Friday 04-10-2024 - 10:33

Undeb Bangor (Bangor University Students’ Union) has been awarded the Green Impact Excellence Award in the Green Impact Students’ Unions 2023-24. This is the highest level you can achieve. Green Impact is a United Nations award-winning programme designed to support environmentally and socially sustainable practice in your organisation.

 This is the fourteenth consecutive year Undeb Bangor has received this award due to the efforts of its staff, officers, and students in addressing key sustainability and environmental issues, as well as working to embed positive sustainability changes at Bangor University.

The Students’ Union has created a Sustainability Policy (2024-27) and SMART Plan (2024-25) to highlight our commitment to sustainability, priority areas relating to sustainability, and specific actions we will take to improve our sustainability in eight key areas.

Josie Ball, Volunteering & Community Coordinator, said, “Sustainability is at the heart of what we do. We’re continuously working to evaluate our impact and embed environmental, economic, and social sustainability ways of thinking and practices into our work. It’s inspiring to work with members of staff and a Sabbatical Officer Team who are passionate about different areas of sustainability and to see this reflected in the projects, events, and campaigns we deliver.”

To achieve this award this year, we have delivered a number of social and environmental sustainability campaigns, including Waste Awareness Week, Fairtrade Week, Volunteering Week, and a Sexual Health Campaign. As part of these campaigns, we have organized beach cleans supported by over 50 volunteers, Repair Cafés where volunteers fixed 30 items, and Clothes Swaps where over 280 items were exchanged.

Josie continues, “We support and encourage an incredible student community that works on their own projects to support fellow students, our local community, and the environment all year round. Our new Sustainability Challenge is designed to take our commitment and impact to the next level, encouraging all student groups to reflect on their sustainability in four key areas and make small, achievable changes to their operations.”

This year, we also support over 38 student groups, including Student Networks, Societies, and Volunteering Projects, to deliver activities that benefit our local community and environment. We launched our student-led Hot Meals Project, which provides 50-80 free hot meals to members of the community every Saturday.

Undeb Bangor is looking forward to developing it's sustainability work further this coming year and working with students and officers to achieve their sustainability goals.