Billions of people across 192 countries are encouraged to safeguard our planet and fight for a brighter future, Leicester College is highlighting its commitment to sustainable measures.

Sustainability is one of the core values in the College’s strategic plan. As part of this objective, it has identified and is introducing a series of priorities to improve the environmental and sustainable performance of the organisation in all areas, raising awareness and ensuring best practice.

Love Your Campus

As part of the ‘Love Your Campus’ campaign, the College has recently been successful in obtaining a grant of £2,000 from the Skills and Education Group Foundation’s Resource & Facilities Fund to support the creation of an accessible garden space in front of the nursery at Freemen’s Park Campus.

This work will support our Green Flag campaign (see below), as well as improving our local environment. Staff and students from Construction and Supported Learning will carry out the transformation as part of a collaborative project. You may also have noticed that we have cleared the outdoor space outside A block at Freemen’s Park Campus and are ready to start planting!

Staff and students working towards sustainability.

A team of Sustainability Ambassadors are in place for 2023-24 to promote practical sustainability awareness, they will be working on the following projects:

• A proposal for a collaborative cross college sustainability awareness event and conference is being considered for next academic year. The event will also feature informative presentations and practical workshops to inspire and educate students and staff about sustainability practices.
• The creation of outdoor mindfulness hubs for a place of reflection and peace. Students from different areas of the college will be involved in the creation of these spaces.
• Three Votes4Colleges topics have been delivered around global citizenship and sustainability collation of best practice resources to promote awareness of green issues and principles, to be shared with staff over the coming months.
• Our work experience team have been facilitating employer-led projects and events to cultivate awareness of sustainability issues, exemplify eco-friendly practices and encourage environmental consciousness among students and staff and, where possible, the wider community.
• ESOL students are working on an Enterprise Challenge with Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, community work at Saffron Acres Aylestone Allotment, maintaining green spaces and parks with Leicester City Council Environmental Rangers and have a plan to grow plants from seed, focusing on flowers or herbs, to develop environmental awareness.
• Launch Pad students are involved in a social action sustainability project.
• Level 2 Engineering and Motor Vehicle students are engaged in a sustainable ‘green’ vehicle challenge project that aims to foster creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, while encouraging students to address real-world sustainability challenges in the automotive industry. The objective of this project is to design a sustainable and environmentally friendly vehicle specifically tailored to meet the demands and regulations of the UK market.
• Level 1 Business students have had guest talks from Friends of the Earth, Climate Action, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and The Conservation Volunteers, and are completing a project to introduce more wildlife spaces onto the college campuses.
• Level 1 Computing and Travel and Tourism students are being supported by Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust to take part in the Wildlife Challenge, which includes a nature scoping walk of areas close to Abbey Park Campus and identify areas for development. The Eco-Challenge involves students decorating plant pots and planting bulbs the plants will be positioned in designated classrooms and staffrooms.
• In Construction, planning is underway to implement level 1 and 2 award in Environmental Sustainability in the 2024-25 academic year across all Construction On-Site programmes. The Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) will support investment in new facilities and equipment for delivery of smart green construction. Other programmes are being developed in all subject areas such as:

– Climate change and greenhouse gas emission,

– Pollution and waste management

– Understanding the impact of the construction industry and organisations on the natural environment,

– How to encourage biodiversity

– Habitats and eco-systems

– Energy conservation and efficient buildings and structures

– Introduction to renewable energy, considering the use of fossil fuel.

• In Access programmes, the area is transitioning to online portfolios and work storage and submission. All staff have received digital sustainability training.