EcoBuild 2008
EcoBuild 2008Ecobuild is said to be the world's biggest event dedicated to sustainable
design, construction and the built environment. There were over 500 exhibits at
the event but some of the more interesting attractions included seminars,
workshops and debates around the topic of sustainable construction, urban design
and sustainability in general.
Sustainable Projects Development Assistant, Brian Sylvester, visited Ecobuild on
February 26th and attended the improving the carbon performance of
buildings seminar. Several of the topics addressed at the seminar were
particularly relevant to the development of the CommunityCheck Toolkit which
Brian is currently working on. Some of the workshops included were: the business
case for carbon improvement; implementing renewable energy into buildings; and,
improving the sustainability of existing non-residential stock.
According to Brian, the seminar as a whole was informative and reinforced the
relevance of projects such as CommunityCheck which not only convey the
importance of improving the sustainability of buildings but help to distil the
wealth of information and resources, like those on display at Ecobuild, so that
organisations can begin to make meaningful changes.
In addition to visiting scores of exhibits and attending the carbon performance
seminar, Brian was able to drop in on a talk by Tim Smitt, Chief Executive and
Founder of the Eden Project. Tim’s motivational talk emphasised the importance
of a positive mindset especially when reaching for radical change. According to
Tim, it is that positive mindset which is ultimately responsible for successful
projects by virtue of inspiring and motivating others around us; and, with a
project as successful as the Eden Project, this is certainly a message to learn
from.
Sustainability Projects Coordinator, Heulwen Davies, visited the event on the
28th of February and attended a seminar about the importance of urban design in
fostering sustainable communities which included speakers from urban design and
landscape architecture backgrounds. The seminar focused on how the use of public
space is fundamental in encouraging sustainability within communities and how
cities can become more sustainable through good design.
One of the more useful seminars that Heulwen attended was led by the Academy for
Sustainable Communities (ASC). A recent report by the ASC has found that England
faces a significant shortage of qualified professionals with the necessary
skills to deliver the sustainable communities programme. In response to the
findings, the ASC have developed a new toolkit called Train and Sustain
to train professionals about sustainable communities. They are piloting the
toolkit this summer and Heulwen attended a workshop about the toolkit to see how
it could be used.
Ecobuild:
www.innovationsforthebuiltenvironment.co.uk/page.cfm/Link=4/t=m/goSection=3/trackLogID=1915680_50C71B96F6
Eden Project:
www.edenproject.com/
ASC’s Train and Sustain Page:
www.ascskills.com/pages/learning-and-skills/trainandsustain
Brian Sylvester and Heulwen Davies
Graduate
AwardThe Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) has created a Graduate Award sponsored by the Land Securities Group, which is designed to reward outstanding achievement by a graduate for improving or significantly influencing improvements to environmental performance and/or practices for either their own or a clients' organisation.
So how does it work?
Nominations can be submitted in electronic format as a Microsoft Word or
PDF document or by post and must be received by 5pm on Friday 4th
April 2008. -Nomination submissions should be accompanied with the front sheet
that can be downloaded from
www.iema.net/graduateaward.
Nominations should include a statement to illustrate and describe what the
nominee has achieved to improve the organisation's environmental performance
and/or environmental practice and supporting evidence such as client
testimonials, photographs, further internal references, external references,
certification, project reports and debriefs, data worksheets and logs.
What is the prize?
Well the Winner will receive a £2000 cash prize, free attendance to the IEMA
Annual Conference and Annual Dinner in June and 1 year's free IEMA Graduate
membership. One runner-up will receive a £1000 cash prize, a free place at the
IEMA Annual Conference and Annual Dinner and 1 year's free Graduate membership.
A profile and short article about the winner and their achievements will appear
in the August issue of the IEMA's magazine 'the environmentalist' and
e-newsletter IEMA Downloaded.
Rules
The 2008 IEMA Graduate Award is open to all graduates, irrespective of
the size, turnover, sector and nature of their organisation. Graduates must be
nominated for the award. Graduates cannot nominate themselves.
Graduates can only be nominated by their employer or by clients/customers of the
organisation.
Organisations may nominate more than one graduate, but each project and/or
performance improvement must be significantly different.
Nominated graduates must have an environmental responsibility in a full-time,
part-time or voluntary capacity.
Graduates that have worked as part of a team to improve or significantly
influence environmental performance improvements must have played the leading
role and evidence to show this will be required.
Nominated graduates must have graduated within the last 3 years from an
environment-related course.
Nominated graduates may be asked to provide proof of graduation at any time
during the competition.* *Suitable proof can take the form of a copy of a valid
graduation certificate, letter from education establishment or university
transcript.
The winner will be responsible for any travel costs incurred to attend the
Conference and/or Annual Dinner to receive the award.
The prize monies will be awarded in Pounds Sterling (£).
Gemma K Astin, Senior Sustainability Projects &
Marketing Coordinator
Revitalised YouthCheckFebruary was a busy month for the revitalised YouthCheck project. The new
YouthCheck team has given the project fresh impetus by recruiting new groups and
developing new training packages.
One group to benefit from the new training workshops was the Just Us group. The
group was planning to produce a DVD about their estate but was unsure about
where to start. Seeing this, YouthCheck stepped in and delivered two training
sessions on Project Management. The group is now confident that they can stay on
track to produce 3000 DVDs by July.
YouthCheck helped the Area 8 Youth Forum in Nottingham to present their top
three priority issues to councillors and neighbourhood managers from their area.
The YouthCheck team helped the young people to formulate and present their ideas
coherently. Their subsequent discussion proved fruitful, with the young people
suggesting new locations for CCTV, and the councillors making enquiries into new
venues for youth facilities.
YouthCheck also ran a bag making workshop as part of the Green Day in Wyggeston
College, and has started to work with the Green Group to campaign for changes in
their college.
YouthCheck has also been helping the Keystone Youth Forum to plan a tea party
for residents on March 29th at Keystone Escape. As well as this, YouthCheck has
been helping the Lufbra Skate Park Association to raise funds for a new skate
park, a process which will involve extensive community consultation.
Stay tuned for more news next month…………..
Luke Bocock, YouthCheck Project Manager
Le
changement climatique: Fais-en ton affaire! Students studying French at Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College,
Leicester, got their teeth stuck into some challenging new coursework:
explaining, in French, what they can do as individuals to help tackle climate
change. With help from StudentForce for Sustainability, French teachers, the
Video Technology department and film director Daniel Adam, they made a
documentary about what we can do as individuals to tackle climate change – in a
mixture of French and English. The premiere of the documentary was held on the
30th of January in the college, with students, teachers and StudentForce staff
treated to a red-carpet reception.
You can view the video (in three parts) at
www.youtube.com/user/HeimdallFilms.
The hard work of the students from Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I college
doesn’t stop there. The 6th February was a Go Green Day at the
College in Leicester. A variety of organisations were present, including
StudentForce, the college’s People and Planet group, Cycle Magic and many more.
Activities and workshops took place, such as bag decorating, making wallets from
Tetra pack and a recycling quiz with a Howies gift voucher as top prize. The
event aimed to raise sustainability awareness amongst the staff and students.
For more information contact
Rime Saidi
Rime Saidi, Sustainable College Assistant
Oakham, home of Studentforce HQ was the lucky host of the 2nd Sust. event.
Millennium Volunteers, YouthCheck and the Sustainable Colleges Project
teamed up to involve their young volunteers in the planning and preparation to
make it an event. both for and by young people. After attending sustainability
training they got creative. Some styled fair trade and organic clothing by
People Tree and restyled pieces from Traid for an ethical fashion show. Others
planned local, organic and seasonal recipes for pizzas and freshly squeezed
juices that would feed their guests and along with the ethical shop staff they
practised their ethical sales pitches (consumer education) that would get people
buying into a better world.
They love being involved said Jan Beardsley
a youth worker at the Shed that hosted the training, and
they’re really excited about the event.
That was the idea; Getting the young people so up for
it that they’d do a bit of peer marketing and bring their mates along to get a
taste of ways they too could benefit their communities, environment and
economies as well as themselves.
And along with posters in our train station office windows and the interview
that went out on Rutland Radio it seemed to work. Over 100 people including,
children, youth workers, community members, the press and at least 5 new people
that hadn’t heard of us before attended which helped raise StudentForce's local
profile.
Young people networked and were inspired by each other as they checked out the
exciting project displays and the message from the band Coconi, who was spotted
by the Stamford Riverside Festival organiser. Whatever they already knew about
Sustainability, everyone learnt something new not only in theory but in practice
too. For example how to make a belt out of a bike tyre, a tetra pack purse or
how to choose the most sustainable of orange juices in our workshops.
It was a very good idea to be making the food (pizzas) with local produce
with a display on the pizza Miles said our MV ambassador George
Lindsay.
Sustainable Development needs people to be creative to work out solutions to
problems like climate change and social cohesion so I wanted to provide as many
opportunities for that as possible. I was totally impressed by how responsible
they were, they got involved, got on with each other and they packed up
amazingly fast at the end. It reassured me that our future is in their hands.
Watch Sust. video here
Stephanie Blackwell, MV Project Manager and Event
Organiser
Learning
in NottinghamOn the 12th November a group of CommunityCheck volunteers went to visit the Jubilee Campus and incinerator at the University of Nottingham. Both these buildings use environmentally friendly technologies the former has also won several awards.
The Jubilee Campus was built in 1999 on a site that previously had industrial use. An important feature of the campus is the series of lakes which are home to a variety of wildlife; provide cooling for the buildings in the summer as well as receiving all surface water. Less visible - but equally important to the sustainable campus - are the roofs which are, quite literally, green. A carpet of low-growing alpine plants helps maintain steady temperatures within the buildings throughout the year which is more effective than traditional insulation. Buildings also feature a super-efficient mechanical ventilation system, lighting sensors to reduce energy consumption, and photovoltaic cells integrated into the atrium roofs.
The
Incinerator -Waste Recycling Group operates the energy from the waste
facility at Eastcroft, Nottingham. The energy from the waste facility produces
heat and power for local users by burning around 150,000 tonnes of waste from
Nottingham and the county each year. Energy produced from burning waste helps to
reduce the need for non-renewable fossil fuels and produces electricity for the
local grid and heat (in the form of steam) for homes in the city centre.
We would like to thank Gavin and Alan for showing us around. If you are
interested in learning more click on the links below.
Gavin Scott, Environmental Manager of the University of Nottingham -www.nottingham.ac.uk/estate
Alan Jones, the Plant Manager -
www.wrg.co.uk/eastcroft/
Klara Uresova CommunityCheck Co-ordinator
Students studying French at Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College,
Leicester, are getting their teeth stuck into some challenging new coursework:
explaining, in French, what they can do as individuals to help tackle climate
change. With help from students and staff in the drama and video technology
departments, they also plan to make a documentary about what we can do as
individuals to tackle climate change - all in French. Meanwhile, French students
studying English in Paris are doing much the same thing, with a video exchange
planned. This is all as part of StudentForce’s Sustainable Colleges Project,
which is working with nine colleges in the East Midlands to find new ways to
promote sustainable development.
Further information is available from
Rime Saidi.
Rime Saidi, Sustainable College Assistant
StudentForce
and Eastex a growing partnershipLast week saw the first annual Eastex conference held at the Thetford Innovation Centre. The event was a celebration and review of the progress that the Eastex regional network has made over the past year. The event was also well represented by StudentForce, with 3 out of the 6 county coordinators having being placed and supported by StudentForce. Along with an additional Project Worker with the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (who work closely with Eastex), who was exhibiting at the event. The conference was a great success with awards being presented to organisations that had exchanged the most amounts of materials and for those that had tried to embed the concept of Eastex into their business practices.
Of the day Norfolk Coordinator Laura Dopping said;
The day was brilliant with people in real businesses grasping the simple but
effective concept that Eastex represents. There was plenty of networking that
took place, which is exactly what we want and I can’t wait for next years one
already.
Eastex is the regional materials exchange for the East of England. It
provides an active forum for users to exchange waste or surplus materials for
re-use. All with a view of diverting the amount of this material that is sent
directly to landfill. The project is supported by the local authorities in the
region and the East of England Development Agency.
Scott Riley, Senior Sustainability Coordinator
At the Sust. Event that StudentForce staff and volunteers held recently in Leicester young people (and some older ones too) discovered that what’s good for the community and environment could also be good for the economy and for themselves.
While a volunteer DJ Glama oiled the cogs with some mellow tunes, attendees learnt about sustainable behaviour by getting involved with decorating (re-useable shopping) bags, customising clothing, sampling recycled fashion and fair-trade food at the Ethical shop and healthy cocktails at the Organic Juice bar.
Young people demonstrated what they were getting MV and v accreditation for by modelling in a fair trade fashion show, performing music and dance and manning displays of their projects and mini enterprises as well as taking the stage to collect their well earned certificates. Their efforts were recognised and appreciated by community members, and their (yet to get involved in) non-volunteering mates who they invited to come and ‘taste something new.’
Our Sust. Lifestyles workshop tackled sustainable living issues that matter to young people and this was demonstrated in the form of an (educationally-labelled) local, seasonal, organic and fair trade dinner.
So, as well as sharing and celebrating their achievements, Sust gave everyone
a chance to shine like the spontaneous and creative stars they are. So THANK YOU
and that’s why we’re doing it again in Oakham in Rutland 6-9pm on November 8th
2007. Contact the MV team for your invitation.
Stephanie Blackwell, v Support Officer
StudentForce
Project Worker wins employee of the month!StudentForce Project Worker Lotte Peeters was recently awarded employee of the month at Fenland District Council. Lotte, Litter Awareness Coordinator, has been working tirelessly to help raise awareness of waste issues across the Fens. She was involved in organising high profile events, including a hugely successful campaign in Whittlesey.
Of the award Lotte said,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank StudentForce and my manager Mark
Matthews for their brilliant support and guidance. I have really enjoyed my
placement and I hope to continue to do good things!
Scott Riley, Graduate Placement Manager
StudentForce put the Spring in the SpringWatch
festivalStudentForce showed strong support of Peterborough’s efforts in the BBC’s SpringWatch festival. The heavy representation at the event from Louise McAvoy and Louise Hatfield (Waste Minimisation Advisors) who were working at the event with Peterborough City Council, also Julia Chatterton (Green Festivals Coordinator) from Peterborough Environment City Trust popped up to lend a hand. Some had journeyed even further a field, with Sophie Maidment (Community Development Officer) and Delphine Reminiac (Environmental Qualities Officer) both journeying from Breckland District Council to volunteer after seeing a spread in their monthly Eforce e-zine. These StudentForce Project Workers were also joined by StudentForce’s very own Nick Goodman (Graduate Resource Manager) and myself, whom volunteered on various different initiatives throughout the day. The SpringWatch festival is part of the BBC’s Breathing Spaces campaign to get more people interested and involved with their environment. It was estimated that around 5-7 thousand people attended the event, which was a massive success.
Ruth Peasgood Event Coordinator said;
The day has been hugely successful with hives of
activity at all the stalls across the site. It is great to see people of all
ages and backgrounds getting out and becoming involved with initiatives such as
this. I would also like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all
of the volunteers, who have also greatly helped make this day such a huge
success!
Scott Riley, Graduate Placement Manager
Sustainable Colleges ProjectStudentForce’s newest project, Sustainable Colleges, aims to promote sustainable development in East Midlands further education colleges. It looks at things like how energy efficient college campuses are, provision of recycling facilities, right through to staff and student awareness of environmental and social issues like climate change. Simon Winch, project manager said:
It’s all about working with colleges to promote sustainable development and make sure we look after our environment. We’re undertaking a survey of the sustainability initiatives already in place at colleges – and we’re also looking at what students and staff would like to see implemented in the future. We want to work with colleges to turn ideas into action and make a real difference.
The project is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and runs until March 2008.
For more information contact
Simon Winch, Project Manager
Primary
School gets a make overSo much for Changing Rooms, a group of volunteers spent two days in the
school toilets! Transforming them from a bland décor to a positively Tropical
Oasis in one instance! Four sets of North Luffenham Primary School toilets were
in for the makeover by instigation from the School Council, the themes being
democratically chosen were, Underwater, Space, Tropical Beach and Cars.
Volunteers armed with just ideas and paintbrushes set about the project on a two
day turned around, after initially painting the base colours they let their
imagination run, with great effect, and much appreciation from the School
Council. Awesome!
Jane Keal, Millennium Volunteer Support Officer