Abstract
ABSTRACTHEIs are well placed to engage with local communities, and can connect students with organisations through several pathways, such as volunteering opportunities, placements, internships, or projects. The University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), the University of Bristol and their respective Students’ Unions have been working in partnership with the city and local communities, using HEFCE Catalyst funding to promote student involvement in sustainability activity during Bristol’s year as European Green Capital. The Green Capital Student Capital project has created a broad programme of citywide impact through mobilising the enthusiasm of the city’s student body. It delivered a wide-ranging programme of engagement in city sustainability and in so doing developed skills, knowledge and attributes in the student body that support the development of graduate attributes and a more sustainable lifestyle. The project demonstrates how institutions can collaborate across cities and communities to have internal and external impacts for sustainability.Abbreviations:ASHE: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings; BGCP: Bristol Green Capital Partnership; CBI: Confederation of British Industry; HEFCE: Higher Education Funding Council for England; HEIs: Higher Education Institutions; NUS: National Union of Students; ONS: Office for National Statistics; SME: Small and Medium sized Enterprises; UK: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; UoB: University of Bristol; UWE: The University of the West of England, Bristol.
Highlights
Bristol has a record of being innovative and radical, with a vision of becoming an inclusive, sustainable city (Bristol 2015 Company, 2016)
Have the objectives set out for the project all been met but the true meaningfulness of the student engagement has been proven. The impact of this project will continue to have positive effects on the individual students who have been involved, the working relationship between both universities and both students’ unions, the way in which the universities engage with the city and the wider community, and the way in which the universities of future Green Capitals engage with their own communities. (NUS, 2016)
The project has demonstrated the benefits of large-scale engagement, and has identified key factors in building such a successful approach
Summary
Bristol has a record of being innovative and radical, with a vision of becoming an inclusive, sustainable city (Bristol 2015 Company, 2016). Bristol’s Green Capital status provided a unique opportunity to develop and catalyse the project and sustain a long-term commitment to city sustainability through student engagement activities. The BGCP is a network grouping of over 800 organisations across the city: public, private, civic, and community (http://bristolgreencapital.org/) They are large and small, linked by a commitment to trying to make the city more sustainable. That partnership provided the project with unrivalled access to a group of organisations that had already identified themselves as committed to improving the sustainability of the city in some way Through this pledge to deliver 100,000 h of student action for sustainability in 2015, the project sought to change attitudes in students and the city. Through city – student interactions we anticipate the initiation of a process to develop within individuals and across participating groups a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for the city
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