Examining heating behaviours in off-campus student houses in multiple occupation This is the seventh iteration of the Energize Project, which in the past has addressed the relationship between tenants and landlords, the role that technology plays in five specific student houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), and how tenants’ habits and perceptions shape their energy consumption. This particular iteration was exciting because we were given… Read more →
Category: Community
Bike Sharing in Worcester
Woo Bikes The University of Worcester’s bike share, Woo Bikes, is looking to get staff and students to travel more sustainably. It offers both traditional pedal bicycles and electric pedal assist e-bikes to users. Woo Bikes has also been looking into getting some of their e-bikes to local businesses so that employees can use them on business trips. A Have… Read more →
Go Green Week in Worcester April 2019
Helping residents and visitors to learn simple ways to live more sustainably the University of Worcester and Worcester City Council held a city-wide Go Green Week. Focussing on promoting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created by the United Nations through a variety of events and activities. Heralded a success and promoting the 10 simple Golden Rules about living sustainably. The week… Read more →
Reducing plastic: My reusables, refillables and home mades.
Living Sustainably as a Mum Written by Tanya Carpenter Actually, I never watched Blue Planet. I had guessed the punchline already and knew it would be a depressing one (I was right). It didn’t take the Blue Planet for me to figure out that plastic doesn’t just dissolve into the ether (not without leaving behind some nasty chemicals). My journey… Read more →
Eco-Media: Communicating Green Messages
Eco-Media Communicating Green Messages To a Wide Audience John Parham is a Professor of Environment Humanities in the School of Humanities here at the University of Worcester. His research is focused on eco-media and how we can communicate green messages to a wide audience. We live in a world constantly connected. Our lives tend to consist of a lot of time… Read more →
Living Sustainably: Farming
Living Sustainably: Where does our food come from? Dr Duncan Westbury is involved with research at the University of Worcester which contributes towards making farming more sustainable. He specialises in ‘agroecosystems’ in which farmers are encouraged to work with nature as opposed to against it – this contributes greatly towards sustainability. Where does our food come from? An important part… Read more →
How to Make a Digital Impact; Go Green Week 2019 (Free Talk)
Build organic ranking in search engines; develop digital campaigns to share information about your services; sell your products online; attract more volunteers to sign up to campaigns. The University is providing a FREE TALK to all charities, organisations and businesses who are supporting Go Green Week, 2019 to help you with your digital presence. The session is delivered by Wendy… Read more →
Unlocking the River Severn – citizen science and young volunteers
Hello! We are students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), located in Worcester, Massachusetts in the USA. We were in Worcester, UK to complete a project as part of our degree requirements. The four of us that make up this team are in our third of four years of university. We are working with the Severn Rivers Trust (SRT) on their Unlocking the Severn project,… Read more →
E-Bike share in Worcester
Operating on the University of Worcester campus since 2012, an investment from the WLEP, Worcestershire County Council and Worcester City Council has now blossomed into a successful bike share of 100 bikes, 50 are Gtech electric bikes. Known as Woo Bikes this 2 year pilot is investigating the impact of e-bikes to the fleet and is working with large employers… Read more →
A Review of the Energize Worcester: Phase II Project
American Students Collaborating to Combat Energy Inefficiency in Student HMO Properties For the past 8 weeks, students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the United States have been working with the University of Worcester to continue the Energize Worcester project, a sustainability project that has been going on for a few years. The team wanted to further understand both student perceptions… Read more →
Why we need to revive our traditional orchards
Interview by Wendy Corbett. Words by Rebecca Lashley. Sound design by Kevin Jenkins. Rebecca Lashley, Worcestershire County Council’s Biodiversity Officer, discusses the ecology and wildlife of traditional orchards in Worcestershire and the work the County Council is doing to promote these ancient and valuable habitats. The boom in orchard planting and fruit production in Worcestershire throughout the 1800s and into the… Read more →
Children Learn About Sustainability at University of Worcester’s Annual Skills for Tomorrow Event
Children from across Worcestershire learnt about how they could make a difference to the environment at an annual University of Worcester-run event involving local charities and businesses. The Skills for Tomorrow event saw pupils from local schools engage in interactive activities and workshops, introducing them to a variety of real world environmental issues surrounding sustainability, and quiz businesses about their… Read more →
Why does dairy farming need to become more sustainable?
Dairy farming is not a special case; all industries should become more sustainable. Taken at the most basic level, we shall eventually run out of fossil fuels so it would be irresponsible not to develop alternative sources of energy. Dairy farming gives the opportunity to use the waste matter produced by the cattle to generate the electricity to run the farm.… Read more →
Citizens need key competencies for a sustainable world
There is a new discourse emerging within the education and learning for sustainability community, which argues that citizens need to have certain key competencies that allow them to engage constructively and responsibly with an increasingly complex and unsustainable world. As one recent authorative UNESCO report suggests, ”competencies describe the specific attributes individuals need for action and self-organization in various complex contexts and… Read more →
Midlands Sustainable Education Network – emerging leaders programme
The Midlands Sustainable Education Network Leaders Programme Launched at the EAUC 2017 conference and commencing September 2017 with the initial session at Coventry University, the programme will be delivered over a 10 month period with 5 delivered content sessions and 5 ‘action learning set’ sessions throughout the year. Led by the University of Worcester this pioneering new programme will equip emerging sustainability professionals with the essential… Read more →
Eliott and Janathan’s Gtech Review
Our Experience At The Gtech Stall We really enjoyed the Gtech presentation, especially looking at all the amazing gadgets. Our favorite gadget was the E-Bike. The Gtech E-Bike is just like a normal bike, in the sense that it is peddled in the normal way. However, this bike is assisted by a Lithium iron battery, which gives an extra boost… Read more →
Environment Audit Committee – UK Government Approach to SDG’s
ENVIRONMENT AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE UK Government’s Approach to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). The report (published 26th April 2017) is very critical of the UK Government’s approach. The summary states: By adopting Agenda 2030 the Government has committed itself to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals – or the Global Goals – in the UK as well as overseas.… Read more →
Interface – Radical Sustainability
Interface is a worldwide leader in the design and production of modular flooring products that combine beauty with functionality and environmental credentials to help businesses and organisations bring their design vision to life. 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… Read more →
Midlands School Orchid Conservation Project
As I travel to York, the majesty of the Yorkshire countryside whipping past, I notice, briefly, that everyone around me on the train is engrossed in various sized glowing screens. “What a shame”, I think as I unconsciously check my texts. This is not to suggest we should all be glued to the passing scenery, but the fact is that… Read more →
Energize Worcester – Phase II
Energize Worcester is working with local students, the National Union of Students, landlords, and Worcester, Bosch Group Ltd to tackle energy efficiency in rented student houses You can read about the successes of Phase I of the Project at http://energize-worcester.co.uk/ Note this part of the project has now completed An exciting and valuable offer of free central heating boilers and control… Read more →