Sustainability SMART Action Plan

Key Themes (outlined in Sustainability Policy) Action Specific Measurable Appropriate Realistic Time Staff Responsible Status 1. Student-Led Develop close relationships with student leaders to inform SU's and University's sustainability work. Consult Sustainability Newtork regularly on our sustainability work and plans; Sustainability Assistant to attend at least one network meeting per term. Sabbatical Officer to work closely with Network Leader to lobby university on sustainability and students' needs/goals around this; idenity any ideas that can be presented to the University's Sustainability Strategy Group. Feedback from from students on sustainability delivered in Sustainability Strategy Group Meetings. Actions taken by University as a result of feedback. Sabbatical Officers already attend Sustainability Strategy Group on regular basis to provide feedback on behalf of students. Sustainability Network meetings take place regularlyencourage Sabbatical Officer and/or Sustainability Assistant to attend some as an additional responsibility. Ongoing. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to ensure Sustainability Assistant and Sabbatical Officer attend periodically for feedback and facilitate relationships and collaboration. Work with Democracy and Campaigns Lead. Started, ongoing. Identify a Sabbatical Officer with overall responsibility for Student Union's sustainability work. Identify all Sabbatical Officer's priorities relating to sustainability. Review progress across the year and identify any new priorities. Sustainability developments instigated and achieved as a direct result of steering from the Sabbatical Officer Team and their priorities. Student Leadership Team (SLT) meetings already take place. Attending SLT meetings and organising a progress review in January will support Sustainability Assistant in their role and Green Impact Submission. Provides a stuctured way to involve Sabbatical Officers in continuous sustainability work, improvements and campaigning and ensures what we focus on is a priority for them. Plans to attend meetings by September 2024. Ongoing. Sustainability Assistant to attend a Student Leadership Team (SLT) meeting in September and meet with Sabbatical Officer Team in January to review progress and identify any new prirorities. Started, ongoing. Work collaboratively with student groups on sustainability events and campaigns. When planning key events and campaigns, SU staff to encourage involvement from student groups (societies/networks/clubs/volunteering projects) and in some cases, encourage them to run their own activities, which we promote as part of programmes of events/campaigns. No. of student groups collaborating with SU on programmes of events and campaigns. Student groups often have ideas that we can help bring to life through operational support and promotion. Move towards a more student-led model will reduce staff time spent on planning and delivering programmes of activities and events, increasing their overall capacity to support students. Onoing. Volunteering and Community Coordinator responsible for briefing all staff on plans. All staff to take responsbility for how activities/campaigns and events can become more student-led in their own areas. Started, ongoing. Gather data and feedback from student body on their sustainability needs and interests. Design and promote a sustainability survey to gather feedback from student body. Review results and brief relevant SU teams and Sabbatical Officers to action. No. of students who've completed the survey. Sustainability developments insitgated and achieved as a direct result of feedback. Student priorities can change over time. It's important we gather feedback on an annual basis to reflet this and are working on larger pieces of work to improve our sustainability as an organisation, and additional projects to make changes students want to see. Able to promote a limited number of surveys across the year. However, it is possble to engage students in new ways e.g. short survey at Serendipity 1, our freshers fayre. By September 2024. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to work with Sabbatical Officer Team and Sustainability Assistant to plan survey. Assistant and Coordinator to brief wider team with results. Ongoing. 2. Education & Behaviour Change Educate and encourage student groups to make sustainable and ethical purchases. Promote Ethical Purchasing Guide to new student groups, which includes guidance on Amazon and Fairtrade purchases to inform their own decision making. Include question in SU's end of year survey to ascertain whether student groups feel well informed. Focus on education rather than implementing strict policy or rules in relation to purchases as we appreciate groups may have financial and time contraints when planning activities. Focus on education rather than implementing strict policy or rules in relation to purchases as we appreciate groups may have financial and time contraints when planning activities. Promote at Student Leadership Conference in September and in Welcome Back Meetings for groups. All staff working with groups. Started, ongoing. Educate and ecnourage student groups to reduce their own paper use and wastage. Promote "How to" guide on reducing paper use at Serendipity stalls to student groups. Monitor use of paper on stalls. Focus on education rather than implementing strict policy or rules in relation to paper use. In some cases, student groups may decide to use paper after evaluating options. Student groups have access to and can easily implement paper alternatives e.g. use laptops and display QR codes. By September 2024. All staff working with groups. Started, ongoing. Improve understanding of how sustainability can be incorporated in the formal curriculum and secure the support of relevant student leaders to lobby the University. Engage Course Representatives in understanding how sustainability is covered in the formal curriculum and build an evidence base on this. Work with Student Voice Leads to incorporate Education for Sustainable Development into Course Rep and Network Leader Training. Identify how reps can be given ongoing information and support to engage on ESD and feedback information to help the union further this adgenda. Qualitative feedback from students on how it's currently covered in the curriculum. No. of Course Reps/Network Leaders who've atended ESD Training. Actions to lobby the university as a result. Students have identified a need for ESD in curriculum in our Sustainability Skills Survey. Incorporate ESD into existing training. By September 2024. Volunteering and Community Coordinator and Student Voice Team. Not started. 3. Empowerement Build on engagement with Sustainability Challenge for student groups. Review challenge following launch in academic year 23-24. Consult Sustainability Network on how it can be improved and developed to engage more student groups. Has participation increased. Facilitating student-led aspect of sustainability work and educating/raising awarness of sustainability issues with younger people. Can be challenging to engage student groups on this in line with all other responsibilities. Need to find solutions to increase engagement and make challenge less time intensive. By September 2024. Volunteering and Community Coordinator and Sustainability Assistant to work with Sabbatical Officer responsible for sustainability. Started, ongoing. Identify volunteering opportunities that will offer students valuable experiences and skills development to support them in their future careers. Develop close relationships with academic schools and Employability. Gather their feedback on opportunities that would provide valuable course-related experience and potential organisations to develop partnerships with. Work together to promote opportunities to students. No. of new opportunities and/or partnerships developed as a result. Popularity of new opportunities. Employability and academic schools have useful insight. Possible to attend Employability Forums to build relationships with staff in these departments and gather feedback. By September 2024, ongoing. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to work with Membership Development Manager. Started, ongoing. 4. Partnership Working & Cultivating Community Engaging local youth population on sustainability. Launch new project in local schools to educate youth population on Fairtrade and how they can make small changes in their lives to support. No. of schools worked with, no. of children edcuated. Can be integrated into existing Go Fairtrade volunteering project's activities. Links with schools already developed. By May 2025. Volunteering and Community Coondinator in partnership with Go Fairtrade partner. Started. Continue to encourage existing student groups to integrate educating children as part of their activities. No. of student groups engaging with youths. Can be integrated into existing activities. Can be integrated into existing activities. By May 2025. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to encourage and support student groups to do so. Started, ongoing. Engaging with external organisations to enhance activities, impact and opportunities offered to student groups Continue to connect existing student groups with external organistions and charities who could support or build on their activities. No. of student groups working with external partners. Feedback on how this has enhanced their existing work. Collaboration is likely to enhance work of groups. New direction and ideas for student groups through partnership working. May be desirable for groups. By May 2025. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to encourage and support student groups to do so. Started, ongoing. 5. Sustainable Operations Encourage and implement sustainable and ethical procurement practices. Fairtrade clothing purchases-create guidance for staff team and policy where appropriate. Review suppliers used for Students' Union clothing (staff and student group clothing); identify potential for working with Fairtrade suppliers. Existing contracts with suppliers already in place for certain period. Financial and operational implications with using a Fairtrade clothing supplier. By September 2024. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to lead, with support of Sustainability Assistant, Opportunities and Marketing Teams. Ongoing. Discussions with Communications and Marketing Team about their purchasing practices to identify room for improvement, solutions to reduce waste and implement more ethical purchasing practices. Produce set of guidelines for Communications and Marketing Team. Actual changes made to purchasing practices and level of waste e.g. no. of reputable/local suppliers used, no. of recyled or recyclable items purchased, volume of waste from packaging and unused products. Existing Communications and Marketing Team passionate about the environment and making changes to reduce our negative impacts. Marketing and Communications Team often face fiancial and time constraints, which contribute to purchasing practices. By September 2024. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to work with Communications and Marketing Lead and Digital Content and Website Coordinator. Started, ongoing. Reducation in paper use and wastage. Stock recycled paper at SU. Type of paper stocked. A quick and easy change. Financial implications of using recycled paper to consider. By September 2024. Sustainability Assistant to lead with support from Volunteering and Community Coordinator. Not started. Review Sabbatical Officer Campaign and support/allowance SU offers for printing. Reduction in posters printed by SU for elections. Will increase Student Voice Team capacity. Reasonable for students running in elections to become reasponsible for their own priniting. A small task for them to take on, freeing a significant amount of staff time. By March 2025. Student Voice Team. Started. Sustainable travel. Review transport offered to student groups e.g. use of minibus fleet and age restrictions associated with obtaining mininbus qualification, which prevents use of minibuses and results in student groups using indidivual cars at times. Implement solutions to enable more students to drive minibuses e.g. more MPV's. Has there been an increase in use of SU vehicle's by student groups? Student groups unable to make full use of minibuses on offer currently due to age restrictions and therefore, lack of drivers with qualification. Initial financial investment for long term benefits. By May 2025. Operations Team. Started. 6. Research and Learning Training sessions for staff. Work with Leads and Managers to identify additional sustainability training opportunities for staff. Sessions offered, no. attended. Feedback from sessions. SU is committed to continuous learning and improvements and is always looking for new training opportunities to support staff development and our work. Quieter period over summer provides more time for training. June 2024-ongoing. Volunteering and Community Coordinator to instigate discussions with Leads and Managers. Ongoing. Brief wider staff team on sustainable purchasing practices and how these can be interated into their day-to-day roles e.g. forward planning to prevent last minute, unethical purchases, careful monitoring of student groups orders, purchasing accurate quantities, evaluation of suppliers etc. N/A Small changes could make a large difference. Not resource intensive for staff to integrate thinking and strategy into their day to day roles. By September 2024 Volunteering and Community Coordinator to develop guidance and brief staff. Not started. 7. Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Spaces that can be enjoyed by all students. Develop sensory garden at our student-led Healing Gardens. Use of gardens by neurodiverse students and student groups. SU is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity and finding new ways to make activities as accessible as possible for all students. Less resource from SU as facilitating/supporting student leaders to carry our work. Funding available to support. By January 2025. Volunteering and Community Cooridnator and Democracy and Campaigns Lead. Ongoing. Ensure all indoor venues chosen for event, campaigns and training are accessible for all attendees. Evaluation by staff of venues in relation to accessibility. Feedback on event venues. SU is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity and finding new ways to make activities as accessible as possible for all students. Not resource intensive for staff to make accessibility considerations when planning events. By September 2024. Student Voice Team to lead on this work and feedback to other SU Teams. Not started. Equality of access to activities. Review volunteering DBS process for International students. Where possible, enhance level of support provided by SU. No of International students. SU is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity and finding new ways to make activities as accessible as possible for all students. Limit to the support we can provide financially. Unable to change government policy and DBS process. By September 2024. Volunteering and Commnunity Coordinator, Opportunities Lead and Mmebership Development Administrator. Not started. Review Student Voice activities and identify improvements for making campaigns and student roles (Network Leaders, Cours Reps, Sabbatical Officer roles) more inclusive. TBC N/A SU is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity and finding new ways to make activities as accessible as possible for all students. Some discussions and actions already taken place around this. By September 2024. Volunteering and Community Coordinator and Student Voice Team. Started. 8. Cultural Sustainability Protect Welsh History and Culture. Educate students and staff on Welsh culture and history. Staff championing language and culture. We are proud to share the cultural and historic importance, including our language, that helps make us so unapologetically Welsh. Staff supportive of this. By May 2025. Volunteering and Community Coordinator and Managers. Not started. Ensure all staff participate in Welsh language lessons. Percentage of staff involved in Welsh language lessons and any additional initiatives. No. of student/student groups/staff integrating Welsh language into their work. We are proud to share the cultural and historic importance, including our language, that helps make us so unapologetically Welsh. Staff already attend Welsh lessons as part of their job roles. Ongoing. Commitment from managers by September 24 to monitor staff's participation in lessons more closely. Membership Development and Finance and Operations Managers. Ongoing.