— Ariane Moore

Ride2Uni hits the streets

Cycling from home to Uni is a great way to improve our wellbeing and increase the uptake of low-carbon modes of transportation. The Uni is partnering with Bicycle Network Tasmania to provide bike education sessions to encourage more people to ride to Uni. This is one of the University’s sustainable transport initiatives, contributing to our Sustainable Transport Strategy 2017-2021. The Ride2Uni program aims to help riders feel safe around major roads, understand how to plan the best route to ride to and from UTAS, and build confidence on a bike. In October 2020, Ride2Uni was piloted with great success, delivering bike safety workshops for staff and students at Hobart and Launceston campuses. Those participating provided feedback to say the program significantly helped improve their confidence on a bike. This year there have been four riding education sessions so far in Hobart and Launceston. During the two-hour training session,

riders learn skills including advanced bike control and awareness, defined comfortable road conditions, and on-road training. On-road practical training allows participants to learn new bike skills in a safe and controlled space with experienced riders from Bicycle Network Tasmania. On-road skills include hand-signalling, going around round-abouts, riding on narrow streets, crossing major roads, holding the lane, giving way to pedestrians, and how to deal with blind spots behind large vehicles. Ride2Uni is a practical education program designed to build confidence and improve wellbeing through exercise. If you are interested in Ride2Uni, Bike Basics or any other transport initiatives, please contact the Sustainability Team at transport.utas@utas.edu.au. You can contribute to the University’s biannual Travel Behaviour Survey, opening between 19 April to 2 May 2021. Connect with Bicycle Network Tasmania as a member or volunteer to access more opportunities regarding biking adventures with a local community of cyclers!

Sustainability at UTAS

As we emerged from COVID lockdown in Tasmania late last year you may be forgiven for missing two big announcements at the University. On 19 October, our Vice Chancellor Professor Rufus Black announced that the University is divesting from fossil fuel-exposed investment funds by the end of 2021. The commitment is to apply a negative investment screen to fossil fuels and a positive screen to companies and funds which contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). From October 2020, there would be no further new investment in companies or funds with exposure to fossil fuels. “Globally, our researchers have for 30 years been at the leading edge of contributing to an ever-greater understanding of the imminent threat we face from climate change and what we need to do about it… We have arrived at this juncture through the collective wisdom and effort of a great many people. Our staff and students expect us to be sustainability leaders and we are intent on honouring that expectation. I also acknowledge today the ongoing efforts of our Sustainability Committee, our academic communities of interest and groups such as Fossil Free UTAS in guiding how we think about the threat we face and urgent need to create a more sustainable world.” — Professor Rufus Black. Due to COVID restrictions only a small number of students were invited to attend the announcement to represent the many more who have campaigned and supported divestment here at UTAS. In 2020, we also became the first Australasian university to measure our sustainability performance through STARS (the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System). STARS is a rating system that provides publicly available reporting from over 1,100 universities internationally. Each criteria is mapped to the UN SDGs, and captures many of the ways that universities can contribute to the UN SDGs. In 2020, we received a Silver rating for our submission and we are working to achieve a Gold rating for 2021. Criteria that are measured and reported on, include operational sustainability as well as how you learn about sustainability through your degrees and the student experience both on campus and online. The work that we do at UTAS is implemented through a new strategic and operational sustainability integration approach and guided by four goals outlined in our Strategic Framework for Sustainability:

• A leader in sustainability governance and implementation. • A leader in sustainability education and research. • Partnerships and engagement activities deliver sustainability outcomes. • A University committed to sustainability in its facilities and operations management.

If you would like to know more about sustainability at UTAS go online to utas.edu.au/sustainability

— Corey Peterson, Associate Director, Sustainability

UTAS Research To Support Tasmanian LGBTIQ+ Community

Earlier this month the Australian LGBTQI+ community celebrated Mardi Gras, with a theme of “We Rise.” Conjuring up images of triumph over adversity, overcoming fear, love, and continuing to advocate for equality. Such sentiments are welcome after what was a difficult 2020 for all. But despite the message that “we are all in this together,” my research has shown that this was not quite the case. Tasmania’s lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) communities were particularly impacted by COVID-19, with many of the issues we face being exacerbated by the stresses of the pandemic. So, in what is a welcome development, this year the Tasmanian Government has partnered with UTAS researchers – myself and Associate Professor Angela Dwyer – to carry out the first ever major government-funded survey of LGBTIQ+ people’s experiences in Tasmania. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Not another survey!” But hear me out! If you are a queer Tasmanian, this one is incredibly important for our community. The Tasmanian Government will use the results from this survey to inform policy and service provision in our state. Lead researcher, Associate Professor Dwyer said “the aim of this survey is to gather information about what it’s like to be LGBTIQ+ in Tasmania, which will help those in government make decisions when it comes to this diverse community.” The survey covers a wide range of LGBTIQ+ experiences, including in Tasmanian workplaces, schools, healthcare services, and interactions with police and emergency management. “Having more insight into the needs and experiences of LGBTIQ+ Tasmanians will also contribute to developing equitable and inclusive policies and services for everyone,” Associate Professor Dwyer said. Long-time LGBTIQ+ community advocate and former Tasmanian of the Year, Rodney Croome, said he was very pleased the Tasmanian Government has taken this initiative, “it gives the LGBTIQ+ community an unprecedented opportunity to shape Government policies and programs”. “Despite the progress Tasmania has made, LGBTIQ+ Tasmanians still suffer higher levels of discrimination, abuse and stigma, and the poorer educational and mental health outcomes that arise from discrimination,” said Mr Croome. “I urge all LGBTIQ+ Tasmanians to take the survey and send a strong message to the Government that much more needs to be done before there is full equality, inclusion and acceptance for LGBTIQ+ people.” Want to be involved? We are now seeking survey participants. If you live in Tasmania, are aged 16 or over and describe yourself as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or someone with an intersex variation, queer, questioning, non-binary, asexual or otherwise sexuality or gender diverse, you are invited to complete the survey online at: https://bit.ly/39N3aSY and go in the draw to win an iPad! “This is an important opportunity for LGBTIQ+ people from all walks of life to share their stories with us and to have their voices heard” Associate Professor Dwyer said. In the spirit of this year’s Mardi Gras theme, this is an opportunity for LGBTIQ+ Tasmanians to rise up, to share our stories, and to change the future of Tasmania for the better.

—Ruby Grant