Sustainability Zone (9th March 2015)

1.1

Apologies and attendance was noted as above.

 

The minutes for the previous Sustainability Zone Committee meeting were approved. A review is given below. Some action points have been carried over from the previous meeting, see list of Actions. It was noted that it has only been two weeks since the last committee meeting so more actions than usual will be ongoing. 

In the review of actions from the previous meeting, the following points were noted:

 

2.1 Ongoing: BT to follow up with the University at a later date about the status of actions for gender neutral toilets and gender neutral titles in student records system.

BT is still waiting to hear back from Alex about this. It is being looked at and BT will update on progress when hears back from the University.

ACTION: Ongoing: BT to follow up with the University at a later date about the status of actions for gender neutral toilets and gender neutral titles in student records system.

 

2.2 BT, LB, SB and TS to follow up and discuss best methods to record student engagement and participation

This has been completed at LB and SB are recorded figures for student engagement with E&E and E&D

Complete. No further action required

 

2.3 WB to share method of BEES NUS reporting of  student engagement with TS

ACTION: Ongoing: WB to share method of BEES NUS reporting of  student engagement with TS

 

2.4 BT to find out what stage Student Groups are at with reviewing funding and how travel fits into this and feedback to the Zone Committee

BT noted that funding guidelines are on hold due to SUSU bank developments and that this may take longer than expected.

ACTION: Ongoing: BT to find out what stage Student Groups are at with reviewing funding and how travel fits into this and feedback to the Zone Committee

 

2.5  LB to follow up on the new potential University sustainable travel policy and feedback to the Zone Committee.

 LB has completed this and the document is being reviewed by key SUSU staff. BT noted that there may be a separate policy for staff which will go through Staffing Sub Committee. The student group policy will go through Zone Committee and/or Union Council. BT and LB will feedback to the Zone Committee in due course on progress.

Complete. Further action as follows:

ACTION: Ongoing: BT and LB to feed back to Zone Committee about the potential staff and/or student travel policy when there are any developments on progress.

 

2.6  TS to look at options of sourcing sustainable clothing (including Wessex Clothing) and to find out what other SU’s are doing in regards to this.

ACTION: Ongoing: TS to look at options of sourcing sustainable clothing (including Wessex Clothing) and to find out what other SU’s are doing in regards to this.

 

2.7 TS to check the existing policy of this and feedback to the zone committee.

The committee discussed section 5.3 of the E&E policy passed in 2014. This policy is currently not being enforced and it was agreed that the zone should plan for implementation of these policies. BT and EC checked to see if SUSU (not for sale) clothing items they were wearing were ethical and there was no indication of this.

The wording of policy 5.3 was discussed by the committee and it was discussed if the policy should be amended and taken to Union Council. It was noted that 5.3 is more specific because the committee identified this as a particular issue that needed to be addressed and would allow the enforcement of this policy point to be easier as it is so specific.

The committee discussed if the words ‘not for sale’ should be excluded. It was identified that all ‘for sale’ hoodies are ethically sourced which was why there was a focus on the not for sale hoodies, and this can be encompassed within section 5.1 and 5.2 of the policy. It was noted that this is not best practice and something to be considered in the future as it could be perceived that SUSU is excluding ‘for sale hoodies’ in this point. 

The terming ‘hoodies and t-shirts’ was discussed as now SUSU sell other clothing items in The Shop on Top and the policy should not be limited to just hoodies and t-shirts but should encompass all clothing items. It was agreed that could fall under section 5.1 and 5.2 of the policy.

PD suggested that this section of the policy could be taken as a point of clarity to Commercial Services Sub-committee which would then be minuted on a trustee board sub-committee. This would be a more practical and easier option then taking to Union Council and ensure that Commercial Services cannot stop sourcing ethical clothing for sale in the future.

Complete. Further actions as follows:

ACTION: LB, TS and BT to develop an implementation plan for section 5.3 of the E&E policy.

ACTION: PD to follow up with Jo who prepares the report for Commercial Managers to ensure point of clarity on section 5.3 of the E&E policy is included.

 

2.8 LB to contact Sue Brindley to get an update on the progress of reducing food waste and to communicate this to the student body (e.g. blog and/or news article)

ACTION: Ongoing: LB to contact Sue Brindley to get an update on the progress of reducing food waste and to communicate this to the student body (e.g. blog and/or news article)

 

2.9 BT to provide LB with contact details of Sue Brindley.

Complete. No further action required.

 

 2.10 LB to invite PD and MN to the next and all future E&E committee meetings.

Complete. No further action required.

 

 2.11 LB to bring updated waste action plan to next meeting

This has been postponed due to Fairtrade Fortnight. LB will bring to next zone committee meeting.

ACTION: Ongoing: LB to bring updated  waste action plan to next meeting

 

2.12 LB to email PD ideas for special offers in the shop for Fairtrade Fortnight and include any further information need about supply chains.

Complete. No further action required.

 

2.13 CS to run plan for volunteering survey by BT and/or EC before Make A Difference Day

This survey did not happen due to a change to a more strategic approach.

Complete. No further action required.

 

2.14 BT to input changes of the core team in the employability PID

Complete. No further action required.

 

2.15 BT to feedback on status of recruitment agency after the next trustee meeting.

BT informed the committee that the recruitment agency plan was passed at the last trustee board. The will be a new member of staff who will drive this forward and hoping for online commencement in September 2015.

Complete. No further action required.

 

2.16 BT to include support staff in the PID and to look into potential for qualifications.

ACTION: Ongoing: BT to include support staff in the PID and to look into potential for qualifications.

 

2.17 TS and BT to review the zone strategy and bring findings to the next zone committee to identify priorities.

ACTION: Ongoing: TS and BT to review the zone strategy and bring findings to the next zone committee to identify priorities.

LB provided a brief update of E&E committee.

E&E aimed to reach 500 students this academic year. LB has been calculating engagement and has identified that 835 students have been engaged with E&E in various ways during this academic year (not included fresher’s). The spreadsheet will be passed down to future E&E officers. The spreadsheet divides engagement into categories e.g. volunteers, social media, stall engagement.

Sustainability festival on Saturday and engaged approximately 60 people. Fairtrade Fornight did not go as smoothly as it could due to last minute planning. E&E gave out bananas, displayed posters and had 35 pledges. SUSU shop offered Fairtrade discount and displayed posters. PD to find out figures for Fairtrade purchases in the shop to see if this has had an impact on sales.

LB provided an outline of the aims of the living in the local community map that is being created. SUSU will be collaborating with ECS and Transition Southampton on this project.

HEAT volunteering training will take place over next two weeks. Following this, students will go into student rental property to offer advice. LB is going to write a future plan for the project to ensure continued sustainability.

Waste Wars had an increase in post-grad uptake and End of year waste project is developing.

Upcoming events include the Sustainability Action Awards on the 17^th March, the Sustainability Zone and BEES has been nominated. The next Swap Shop will occur on the 19^th March.

ACTION: PD to check Fairtrade sales figures of the shop from Fairtrade Fortnight and feedback to LB

SB provided a verbal update on E&D committee.

SB update the committee on engagement figures from LGBT History Month. 332 people attended an event (not including the hand painting) and approx. 700 special edition Wessex Scene magazines given out.

International Women’s Week has launched with a variety of events. The first event is a film screening with 207 attending on Facebook. People have been asked to nominate inspiring women and this will be communicated on social media.

SB, TS, EC and BT have been working on an anti-sexual harassment campaign ‘Soton Speaks Out’. The group have been researching what other Unions are doing and also talking to Solent to look into a collaborative city wide campaign. A draft pledge has been written that students, student groups and night clubs will be encouraged to sign.

No action required.

A Sustainability leaflet was created by TS LB SB for the sustainability festival to showcase all SUSU sustainability. The aim is to use this to infer an official leaflet to be designed by SUSU marketing.

The zone is going to host a sustainability day before the end of the academic year. LB, SB, BT and TS noted that having a collaborative stall at the sustainability festival worked really well in giving a holistic view point and appealed to a lot more people.

As part of the Employability PID BT and TS are organising Linked In labs in collaboration with Careers Destinations. The Linked In labs will be held before the end of the summer term to encourage students to improve or set up their online professional profile

BT is also looking into setting up a job shadowing programme with the university to give students an experience within external organisations/employers. 

The anti-sexual harassment campaign will also involve Anjit (VP Communities) for JCR engagement and Katie (VP Sports Development) for sport team engagement. The group aim to make a video to promote the event using team captains and key individuals from SUSU and the university.

No further action required.

Both BEES representatives were absent with apologies. The group reviewed the BEES update papers provided for an update. BT informed the committee that they will be meeting up with the NUS to determine the future legacy of the BEES project. The BEES conference is coming up in April.

No further action required.

7.1 ‘He For She’ Campaign

 

FD provided an overview of the He For She Campaign and informed the committee of the official university and college implementation plan created by the UN. FD identified that the student population is approx. 44% males so there is the potential to engage thousands of male students with the campaign and gender equality through solidarity. The committee agreed that this should be taken forward and discussed the next steps for SUSU engaging with the campaign. It was suggested that this is something that Feminist Society could get involved with and collaborate with other societies on. The committee agreed that the sustainability zone would support this and FD to take to Union Council as an ideas discussion and then look into implementing a policy.

ACTION: BT to work with FD to plan for taking the He For She campaign to union council

ACTION: BT to liaise with Charlie Green (Student Life Co-ordinator) to get up to date with any research into the He For She campaign

Applications for student grounds funding round three were reviewed. Three applications were received all from Students for Palestine and all were declined due to the events having occurred in the past. The committee discussed that there is a rule that funding cannot be allocated retrospectively. It was agreed that the application was good and but should have specified the date and been submitted in funding round two. BT mentioned that groups do have the option of getting money from the development fund if they lack specifics of speakers/events too far in advance at funding rounds. BT added contact details to the feedback form to meet with the society to clarify funding for the group. SB noted that this perhaps should be more widely communicated to groups and BT will email groups letting them know that development funding is available if there is some left. LB noted that the lack of applications may highlight a lack of communication or engagement with student groups about funding. The committee discussed the timing of this funding round and BT suggested perhaps it should come later in the year after groups AGMs.

9.1

LB raised the issue of the confetti from last Thursdays Grad Ball launch and that technically SUSU could be prosecuted by the University, although this is very unlikely to happen. The Issue is that it happened and that the confetti was exploded onto university property and that there was little effort to clean up other than immediately outside the SUSU buildings. LB identified that the simple resolution is purchasing biodegradable confetti. The committee agreed that this is not acceptable and PD assured that it will not happen again but and the appropriate departments have been made aware of the concerns. PD suggested that it might be worth E&E/Sustainability Zone following up with the tech team to give a student’s perspective, not just from core staff. PD suggested it might worth contacting the health and safety manager Sam Filtness to identify where environmental impact fits into the risk assessment procedure.

ACTION: LB to contact Paul Davie, Tech Manager following up from the confetti incident to highlight the importance of considering the environmental impact through risk assessment.

ACTION: LB to contact Sam Filtness, Health and Safety Manager to clarify where environment impact fits into the risk assessment procedure

8.2

BT, SB, LB and TS will be attending the Student Sustainability Summit in March at Leeds University Students Union. Committee members are encouraged to contact those attending if there are any questions or projects they want to group to look into when visiting the Unions in Leeds. LB and TS will also be attending the annual EAUC conference at Leeds University.

No action required

The next Sustainability Zone Committee will be held Friday 24^th April 10 – 11:30am