Sustainability course timetable

Are you a member of staff interested in sustainability? Would you like to join a growing community helping to raise environmental awareness across the University?

Find out more about becoming a voluntary Environment and Energy Coordinator (EEC), including a role description and core activities, on the Sustainability Team's website.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, then please come along to this induction to hear more about the role and join the community. The induction will take place over MS Teams and will be your opportunity to find out about the University’s sustainability work, how you can get involved, and to meet others in your cohort of new EECs.

After this induction, you will formally become part of the EEC network at the University and have access to bespoke training opportunities and events.

The University has made a commitment to establish and implement a University-wide Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with the international standard ISO 14001:2015.

We have been working with a consultant, Karen Gallagher, to develop the remaining elements of the EMS. Work has been slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic but with the onset of the new academic year and us all working in a ‘new normal’ we hope to push forward with establishing the remaining elements of the EMS. This will involve, amongst other things, duty of care and compliance training for relevant operational staff; the continuation of internal audits tackling our areas of high risk first; and checking the competency of staff that have a role in the EMS and identifying any gaps in training needs.

This briefing is for colleagues within the Estates Division and Safety Office and the purpose of the briefing is to:

• describe the purpose and value of ISO14001 certification
• describe the relevance of ISO14001 to the ED and Safety Office and management responsibilities for EMS
• summarise key policies and procedures and how these relate to ED and Safety Office teams, and
• outline key actions required for ED and Safety Office teams.

The briefing will take place on MS Teams and attendees will be emailed a full agenda, including meeting links, nearer the time.

Come along to the Lent term EEC get-together to catch up with other EECs and hear the latest from the University's Sustainability Team.

Following presentations from the Sustainability Team and a Q&A session, you will have the opportunity to join smaller breakout rooms with other EECs. This is our virtual substitute for chatting around cake and sandwiches so, whilst it is absolutely optional, we do hope you take the opportunity to really catch up and get to know each other. We estimate that breakout rooms will begin at 11:45 but there will be no cut-off time, meaning that you will be able to stay and chat for as long as you wish.

Full details of the event, including MS Teams meeting links, will be emailed to attendees ahead of the event.

Are you a member of staff interested in sustainability? Would you like to join a growing community helping to raise environmental awareness across the University?

Find out more about becoming a voluntary Environment and Energy Coordinator (EEC), including a role description and core activities, on the Sustainability Team's website.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, then please come along to this induction to hear more about the role and join the community. The induction will take place over MS Teams and will be your opportunity to find out about the University’s sustainability work, how you can get involved, and to meet others in your cohort of new EECs.

After this induction, you will formally become part of the EEC network at the University and have access to bespoke training opportunities and events.

We’ve known for many years that the 'make, use, dispose’ way of life is having a big impact on our environment. Our use of single-use items not only fills up landfills, chokes our rivers and seas, but also contributes to dwindling natural resources. Recent audits of the University of Cambridge’s waste have shown how big the issue of single-use disposable waste is, but there are also many great examples of waste reduction which reinforce just how big of a change we could make if we can better understand the issue of single-use disposables, and find solutions that help to reduce, replace, reuse or recycle the most problematic items.

In these two workshops, we'll be looking in detail at the findings of the recent 'Single out Survey' (https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/which-single-use-disposables-do-we-use-most-and-how-can-we-reduce-them) and focusing on finding solutions which eliminate, reduce, replace or recycle those items which add the most to the University’s waste. The workshop is being run jointly by the University Sustainability Team and OurCambridge's 'Simplifying Our Processes' team.

'There are two sessions:'

• SESSION 1: Wed 24 Mar 2021 10:00-11:30 will focus on non-laboratory/non-research single use items (i.e. items associated with offices, deliveries, catering, cleaning etc).
• SESSION 2: Thu 25 Mar 2021 10:00-11:30 will focus on laboratory/research-related single use items

We’ve known for many years that the 'make, use, dispose’ way of life is having a big impact on our environment. Our use of single-use items not only fills up landfills, chokes our rivers and seas, but also contributes to dwindling natural resources. Recent audits of the University of Cambridge’s waste have shown how big the issue of single-use disposable waste is, but there are also many great examples of waste reduction which reinforce just how big of a change we could make if we can better understand the issue of single-use disposables, and find solutions that help to reduce, replace, reuse or recycle the most problematic items.

In these two workshops, we'll be looking in detail at the findings of the recent 'Single out Survey' (https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/which-single-use-disposables-do-we-use-most-and-how-can-we-reduce-them) and focusing on finding solutions which eliminate, reduce, replace or recycle those items which add the most to the University’s waste. The workshop is being run jointly by the University Sustainability Team and OurCambridge's 'Simplifying Our Processes' team.

'There are two sessions:'

• SESSION 1: Wed 24 Mar 2021 10:00-11:30 will focus on non-laboratory/non-research single use items (i.e. items associated with offices, deliveries, catering, cleaning etc).
• SESSION 2: Thu 25 Mar 2021 10:00-11:30 will focus on laboratory/research-related single use items

Are you a member of staff interested in sustainability? Would you like to join a growing community helping to raise environmental awareness across the University?

Find out more about becoming a voluntary Environment and Energy Coordinator (EEC), including a role description and core activities, on the Sustainability Team's website.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, then please come along to this induction to hear more about the role and join the community. The induction will take place over MS Teams and will be your opportunity to find out about the University’s sustainability work, how you can get involved, and to meet others in your cohort of new EECs.

After this induction, you will formally become part of the EEC network at the University and have access to bespoke training opportunities and events.

The University has made a commitment to establish and implement a University-wide Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with the international standard ISO 14001:2015.

We have been working with a consultant, Karen Gallagher, to develop the EMS. Work has been slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic but this year we hope to push forward with establishing the EMS. This will involve, amongst other things, understanding what processes and procedures we already have in place and signposting to these from the EMS; duty of care and compliance training for relevant operational staff; the continuation of internal audits tackling our areas of high risk first; and checking the competency of staff that have a role in the EMS and identifying any gaps in training needs.

Save the date!

Come along to the Lent term EEC get-together to catch up with other EECs and hear the latest from the University's Sustainability Team.

Full details of the event, including confirmation of whether this event will be held online or in-person, will be emailed to attendees ahead of the event.

Do you know about environmental legislation that you need to comply with in your University role?

The University has committed to developing an Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with the international standard ISO:14001. As part of this, a programme of audits will soon take place, to determine compliance of University buildings and sites with environmental legislation. In this briefing session, we're providing relevant University staff with an overview of some of the key areas of environmental legislation that a typical EMS audit would cover, including practical tips and actions for staying compliant.