The Sustainability Champions are a hugely important part of our continued climate action across the University. We are delighted to welcome staff from offices and laboratories back to the Champions teams for this academic year, and are very excited to for the teams to implement sustainability endeavours across their respective communities.
Rosa Roe Garcia, Impact Officer for King’s Climate & Sustainability
15 November 2023
King's staff empowered to make sustainable changes across university
The relaunches of the Sustainability Champions scheme will ignite inspired staff to develop and implement sustainable initiatives for their departments.
The Sustainability Champions scheme has been relaunched for the 2023-24 academic year with a series of hybrid events for staff in offices, residences and laboratories.
Over 100 people from across the university attended the launches, coming together to share their ideas about how to enhance both social and environmental sustainability in their departments.
The launches for office-based staff and laboratory-based staff were held separately, to maximise the number of people from across different campuses able to attend, with an online attendance option to meet different accessibility needs.
Rosa Roe Garcia, Impact Officer for King’s Climate & Sustainability and leader of the Sustainability Champions, said:
The Sustainability Champions scheme works to help King’s reduce its harmful effects on the environment and deliver against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through embedding sustainable practices within policies and operations at a departmental level.
In the 10 years since the scheme’s inception, the scheme has grown to 424 members, all working to embed climate and sustainability in their offices and working spaces.
Guided by the Students Organising Sustainability UK (SOS-UK) Green Impact and Lab Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), teams work to meet a series of sustainability goals through developing projects and actions across three broad areas – offices, laboratories (both teaching and research labs) and halls of residences. Teams work towards achieving Bronze, Silver or Gold awards for their progress.
The programme empowers staff to make positive and sustainable changes to their work environments, while providing staff development opportunities and wellbeing benefits.