Woo Bike Share provides University of Worcester’s staff and students a convenient and low cost way to travel and exercise. In 2018, 50 electric e-bikes were added to the University’s fleet of 50 pedal bikes, totaling to 100 bikes available for use. A few students and staff at the University of Worcester participated in a one-week Woo Bike test trial… Read more →
If you are contemplating starting to cycle, what do you need to pay attention to in Worcester? I would recommend to plan your route in advance – use the city maps or google maps to find the cycling paths and lanes. Cycling is the healthiest when done outside the rush hours, so also plan your timing. If you have to… Read more →
Please use the form below to register an interest in joining Woo Bike Share. By completing this form I acknowledge that I am providing my personal details to University. These will be used for contacting you once the bike share membership scheme is launched. These details will be destroyed after the scheme has been opened and I have been contacted. More… Read more →
This week the sustainability department published a three year report outlining progress with embedding a culture of sustainability across the curriculum and campus. The report draws on findings from a series of surveys that took place between 2015 and 2017 and overall demonstrates gradual movement towards a fuller understanding of the University’s sustainability activities and greater personal sustainable practice amongst… Read more →
UniCycle/Woo Bikes Campaign Coordinator This is an opportunity to play a key role in UniCycle and a new Woo Bikes e-bike share scheme on campus. UniCycle is a national, government-funded pilot that The University Worcester is participating in with support from Love to Ride and NUS. Woo Bikes is a local collaborative partnership extending the university bike loan scheme with… Read more →
Last week, 5 businesses from across Worcestershire participated in the Sustainability Business Workshop to bring sustainability issues, ideas and concepts to the forefront discussion. The workshop was developed by the director of sustainability at the University of Worcester, Katy Boom, to provide a platform to allow businesses to interact and discuss their business with young people. This allowed the students… Read more →
Today I did some enterprise for a healthy snack at a cafe/ restaurant. Our entry was called Fruit Scoops. It was a two scoop box of healthy, fruit- flavoured ice cream. I was in a group with Jasper Tsang, Lewis Wilde and James Kidner. I really enjoyed it and this is what our FRUIT SCOOPS poster look Read more →
Thursday 8th June 2017 Zara Guest and Mya Year 8 Aston Fields Middle School Today was very fun and interesting. First we had a talk from a lady who’s business turns old fishing nets into carpet tiles. It is cheaper and very environmentally friendly. Next we investigated different foods and their ingredients to see how healthy they were and how… Read more →
We are Jasmine and Lauren from Aston Fields Middle. We are in year eight. We have many hobbies, among which dance, horse riding and design. Today so far, we have designed a healthy pudding. We decided to do a fruity fro-yo which was all local produce. We won the competition! This activity shocked us as we found out that most… Read more →
Hi guys! Our names are Abbie and Millie and we take a interest in sport and science. We go to Aston Fields Middle School. we are 13 and best friends. So today we explored the wonders of University of Worcester and learnt many new things we did not know previously. It was a real eye opener and we experienced… Read more →
Interface make carpet tiles. They are also widely recognised for their achievements in sustainability, have been named third in the world in the 2016 GlobeScan Sustainability Leaders report. Interface was one of the first companies to publicly commit to sustainability, when it made its Mission Zero pledge in the mid-nineties. Mission Zero represents the company’s vision to eliminate any negative impacts Interface has on the environment by… Read more →
If you want to sign up for 2017 click here Watch a short video to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUoxtbN93ms Read more →
be challenged, be inspired, be creative, be innovative, be employable, be outstanding … Why choose an Elective module at Level 5? Looking for something to make your degree stand out? As a single honours student you have the opportunity to choose to take an Elective module as part of your programme in your second year. Taking an Elective provides added value to your degree, makes… Read more →
Whole Earth? satellite exhibition WHOLE EARTH? exhibition is based on the premise that the future belongs to today’s young people and that students and universities everywhere can play a major role in making society more sustainable. The exhibition provides the kind of evidence students need to join the debate about their future. Read more about Whole Earth? on these pages… Read more →
As part of the final day of University of Worcester’s Go Green Week events, which focused on promoting sustainable initiatives to students, Friday saw the volunteers from Malvern Hills Repair Café take over the SU in the afternoon. The theme of the final day revolved around recycling and the re-use of household good and , along with the Igloo build… Read more →
During the last few years, the University of Worcester has been in a period of sustained growth and development. The expansion of the University has the inevitable consequence of additional travel to and from the campus, resulting in increased pressure on the local road infrastructure at peak times and on campus car parks. The estate has grown in size by 54% and has gone from a single campus to three major sites. Student numbers have nearly doubled during the same period.
To mitigate the impacts there are a range of sustainable travel initiatives on campus where students and staff are encouraged to change their travel habits, either for every time they travel to campus, or between the sites, or to make a change on a few days.
The local charity that run the bike shop and administer the bike loan scheme is Spokes, a charity that works with young individuals with learning disabilities to develop mechanics skills and self-confidence, so to help find and remain in employment. Spokes collect unwanted bikes from the local recycling centre, and bikes abandoned on campus and so far collecting nearly 300 bikes. These are reconditioned by Spokes students then resold from their workshop and in the campus shop. This model has provided Spokes students with a rewarding activity while re-using unwanted bikes and bringing them back into use on campus and wider community at an affordable price. The shop is promoted to local residents who are encouraged to come on campus to buy bikes; thus providing a local charity with a source of income.
In 2010 the university identified a gap in cycling provision, mainly for international students, for short term bike hire. We had affordable bikes for sale in the campus shop run by a local social enterprise. What we wanted was the ability to hire a good quality bike while eliminating the burden of purchasing, storing and maintaining a bike. Students especially didn’t want to purchase or transport a bike from home, but they just wanted easy access to a bicycle when they needed it.
It appeared to be an ideal solution, many major cities where bringing in similar schemes, why not in Worcester? Having an incumbent bike shop on campus, a demand from students, and an organisational target to reduce carbon emissions surely made it easier.
Why then did it take four years to truly get off the ground?
The bike loan approach to increasing rates of cycling amongst staff and students is based on research by Gatersleban & Appleton (2007), who found that a majority of people from their sample had never considered trying cycling. Many people have a tendency to not consider cycling as an option and choose to travel by car out of habit. Yet, when people are given the opportunity and support to try cycling they find it a positive experience and significantly more likely to form new commuting habits. The scheme is designed to remove as many barriers as possible which prevent people from trying cycling and forming new habits.
Gatersleban & Appleton (2007) Contemplating cycling to work: attitudes and perceptions in difference of change. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice.
Susthingsout is dedicated to exploring the complex range of problems encountered when driving change Driving change is a significant part of the majority of sustainability practitioner roles. Indeed, the term ‘change agents’ is increasingly used to describe such employees. While the case studies found here will benefit anyone who is attempting to drive change in their organisation, they should also… Read more →
By Laila Kasem, Senior Lecturer in the Worcester Business School
Sustainability is becoming increasingly one of those buzzwords in the business world we hear all the time. Many conferences, speeches and articles are devoted to tell firms how sustainability is essential for their growth and, in some cases, to their survival. However, many of the approaches suggested to or employed by businesses remain largely tactical. Few businesses are managing to make sustainability an integral part of their strategy although this is likely to be the approach yielding greater benefits to businesses.
This is where some new eco-entrepreneurs are setting examples. They are creating new business models by embedding sustainability into the business strategy to stand out from the heavyweight competitors in the market. Their offerings address simultaneously both commercial and sustainability needs.
For example, Zipcar, founded in the US in 2000, is now the world’s leading car sharing network with a global fleet of over 10,000 vehicles, more than 860,000 members in the US, Canada and Europe and a revenue of $238 million in 2013. Zipcar, which has been acquired by Avis for nearly $500 million in 2013, offers a smart transportation solution with a small footprint on the environment by providing its members cars when and where they need them. Such service would result in fewer cars, less congestion and less pollution in major cities.
Another eco-startup is UsedCardboardBoxes.com which, as the name suggests, rescues quality used boxes from large companies that are otherwise destined for recycling or waste and resell these boxes to both companies and home movers. At the heart of this business is the idea that reusing, rather than recycling, is the most responsible way to help the environment. Launched in 2006, the firm currently serves customers across the US and generate sales of nearly $10 million.
Zipcar and UsedCardboardBoxes.com are just two of many firms that are taking sustainability in business to a new level. While many have argued there is a business case for environmental and social initiatives, there is a stronger case for not dealing with them as add-ons, but as integral elements of the business strategy. Few established companies are able to transform their businesses to achieve such goal. Eco-entrepreneurs starting afresh, on the other hand, are better positioned to create business models with sustainability at their heart. Hence, if you are thinking of your next start-up, here is one thing to keep in mind: sustainability could be the key strategic resource that gives your business a competitive edge.
One of the major aspirations for the Fit For Life scheme, that is organised from the McClellend Centre on City Campus, is to increase the amount of exercise both students and staff do throughout the week. On the WABBA, a student fitness instruction program offered during Worcester Week to members of the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science, students have… Read more →
The University of Worcester’s parkland campus has become a focus for learning, research and volunteering involving students, staff and the local community in highlighting the importance of biodiversity on campus and managing it directly. The university has also involved local schools by publishing nature trail leaflets and pond management worksheets. It is supporting after-school projects by recording the positions of… Read more →
