Frida Winbom

Uppsats för avläggande av kandidatexamen i naturvetenskap15 hp

Institutionen för biologi och miljövetenskapGöteborgs universitet

Student involvement in sustainable development at the university - Proposal for increased student participation in a Green Office at the University of Gothenburg

Summary

Universities and colleges have a key role in helping society towards a sustainable development. The University of Gothenburg (GU) works actively and systematically within the environmental and sustainability field. The university has an action plan for environment and sustainable development, where one target is Student participation. The plan is to be revised, and new goals are to be set, taking effect 2016, and it is of interest to make an inventory and analyze how this work can be developed at the University of Gothenburg. The aim of this study was to prepare a proposal on how the University of Gothenburg can improve the participation of students to strengthen its sustainability efforts. This has been done by an inventory on the sustainability work that is already being performed at GU by staff and students, by comparing how other universities (national and international) works to increase student participation and by studying existing literature within the field. Since universities are leaders in education and research they have a potential to lead the way towards sustainability and by empowering their students to be a part of this change, they teach them not only by telling and reading, but also by acting. The proposal for GU is to cooperate with Chalmers University of Technology and together establish a student-led and staff-supported Sustainability Office, inspired by the Green Office concept. The office consists of student from every faculty, employed by the universities, and will work as a link between the decision makers of the university and the users of it, as well as a link between the university and the society. Key-words: Sustainability, Higher Education, Green Office, University of Gothenburg, student involvement

II

Sammanfattning

Universitet och högskolor har en nyckelroll i samhällets omställning för hållbar utveckling. Göteborgs universitet (GU) verkar aktivt och systematiskt inom dessa frågor och har en handlingsplan för miljö och hållbar utveckling. En av aspekterna i handlingsplanen är studentmedverkan. Planen ska nu omarbetas och nya mål sättas vilka börjar gälla 2016. Därför är det av intresse att inventera och analysera hur arbetet vid Göteborgs universitet kan utvecklas. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att lägga fram ett förslag på hur Göteborgs universitet kan öka studenternas medverkan och stärka hållbarhetsarbetet. Detta har genomförts genom att inventera det hållbarhetsarbete som utförs vid GU av anställda och studenter. Därutöver jämföra hur andra universitet (nationellt och internationellt) arbetar med ökad studentmedverkan inom hållbarhet och studera litteratur inom området. Eftersom universitet är ledande i utbildning och forskning har de potential att visa vägen mot hållbarhet. Genom att inkludera studenter till att bli en del av omställningen utbildar universitetet inte enbart utifrån föreläsningar och läsande, utan också genom handling. Förslaget till Göteborgs universitet är att samarbeta med Chalmers tekniska högskola och tillsammans med dem etablera ett Sustainability Office, som leds av studenter och stöds av de anställda, inspirerat av Green Office konceptet. Kontoret ska bestå av studenter från varje fakultet, anställda av universiteten på förslagsvis 10 timmar/veckan, och fungera som en länk mellan beslutsfattarna vid universitetet och studenterna, samt som en länk mellan universitetsvärlden och resten av samhället. Nyckelord: Hållbarhet, högre utbildning, Green Office, Göteborgs universitet, studentmedverkan

III

Preface

This document comprises the bachelor thesis of Frida Winbom in the field of Environmental Sciences at the department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg. The project constitutes 15 credits. The study was conducted on behalf of the Environmental Unit at the University of Gothenburg. Supervision has been provided by Göran Dave, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, and Moa Persson, Environmental coordinator at the Environmental Unit, University of Gothenburg. The study is based on qualitative research design as that seemed like the most applicable method. It should be noted that the study also is action research because the author belongs to the group of students who are interested in increasing student participation in sustainable development at the University of Gothenburg. During her studies she has been involved as a founder and Board Member in the association Science Students for Sustainability (SciSS) and she has also been involved in brainstorming sessions with other student associations about creating some kind of Green Office. First of all I would like to thank my supervisors for motivation, help and advices. Moa Persson, thank you for inspiring me to write a thesis in this subject and Göran Dave, thank you for being able to finish it in time. I would also like to direct my gratitude towards the students engaged in sustainability at GU and Chalmers, your efforts are amazing, thank you for involving me in what you do! Thank you RootAbility, especially Felix Spira, Ragnar Martens and Georg Liebig. A big thank you to the Environmental unit, for your advises, inspiration and the fantastic height adjustable desk board. Thanks, all universities answering my questions, especially Björn Idlinge at Linneaus University, as you were the first one to show your support. And not to forget; my classmates, friends and Christian for always being there for me. Without you all, this study would never have been written. Göteborg, 2015-05-26 Frida Winbom

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Abbreviations CSS – Chalmers Students for Sustainability

EMAS – Eco Management and Audit Scheme

GMV – the Centre for Environment and Sustainability

GO – Green Office

GSSA – Gothenburg Student Sustainability Alliance

GU – University of Gothenburg

HASS – Handels Students for Sustainability

HB – University of Borås

HUSS – Humanisten Students for Sustainability

ISCN – International Sustainable Campus Network

LiU – Linköping University

LNU – Linneaus University

MLUH – Miljöledning vid Universitet och Högskolor

SASS – Sahlgrenska Academy Students for Sustainability

SciSS – Science Students for Sustainability

VGR – Region Västra Götaland

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

V

Table of Contents

SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................. I SAMMANFATTNING ......................................................................................................................... II PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................ III ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... V 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................... 2 2. METHODS ........................................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 LITERATURE STUDY .................................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 INVENTORY ON SUSTAINABILITY WORK AT GU ................................................................................... 3 2.3 INVENTORY ON STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY ASSOCIATIONS AT GU ................................................... 3 2.4 HOW OTHER UNIVERSITIES WORK ......................................................................................................... 3 2.5 FORMULATING A PROPOSAL .................................................................................................................... 4 3. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 4 3.1 STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY ........................... 4

3.1.1 Sustainability in Higher Education ............................................................................................. 5 3.1.2 Student involvement .......................................................................................................................... 5 3.1.3 Students sustainability organizations ....................................................................................... 7

4. RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................... 8 4.1 THE EXISTING SUSTAINABILITY WORK OF GU ...................................................................................... 8 4.2 THE EXISTING STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AT GU ..............................................................................10 4.3 OTHER UNIVERSITIES EXPERIENCES ....................................................................................................12 4.3.1 In Sweden .............................................................................................................................................. 13 4.4.2 Globally .................................................................................................................................................. 16 4.4 TOWARDS A SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE .................................................................................................19

5. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 20 6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................ 23 7. DELIMITATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 24 8. FURTHER RESEARCH ................................................................................................................ 24 9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 26 APPENDIX A – TABLE OF SWEDISH UNIVERSITIES STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS ......................................................................................................... 28 APPENDIX B – SWOT ANALYSIS FROM WEIDNER (2014) ................................................ 31 APPENDIX C – RESULTS FROM THE WORKSHOP ................................................................. 36

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1. Introduction

Universities and colleges have a key role in helping society towards a sustainable

development (Nolin 2015). This role includes both the education of students in

sustainability and research within the field, but also to decrease the university’s own

impact on the environment.

The Swedish Higher Education Act have established that ”In the course of their

operations, higher education institutions shall promote sustainable development to

assure for present and future generations a sound and healthy environment, economic

and social welfare, and justice.” (SFS 1992:1434, chapter 1, paragraph 5)

The term sustainable development was defined as “meeting the needs and aspirations

of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their needs” in the Brundtland report, Our Common Future 1987. The report

emphasize that the term Sustainable Development includes three dimensions –

ecologic, economic and social sustainability.

University of Gothenburg (GU) works actively and systematically within the

environmental and sustainability field. The university has an action plan for

environment and sustainable development. One target is Student participation

(University of Gothenburg 2012b). When the plan is to be revised, and new goals are

to be set, it is of interest to make an inventory and analyze how this work can be

developed at the University of Gothenburg by comparing and get inspiration from

how other universities (national and international) works to increase student

participation.

At the Environmental unit and at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability

(GMV) discussions are being held about the organization of the sustainability work in

the future. One ambition from the university is to increase the students’ engagement

and involvement. One idea that has been mentioned is to establish a Green Office

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which is a concept spreading among European universities since a few years back and

which the students in Gothenburg have shown interest in.

There are several student organizations at GU that focus on sustainability, such as the

Handels Students for Sustainability (HASS), the Sahlgrenska Academy Students for

Sustainability (SASS) and the Science Students for Sustainability (SciSS).

1.2 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this study was to prepare a proposal on how the University of Gothenburg

can improve the participation of students to strengthen its sustainability efforts.

The main research objectives were:

1. Does student involvement in sustainable development at the university act as a

driver of sustainability?

2. What does the existing sustainability work at GU consist of and where does it want

to be in the future?

3. What does the existing student organizations work consist of and how can their

efforts be strengthened, coordinated and developed?

4. How do other universities work with these questions - nationally and

internationally? What strengths and what challenges are they facing?

2. Methods

For this study a literature study on sustainable development at universities was

performed and a case-study of the existing sustainability works at the University of

Gothenburg in order to reach the aim of the study.

2.1 Literature study

The literature study was based on previous studies on sustainable development at

universities with focus to answer the first sub-question. The studies were found by

searching Web of Science, google scholar, Journal of Sustainability in Higher

Education, studies from the Environmental unit at GU and by contacting RootAbility

– an organization working to spread the Green Office concept to increase

sustainability at institutions of higher education (RootAbility.com).

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2.2 Inventory on sustainability work at GU

To map out the existing sustainability work at GU an inventory was performed. The

inventory was conducted by reading the Action Plan 2011-2015, the annual follow-

ups and information at University of Gothenburg's website.

In addition an interview has been conducted with the environmental manager at GU

Eddi Omrcen, focusing on future vision for GU and the value of increasing student

involvement.

2.3 Inventory on student sustainability associations at GU

The study of the existing students associations sustainability work was done by

regularly attending the Gothenburg Sustainability Student Alliance (GSSA) meetings.

GSSA connects sustainability student organizations in Gothenburg. At the meetings

the organizations inform each other about their work and what they plan for the

future.

2.4 How other universities work

The collection of information about how other universities work with student

participation both national and international was conducted by contacting different

networks that consist of universities working with sustainable development. To reach

as many as possible in the limited time of this study the Swedish universities was

contacted by email through the network environmental management at universities

and colleges (MLUH) and universities and colleges that work with these questions

have been further contacted.

The international universities and colleges were searched through the International

Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) that annually awards a university for its work

with Student Leadership. ISCN was contacted to provide a list of universities who

reached the final round for the award.

An email was also sent to the network Sustainability International, which is an

independent network managed by John Bailey, Sustainability Manager at University

of London connecting universities and colleges working with sustainability. Other

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universities contributing to the study were found through other studies or by personal

contacts.

2.5 Formulating a proposal

In order to propose a structure that would be appropriate for GU, ongoing work on

student participation in sustainable development at universities and was studied and

strengths versus weaknesses were identified.

Qualitative interviews with selected universities, Student Associations and persons

that are considered to be successful with student participation have been performed in

order to collect deeper knowledge about the subject.

Since students have shown interest in increasing their participation at the university a

workshop was performed in order to involve all interested in the process, to generate

ideas of what a future Sustainability Office might look like and to collect ideas and

thoughts for increased student participation. Leading the workshop was Ragnar

Martens, part of the organization RootAbility and Georg Liebig from Green Office

Berlin. Participating was students from GU and Chalmers, Eddi Omrcen

environmental manager of GU, Katarina Gårdfeldt of GMV, Moa Persson

environmental coordinator at GMV/the environmental unit at GU and Rita Grandér

environmental coordinator at Sahlgrenska Academy.

3. Literature review

3.1 Student involvement in sustainable development at the university

There is little research done in the exact field of student participation in sustainable

development at universities in general. Sustainable higher education in itself is still an

emerging field of study and practice. The literatures that exist do acknowledge the

universities role as drivers in the society’s transformation towards sustainability

(Weidner 2014). As for literature regarding student participation at schools there is

support for increased involvement of students, even if some studies investigate

student participation in elementary schools (Levin 2000, Fletcher 2003, Grannon-

Leray 2011).

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3.1.1 Sustainability in Higher Education

The first role of universities are to educate, the second to perform research and the

third is under debate. Gunasekara (2004) lists community service, regional

development, regional engagement, regional innovations organization and academic

entrepreneurialism as five examples as has been mentioned as the third role. Now

however, universities roles toward a sustainable society is proposed as a forth role for

the universities to emphasize (Kilkis 2014).

Waas et. al. (2012) states that campuses should function as “learning laboratories”, to

provide experience of sustainable communities. Waas finds that the institutions of

higher education’s societal mandate of advanced knowledge and educated leaders

provide them a moral responsibility to contribute to the societal need for sustainable

development. Excellence and innovation in sustainability should therefore be the

center and moral vision of the institutions.

Nicolescu (2006) wrote, “Universities are the ones educating the future elites of a

country. What they teach and what they do not teach may make or break a nation’s

future and well-being.”

If the universities want to educate their students for life Cortese (2003) remarks that

for a lasting remembrance of knowledge, skills and values we remember 80% from

how we act and solely 10 to 20% from the parts we hear or read.

3.1.2 Student involvement

There are practical arguments to increase student involvement in education reform.

Levin (2000) lists five reasons that comprise the commonly used arguments in the

debate.

1. Effective implementation of change requires participation by and buyin from all those involved, students no less than teachers; 2. Students have unique knowledge and perspectives that can make reform efforts more successful and improve their implementation; 3. Students’ views can help mobilize staff and parent opinion in favour of meaningful reform; 4. Constructivist learning, which is increasingly important to high standards reforms, requires a more active student role in schooling;

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5. Students are the producers of school outcomes, so their involvement is fundamental to all improvement Levin (2000)

When working for a sustainable development at the university the students are a part

of that transformation. Schools tend to view differently at their students and refer to

them as everything from ‘a passive crowd in need to be formed’ to ‘actors to be taken

seriously’ (Levin 2000). But regardless what view the school are using, students are

still the producers of school outcome, and therefore an important part of the all

fundamental school improvement (Levin 2000). The view will though influence in

what way the students are included. Grannon-Leary (2011) finds that students

interviewed in her study, even though they are in the role of student representatives,

feel that their opinion in councils and boards does not matter, if not backed up by

staff. In that case student participation is more as “tokenism” than a real driver for

change.

Weidner (2014) studied the value added of student participation in sustainable

development and states that to involve students is to involve energy, new ideas and

enthusiasm. Ahmad (quoted in Weidner 2014) wrote however, that participation in

projects is not enough for students to become socially and environmentally

responsible. He advocates instead the involvement of students as planners or

managers of the projects.

Wallnér (2015) wrote about the Chalmers students sustainability organization CSS

and their collaboration with the university which has provided a ”successful tool in

regard of accelerating the development towards aware and motivated students”.

Wallnér argues that without the student organization Chalmers University of

Technology wouldn't have been where it is today regarding sustainability. In

decisions concerning sustainability work at the university Chalmers has invited CSS

to participate in association with the management, which has made CSS feeling

appreciated by the school and motivated them to continue to take part of the

organization.

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Grandin (2010) problematized education for sustainable development as a

generational issue. Our understanding of the world and our frames to what is possible

is shaped by the education we have learned and its view of knowledge. The students

of today will have to play an active part in the transformation towards a sustainable

society; as if not succeeded, they will suffer the greatest consequences.

In presence of this transformation it is hard to determine what kind of knowledge and

skills that will be needed. The technical, social, political and cultural solutions and

strategies to achieve and maintain sustainable development are in need to be further

developed. Therefore students have to be given the active role as producers of

knowledge. To not get stuck in old frames of knowledge, education must include

students as visionaries and creative thinkers, as it is in these processes, new

possibilities and options are found (Grandin 2010).

Spira (2013) concluded “Change agents can come from students, research, operational

staff, or higher management. They have multiple tools at their disposal to alter

organizational structures and cultures. Among others, change agents can try to kick-

start the process through an assessment, vision, research project, carbon management

plan or lobby work to influence higher education policies in general.” He states that

there are multiple options to approach sustainability and that all change agents should

be aware of that.

3.1.3 Students sustainability organizations

Spira (2012) wrote in Sowing sprouts to engender greener universities about

challenges that students organizations working for sustainability are facing. The result

of his research proposed that there are five internal challenges that the organizations

tend to face; “lack of people, knowledge, time, funding and difficulties with establish

an efficient internal organization.”

Lack of people is a challenge expressing itself in not being enough people to realize

all project the student organization want to perform, problems recruiting new

members, lack of leaders and the fast “turnover of students”. (Spira 2012)

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Wallnér (2015) tried to figure out why CSS have become a success and states that the

organization of working in smaller groups have generated more opportunities for

students to be a part of the creative process. The flat and open format of CSS is

another important structural asset which has opened up for opportunities to participate

in discussions and make inputs. CSS is more than a platform where you “arrange and

digest speeches”, it is a creative atmosphere where interested individuals meet

(Wallnér 2015).

Depending on what kind of activity the organizations are focusing on the challenges,

of course, can be different. Spira (2012) divides the activities into three different

groups depending on what target group the activity is focusing on. There is 1.

Student-to-student outreach, 2. Student-to-university advocacy and 3. Student-and-

staff projects.

4. Results

4.1 The existing sustainability work of GU

The University of Gothenburg has a vision document Vision 2020 where the long-

term aims to enable continued successful development within the timeframe 2013-

2020 is formulated. In the vision the university writes;

“Sustainable development is important to us; we always consider the long-term social, economic and ecological consequences and allow them to guide our operations.”

By 2020 GU aims to be involved in close cooperation with the city of Gothenburg and

its surroundings, work with sustainable development and function as a prized provider

of knowledge.

The university is environmentally certified by ISO 14001 and Eco-Management and

audit Scheme (EMAS) since 2006 and is continuously working for improvement. GU

celebrated ten years of certification 2014 and was ranked in top position when the

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency reported on environmental management in

the state (Naturvårdsverket, 2015). As a part of the certification GU have an

Environmental policy with five aims, where the first one is specifically connected to

sustainable development;

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“University of Gothenburg will be one of the leading universities in Europe in

education and research within sustainable development and environmental sciences”

(University of Gothenburg 2008)

To make the aims in the Vision 2020 and the Environmental Policy achievable GU

does continuously work with action plans for environment and sustainable

development, the current action plan is valid 2011-2015. The action plan is based on

the ecological aspects of sustainable development, but also includes some social and

economic dimensions. The aim is to focus on the activities and operations within the

university with most considerable impact on the environment (University of

Gothenburg 2012b).

The target areas in the Action Plan are Research, Education, Collaboration with the

society, Student participation, Capacity building, Climatic influence, Use of

resources, Chemical substances and Environmental risks. All aims in the current

Action Plan shall be implemented by 2015-12-31 (University of Gothenburg 2012b).

At GU’s homepage the university states that education and research is its most

important part to reach sustainable development. “By systematically integrating

sustainable development into research, education and collaboration, as well as in daily

operations, we contribute to sustainable development” (University of Gothenburg

2015).

The University-wide aim in the target area Student Participation is to increase the

number of activities and collaborative projects in sustainable development. The

university director is responsible to realize that students are informed about exchange

opportunities with industry and the public sector in sustainable development, to

communicate the university’s work with sustainability, to support initiatives from

students within sustainability, to engage students in the university’s sustainability

work and to develop the cooperation between Miljöbron and the student unions.

(University of Gothenburg 2012b).

GMV is in charge to, in cooperation with the environmental unit and the student

sustainability organizations annually arrange the theme day “Studentdagen

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Hållbarhet” for students with focus on sustainable development and are also

responsible to provide for students working for sustainability (University of

Gothenburg 2012b).

Eddi Omrcen proposed, as environmental manager at GU, that since there are 37000

students studying at the university, it is of high importance to educate them in

sustainability. To involve some students to participate in different projects and

initiatives will give the efforts higher significance. There is also great potential and

power of students that operates on other students. The chances increase that the

efforts will focus on the right issues and that arrangement feels more right, based on

the students' perspective (personal communication, 2015-05-25).

It should be noted, that 37000 students are not a homogenous group, but have as many

perspectives and desires as there are individuals. The challenge is to organize and

structure this force without extinguish the engagement (Eddi Omrcen, personal

communication, 2015-05-25).

4.2 The existing student organizations at GU

The sustainability work managed by students at the University of Gothenburg consist

mainly of different student organizations, as mentioned earlier, but also by groups

running campaigns and non-profit organizations who connect companies and outside

actors with the skills of students interested in sustainability.

The environmental unit at GU initiated network meetings for the different student

groups within sustainability at GU and Chalmers during the spring 2013 for the

students to meet and inspire each other. Since then, meetings has been held once a

month. After some months the network of student groups decided to call themselves

Gothenburg Sustainability Student Alliance, GSSA. All attendants are listed in Table

1.

The student organizations HaSS, SASS and SciSS are connected to the Student

Unions. The different faculties are managed by different unions and the collaboration

between them are sometimes lacking. SASS is connected to Sahlgrenska Academy

(SAKS), HaSS to Handelshögskolan i Göteborg Studentkår (HHGS) and SciSS to

Göta Studentkår.

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The student organizations are performing lectures, debates, workshops and seminars

about subjects related to sustainability. Since students in different subjects have

formed different organizations they tend to organize activities with different

perspectives. HaSS which are seated at the school of business, economics and law has

arranged lectures about economy, sustainable cities and companies, while SASS

seated at the Medical school has focused on food, waste and campaigns for meat-free-

onedays at the restaurants at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

Table 1. Student sustainability associations that regularly attend to GSSA Student Organizations Examples of Actions

HaSS, Handels Students for

Sustainability

Perform lectures, seminars and debates and a study trip every summer.

Founded in 2012.

SASS, Sahlgrenska Academy

Students for Sustainability

Meet-free one-days, movie nights, food rescue parties and seminars.

Founded in 2012.

CSS, Chalmers Students for

Sustainability

Lectures, bicycle days, seminars, food rescue parties, debates, HOME

project. Founded in 2001.

SciSS, Science Students for

Sustainability

Starting up spring 2015, plan to have a night with focus on sustainable

food consumption

HuSS, Humanisten Students

for Sustainability Starting up spring 2015, arranging a clothes swapping event

Fossil Free GU Students at GU who work with that campaign Fossil free to get the

university to divest.

Euro Enviro 2015 A subgroup of HaSS, organizing a symposium for students mainly

from Europe with the theme "Catalyst for Change"

Engineers Without Borders Part of the international organization. Arrange a series of lunch

lectures “The Reflecting Engineer” together with CSS

Sustainergies

A non-profit organization that brings together students and

companies/organizations to work together on sustainability, CSR and

responsibility.

Miljöbron

A non-profit organization working as a link between company's need

for knowledge in sustainable business and students studying in the

environmental field.

Chalmers Sustainability

Ambassadeurs

2 employed students working with communicating sustainable

development and Chalmers environmental and sustainable efforts to

the students

Student-representative

MISAM

Representative at GU council with environmental coordinators from

the faculties and the environmental unit

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Other types of activities runned by the organizations are food rescue parties, a field

trip arranged in the summer to a city working with sustainability in some specific

way, movie nights etc.

This year a subgroup of HaSS organized a one week long symposium for students

from all over Europe with the theme "Catalyst for Change". 60 participants will meet

up in Gothenburg to connect and go to seminars, workshops and lectures and talk

about how sustainability is reachable (Euro Enviro 2015).

The student group Fossil Free GU campaigns to make the university divest. Fossil

free GU is a part of the global international network Fossil free who argues “If it is

wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage” and the

Fossil Free Movement campaigns all over the world for organizations, institutions and

governments to divest in fossil fuels (Fossil Free 2015).

With other words there is no lack of activities for students who want to learn about

sustainability outside of their program, and with collaboration with Chalmers Students

for Sustainability (CSS) the list of events is even longer.

University of Gothenburg cooperates with the non-profit organization Miljöbron (“the

environmental bridge” directly translated from Swedish). Miljöbron serve as a link

between companies in need for knowledge in sustainable business and students

interested in the environmental field. Miljöbron provides assignments, internships and

thesis subjects. They make students gain practical experience of the labour market

before finishing their studies. (Miljöbron 2015)

The Student Unions is providing student representatives for the environmental council

held with environmental coordinators and the environmental unit at GU.

4.3 Other universities experiences

The following section aims at mapping how other universities in Sweden are working

with student participation within sustainability, as well as describing good examples

of student participation from universities worldwide.

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4.3.1 In Sweden

To map the student participation among other Swedish universities, a questioner was

sent out to the universities. From the response of the questionnaires there is a wide

range about how much the university has engaged themselves in the environmental

and sustainability field.

To categorize the response, the universities different methods of student involvement

were divided into four groups:

• Student representatives in environmental or sustainability boards,

• Staff initiative projects

• Student organization/initiatives

• Collaboration with the city/region or organization outside the university.

By total there were fourteen universities (fifteen with GU included) and colleges that

responded to the questionnaire, which in itself is a low response and have resulted in

that a lot of Swedish universities are not included in this study. Out of these fifteen

answers one responded that there are no students involved in these questions at their

university.

Eight (nine with GU) responded that they have students as representatives in their

boards regarding environmental or sustainability questions.

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Six (seven with GU included) have student organizations working with these

questions; either sustainability, environmental or fair trade organizations have been

counted. In addition to three universities (four with GU) have students who work for

an establishment of a Green Office.

Six (seven with GU) universities have some kind of initiative managed by staff in

order to increase student participation and engagement in sustainability at the

university.

Five (six with GU) have cooperation with an external actor. Five collaborates with

Miljöbron and two reports that students and the university are cooperating with the

city/municipality/region.

Since the questionnaire was sent to staff members working with the environmental

management systems there is a possibility that they do not know everything that is

going on at the university in this field. Especially student initiatives that aim to reach

students are examples where their information could be limited, which some of the

respondents pointed out. In Appendix A, a table of the universities actions is added.

4.3.1.1 The unique methods Most universities that work with these questions have found their own method to

include the students.

Chalmers Sustainability Ambassadors

Chalmers University of technology has hired two students to be ambassadors for a

sustainable future. Their task is to improve Chalmers internal sustainability efforts by

creating a channel that targets the students at Chalmers. This is done by using social

media posting pictures and texts messages but also by cooperation with student

associations and arranging events for the students. The sustainability ambassadors are

paid for 1-2 days work a month and they are organizationally located at Chalmers

Environmental Unit, reporting to the Environmental Manager (Chalmers 2014).

Uppsalas Cemus

The Center for Environment and Development Studies (CEMUS) is part of Uppsala

Centre for Sustainable Development. It was a student initiative that led to the

founding of CEMUS in the beginning of the nineties to promote interdisplinary

15

research and education for sustainable development. Twenty years later the focus at

CEMUS is on “comprehensive understanding of our current world’s most pertinent

survival issues”. Since its inception, students have continuously been employed in

close collaboration with researchers and teachers, to shape and coordinate the courses

(Hald 2011).

The education at CEMUS offers courses within sustainability, environment and

development studies and is meant to be a complementation to other courses and

programs at Uppsala University and the Swedish university pf Agricultural Sciences.

But CEMUS is much more than education. The center does also include CEMUS

Forum who “organizes open lectures, an annual Sustainability festival, film showings,

discussions, workshops and a variety of other events” and CEMUS Roots a ”dynamic

and self-governing student-run group, inclusive to all.” (CEMUS 2015)

Linnaeus University – Student project

The Student project or “the student project in sustainable development” is a

possibility for students at Linnaeus University (LNU) to apply for funding for a

sustainable project they want to perform. The project shall not interfere with

education but stand for itself. The first time it was carried out was the autumn of

2014, and is now running in a second version spring 2015. In total there are 20 000

Swedish crowns to apply for and the money should go directly to the project, rather

than wages. The initiative have taken little effort for the promoters to put through and

have led to a cloth-swapping event, a business fair with sustainability theme and a

fashion show with second hand clothes and book-swapping-books, to mention some

of them.

University of Borås cooperation with the region, Hållbar Student

At present the University of Borås(HB) are managing a Region Västra Götaland

(VGR)-agreement about climate friendly lifestyle of young adults. The university of

Borås part in this project is to engage students as climate ambassadors and the

employment of a student coordinator. The main task for the climate ambassadors is to

coordinate, communicate sustainability efforts to other students and to launch some

student activities. The ambassadors cooperate with the city of Borås, Miljöbron and to

a small extent with students from other universities. The student coordinator now

16

coordinates the ambassadors but the goal is that they will be an independent and a

consisting student network for sustainability.

Linköping University’s Green Sections

Linköping University (LiU) has chosen to address all student sections in college and

made it possible for them to work systematically with environmental work by being a

part of something they call Green Sections. Being a Green Section is to

environmentally adapt their section activities in accordance with established criteria

and through their own improvement, but also by spreading knowledge of

environmental issues to the students within the section. The criterias are for example

to take care of hazardous waste, make sure to buy organic coffee and to select a

person who is responsible for and works actively for these questions. The student

sections that meet the criteria receives a patch for their effort.

4.4.2 Globally

International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) awards a student initiative for

their efforts in creating sustainability at the university. Among the winners both

Maastricht University and University of Exeter stood out as interesting proposals that

GU could be searching for and both turned out to be part of the Green Office

Movement (ISCN, 2015a, 2015b).

The aim when starting this study was to identify universities nominated for the awards

in order to find universities that work with this questions. This proved to be

unworkable, since the person in charge for the awards never responded.

Table 2. ISCN award winners in the category "Excellence in Student Leadership" Year Award Winner

2010 University of Amsterdam, CO2 Neutral Computer Room

2011 -

2012 Maastricht University, “Green Office” project

2013 Zhejiang University, Green Truth Program

2014 University of Exeter, Students Green Unit

17

4.4.2.1 The Green Office Movement

The Green Office Movement started in Maastricht University in 2010 where the first

Green Office (GO) was created. The GO was then an experiment to make the

sustainability efforts at Maastricht University more dynamic and to give students

access to the university, but has now turned into an international movement engaging

students and staff all over Europe. At present twelve Green Offices have been

implemented and another fourteen is on its way being established (rootAbility 2015).

Basically a GO is a student-driven and staff-supported sustainability unit. The GO

aims to improve sustainability both inside and outside the university. Weidner (2014)

lists in Study for the establishment of VU Green Office three functions that Green

Offices tend to focus on:

• To provide a platform who exchange information and connects stakeholders

concerned in sustainability

• To support the realization of initiatives and ideas that is sustainable and to

encourage sustainable projects.

• To promote cultural change and sustainability strategies at university level.

Since no university is the other alike each Green Office is unique. But in order to

preserve the essence of the GO, RootAbility (2015a) put together six Green Office

principles that then need to be adapted to the circumstances of the specific university.

RootAbility (2014) has also put together a paper Five Green Offices in comparison,

which compares how the GOs are organized, and how they are managing their

projects.

Weidner (2014) performed a SWOT-analysis on three existing Dutch Green Offices

(Maastricht University Green Office, Green Office Wageningen and Green Office

Utrecht) to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the units and

to identify the best practices for establishing a GO at VU, also situated in the

Nederland’s. In Appendix B the result is shown.

Maastricht University Green Office has the most generous budget and a position that

is more integrated at the university than Wageningen and Utrecht. At Maastricht eight

students are employed for 14 hours/week together with one PhD student (1 day/week)

18

and one environmental coordinator (0,4 FTE). The team is organized in portfolios

(Education, Research, Operations, Community, Promotion, Student coordination)

with at least one student working in each portfolio (rootAbility 2014).

Green Office Wageningen consists of four student employees and one green office

coordinator (16 hours paid). The students work 8 hours/week but are only paid for

4hours/week. Different from Maastricht the GO does not work in portfolios and are

always two students working together on each project. Facility Services (rootAbility

2014)

At Green Office Utrecht one Manager is hired for 28 hours/week to coordinate the

team, handle the finances and manages relations. The Manager works together with

six interns (12 hours/week) who receive intern salary from the university. Compared

with other GO’s the interns do not work for a minimum of a year but for 3-6months

and can be both students at Utrecht or recent graduates (rootAbility 2014).

Table 3. The six Green Office Principles (RootAbility2015a) Students and Staff: The GO needs a core-team of 5-8 student employee, 20-30 volunteers and

university staff. The team is directly responsible for running the GO.

Mandate: To be a driver of the sustainable development at the university the GO needs to

receive an official mandate – to connect actors, improve communications,

implement an action plan for example.

Resources: To ensure continuity and commitment of students and make it possible to

realize high-impact projects the GO requires the university to pay for salaries,

training, office space and project charges.

Integration: The GO requires to be a part of the institutions organizational structure and to

be supervised by a steering group. The team of the GO should be present at

relevant sustainability committees.

Collaboration: The GO collaborates closely with both internal and external stakeholders and

partners. In addition it is also a part of the international GO network.

Training: To guarantee quality and impact of the GO the student employee and volunteers

receive training from other Green Office Alumni that are engaged as

rootAbility Fellows.

19

Maastricht and Wageningen Green Offices are both placed at the facility service

department, while Green Office Utrecht is part of general administration.

Martens (in personal communication) working at RootAbility declared that none of

the current Green Offices have been established in circumstances reminding of the

ones of University of Gothenburg. But that does not mean that Gothenburg have

anything to learn from the previous examples. Weidner (2014) found in the SWOT-

analysis that despite the different approaches of the Green Offices and their different

context they are established in, a lot of the strengths and weaknesses they face are

similar.

All three of the Green Offices report that they faced problems with managing the

constant rotation of students. Simultaneously they see it as a strength as it is a way to

bring new ideas and energy to the GO. Other weaknesses reported is difficulty in

structuring their organization, the units are missing follow-up tools which have been

identified as an obstacle for an efficient management. Stakeholders’ lack of interest in

sustainable development is another difficulty when trying to raise awareness.

One of the opportunities is the growing network the green offices have created in the

Nederland’s and in Europe which has proven to be a great way to exchange

experiences and learn from each other in order to realize maximum effect in the

sustainable transition at their universities. Maastricht and Wageningen GO also report

that their collaboration with Studenten voor Morgen, a Dutch network of student

organizations, have helped them to promote their Green Office and to get in contact

with other students interested in sustainability.

Weidner (2014) also concluded that the budget given to the Green Offices indicated

how big impact the GO had at the university.

4.4 Towards a Sustainability Office

A workshop with students and staff from GU and Chalmers interested in increasing

the students participation in sustainability was held in May. The workshop focused

about the creation of a Green Office/Student Sustainability Office/Sustainability

Office/a way to integrate students in sustainability efforts.

20

Mission, Vision, Projects, Partners, Resources that this proposal would need and how

it should be integrated were discussed in smaller groups. The result is shown in the

tables in Appendix C.

Analyzing the result concludes that all seem to agree on is that the Office vision

should work for sustainability that includes and connects the university with

Gothenburg as a city, connect students and staff. The mission is proposed to be the

missing link that can fire up the initiatives among students and ensure that the

decision makers at the university hear them. In that way the Office will work as the

student’s leaders for sustainability at the university.

The students employed at the Office should preferably come from every faculty.

There is also a desire to collaborate between Chalmers and GU students working on

this together and continue the efforts of GSSA. As staff member an environmental

coordinator and an equality/accessibility/health coordinator is proposed.

Suggested location is GMV since it is already a platform for both Chalmers and GU

working for sustainable development.

When sorting the proposed actions for the Office it is possible, as Maastricht

University Green Office to sort them into different portfolios. The desire for the

Office it that it will work with education, research, integration to business and the

society, improving the campus and reach out to students.

Partners for the office includes units at GU and Chalmers, the student community and

the unions, NGO’s, different companies, and the city of Gothenburg, the region

Västra Götaland, other universities and primary and high schools.

5. Discussion

This study seeks to be a part of universities shift towards sustainable development. As

a part of this, the study has investigated in what ways universities can be a driver for

sustainability and if involving students in sustainable development is positive for its

development. The existing literature studied proposes that higher education have an

important part in society’s transformation towards sustainability and that including

students in the efforts have several advantages.

21

Since universities are leaders in education and research they have a potential to lead

the way and by empowering their students to be a part of this change they teach them

not only by telling and reading but also by acting.

The existing sustainability work at GU does today consist of several efforts especially

in ecological sustainability. There is an Action Plan for environment and sustainable

development which concludes what is to be done and states who haves the mandate to

make it happen. GU is environmentally certified by ISO14001 and EMAS since 2006

and works continuously with improvements – for example in decreasing the energy

use and cutting carbon dioxide emission. But the university states that the most

important part for sustainable development is to integrate it systematically into

education, research and in daily operations.

The University of Gothenburg is famous for its environmental management system in

Sweden. The primer function of a management system is to identify what part of the

organization that is most important to work with and search for continuous

improvement. By comparing the influence a student taught to be a sustainable actor

for change can have on society for the rest of this person life with the university in

itself decreased energy use – one year. It is clear to see why education in sustainable

development is important for the university and why GU strives to improve its efforts.

GU has a vision to be one of the leading universities in Europe in education and

research within sustainable development. To reach that vision the university needs to

include the social and economic aspects of sustainability to a greater extent than done

today. This could be done by including experts from other sectors than the

environmental parts – for example The University’s Equal Treatment Coordinator, the

new institute for tolerance, the secretariat for Gender Research and the students.

The efforts to achieve the current objectives in the Action Plan in the aspect of

Student Participation have passed various good. Communicating GU’s work with

sustainability to the students could be improved, as for to engage students in the

university’s sustainability work. While the theme day “Studentdagen Hållbarhet” is

successfully arranged every year and GMV support students working for

sustainability by offering access to their conference room.

22

By studying the students’ efforts at GU it is clear that there are several student

organizations focusing on sustainable development that collaborates with each other

and with student organizations at Chalmers. The organizations arrange a lot of

activities where the majority of them focus on communicating sustainability in

different aspects to the student community. They attract many students and raise

awareness among the attendants. The campaigns targeted towards the university for

example Sahlgrenska Students for Sustainability’s campaign towards meat-free one-

days and Fossil Free GU’s attempt to make the university divest in fossil fuels have

proven to be more difficult to implement.

The GSSA network is a strength that engages and brings students together and creates

new kinds of constellations. When increasing the students’ involvement in sustainable

development the aim is to strengthen the already excising sustainability efforts, not to

compete with them. This means that the students that are engaged today are key

persons to engage in finding a new structure. A new initiative does not need to focus

on activities for increased awareness among students, since the student organizations

are already performing those kinds of activities. But rather focus on being a

connection to reach the decision makers at the university and ease the efforts for the

students to be heard.

Other universities in Sweden have found different methods to involve students in their

sustainability work. Fourteen out of fifteen answer that they try to involve their

students, where the most common way is to integrate them by nominating a student

representative who attends relevant meetings. The result can thereby indicate that

most universities are working with these questions, even though it is possible that

universities working with student participation found it more relevant to answer the

questionnaire than universities that does not.

The study has also found methods that the universities practice, such as Linnaeus

University Student Project, Uppsalas CEMUS, Linköping University’s Green

Sections, Chalmers Sustainability Ambassadors and University of Borås collaboration

with the region.

By studying universities internationally the Green Office concept was found. A Green

Office is a student-driven and staff-supported sustainability unit at the university. The

GO aims to improve sustainability both inside and outside the university.

23

Unlike student organizations that stand for themselves, the Green Office receives

mandate to perform assignments within the organization of the university. The GO

students are employed for a specific amount of hours every week and are therefore

possible to count on in projects, unlike students in student organizations who are free

to choose if they want to be involved or not.

The Green Office model is supported by UNESCO and is spreading to universities all

over Europe. At present twelve GO’s have been successfully implemented and

another fourteen are working to be established.

6. Conclusion

The aim of this study was to prepare a proposal on how the University of Gothenburg

can improve the participation of students to strengthen its sustainability efforts. The

institutions at GU and Chalmers are spread all over Gothenburg and there is an

absence of a hub that brings them together. There are several students that wish to

develop the universities but there is no logic place to begin.

The proposal for GU is to cooperate with Chalmers and together establish a

Sustainability Office, inspired by the Green Office concept. The Sustainability Office

will be a part of taking the GO movement to Sweden. The Sustainability Office

should put an effort to reach out to Chalmers’ 11000 students and GU’s 37000 and

aim to collect all engagement and different knowledge to empower interdisciplinary

change. The Office should aim to consist of students from every faculty and will work

as a link between the decision makers of the university and the users of it, as well as a

link between the university and the society.

The idea of creating a platform where students and staff can collaborate together in

the development of education, research, integration to business and the society and

improving the campus areas have been well received by those that have been

presented to it, both students and staff.

There is also room for learning from the Swedish universities practices. One project

for the Sustainability Office could for example be to implement the concept of the

“Student Project” from LNU, as it is a great way to reach out to more students at the

24

university and creates an opportunity for already existing student organizations to get

founding for their projects.

Another project could be to let the Sustainability Office work with LiU’s structure of

“Green Sections” as it will include student organizations with other purposes than

creating sustainability to be a part of the transformation.

The Sustainability Office could also take over the responsibility for arranging the

sustainability day “Studentdagen Hållbarhet”, cooperate with the coordinators and

teachers that work with including sustainability in research and education and

motivate students to perform research in sustainable development.

When working for improvement of the education in sustainable development the

university should learn from CEMUS who have created a concept of learning in a

whole new spirit. The Sustainability Office could be a link to find students that want

to be a part of creating new ways of teaching and learning.

7. Delimitations

The largest shortcoming of the study is that this is not a large-scale survey. There is

no doubt that there are initiatives that are great, but unfortunately remain unheard off.

There was also a low frequency off respondents, especially to the international

networks, which gave no response. To include universities from all parts of the world

would create a wider perspective and generate new ideas. But due to shortage off

time, and failed attempts to create contact, this was not possible to accomplish.

8. Further Research

The results from this study have identified needs for further research;

• To analyze what the established GO have accomplished since their

establishment.

• To identify strengths and shortcomings more frequently in the Swedish

universities different models.

25

• To look deeper into the student organizations work to identify strengths and

weaknesses they are faced with, and compare with Spira (2012) results and see

if his findings are similar to what students in Gothenburg are experiencing.

• Further investigate what the students at GU and Chalmers, who are not

participating in the students’ sustainability organizations at the university,

think and miss in sustainability.

• Investigate how well known the sustainability student groups at the university

are.

• Perform an inventory on the student Unions work and knowledge.

• Further analyze the methods used at CEMUS in order to adapt from their

achievements.

26

9. References

Brundtland, G. H. (1987) Our Common Future-Call for Action, Journal of the Foundation for Environmental Conservation 14( 4) CEMUS (2015) About http://www.web.cemus.se/about/ [hämtad:2015-05-21]

Chalmers (2014) Uppdrag som studentambassadör för en hållbar framtid, Chalmers tekniska högskola https://www.chalmers.se/insidan/SV/om-chalmers/miljo/miljoarbetets/hallbarhetsambassador/downloadFile/attachedFile_f0/Studentambassador_1_0_.pdf?nocache=1416397497.73

Cortese, A.D. (2003). The Critical Role of Higher Education on Creating a Sustainable Future, Planning for Higher Education. March-May.

Fossil Free (2015) Fossil Free Göteborgs Universitet (https://campaigns.gofossilfree.org/petitions/fossil-free-goteborgs-universitet) [hämtad: 2015-05-10] Fletcher, A. (2003) Meaningful Student Involvement A GUIDE TO INCLUSIVE SCHOOL CHANGE http://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX01001475/Centricity/Domain/11206/Meaningful%20Student% 20Involvement.pdf Hald, M. (Ed.) (2010) Transcending boundaries, how CEMUS is changing how we teach, meet and learn, CEMUS http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/assets/over_granserna.pdf ISCN (2015a) Previous Award Winners http://www.international-sustainable-campus-network.org/awards/previous-award-winners.html [hämtad: 2015-05-26] ISCN (2015b) 2014 Award Winners http://www.international-sustainable-campus-network.org/awards/2014-award-winners.html [hämtad: 2015-05-26] Levin, B. (2000). Putting students at the centre in education reform. Journal of Educational Change. 1. 155–172.

Miljöbron (2015) Om Miljöbron http://vastragotaland.miljobron.se/om-miljobron/ [hämtad: 2015-05-10]

Naturvårdsverket (2015) Miljöledning i staten 2014 – en redovisning http://www.naturvardsverket.se/Nerladdningssida/?fileType=pdf&pid=14977&downloadUrl=%2fDocuments%2fpublikationer%2f978-91-620-6669-7.pdf Nicolescu, C. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility in the Romanian Higher Education, Open Society Institute. Romania. Nolin J.,Brorström B. (2015) The University of Borås as a sustainable university, University of Borås http://www.hb.se/PageFiles/169724/Sustainable%20university.pdf

27

RootAbility (2014) GREEN OFFICE MODEL: 5 CASES IN COMPARISON http://rootability.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/rootAbility_Green-Office-Model_Five-case-studies_Aug-20141.pdf

RootAbility (2015a) 6 Green Office Principles, http://rootability.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/rootAbility_Green-Office-Model_Six-principles-and-their-adaptation-range_Feb-20151.pdf

RootAbility (2015b) The Green Office Movement, http://rootability.com/the-green-office-movement/ [hämtad: 2015-05-20]

Spira F. (2012) Sowing sprouts to engender greener universities A qualitative study exploring the projects, challenges and strategies of sustainability student groups, i591696 University College Maastricht, Capstone

Spira, F. (2012/13) Driving the energy transition at Maastricht University? Analysing the transformative potential on energy efficiency of the student-driven and staff-supported Maastricht University Green Office, University College London - 2012/13

Tappeser, V. ,Meyer A. Change-Agents in Sustainability Governance Institutional Transformation at Three Institutions of Higher Education, Maastricht University Green Office

University of Gothenburg (2008) Miljöpolicy http://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/digitalAssets/1415/1415597_gumilj--policy_eng_2008.pdf University of Gothenburg (2012a) Vision 2020 http://www.medarbetarportalen.gu.se/digitalAssets/1415/1415878_vision_web_bildspel_eng_120926.pdf University of Gothenburg (2012b) Handlingsplan för miljö och hållbar utveckling 2011-2015 http://mls.adm.gu.se/digitalAssets/1331/1331963_action-plan-for-environment-and-sustainable-development-2011-2015-1-.pdf University of Gothenburg (2015) Miljö och hållbar utveckling http://mls.adm.gu.se/

[hämtad:2015-05-20]

Wallnér, E. (2015) Accelerating universities focus on sustainable development through student involvement, Chalmers university of Technology Weidner A. (2014) Study for the establishment of VU Green Office - Involvement of students in the sustainability of universities VU University Amsterdam

Waas, T., Hugé, J., Ceulemans, K., Lambrechts, W., Vandenabeele, J., Lozano, R., Wright, T. (2012). Sustainable Higher Education – Understanding and Moving Forward, Flemish Government – Environment, Nature and Energy Department. Brussels.

28

Appendix A – Table of Swedish universities student participation in

sustainability efforts Student representatives in environmental or sustainability boards

Student organization/initiative Staff Initiative involving students Collaboration with organization/city/region outside the university

Universities not working with student involvement Chalmers Chalmers Chalmers Chalmers GU GU GU GU Linneaus Linneaus Linneaus Lund Lund Lund SU SU SU KTH KTH LiU LiU West West Borås Borås Dalarna Karlstad Uppsala Halmstad Royal College of Music 9 8 6 6 14 Universitet Göteborgs

universitet

Chalmers Uppsala

universitet

Linneuniverist

et

Stockhol

ms

universite

t

Student

organizatio

ns

SASS, HASS,

SciSS, HUSS

CSS CEMUS roots Fairtrade-

förening

Symbios -

kopplat till

SNF

Green Finns studenter Finns Finns

29

Office som vill starta studenter

som vill

starta

studenter som

vill starta

Non profit

organizatio

ns

Miljöbron Miljöbron

Unique

model at

the

university

Student

Sustainabili

ty

Ambasador

s

Cemus -

studentdrivet

universitets-

center med

fokus på HU

Fond att söka

pengar för

hållbart

studentproje-kt

Universitet Högskolan i

Borås

Högskolan

Väst

Linköpings

universitet

Högskolan

Halmstad

Lund

universitet

Student

organizatio

ns

Studenter som

arrangerar

klädbytardagar

Hållbart

Universite

t

Green

Office

Finns

studenter

som vill

starta

Non profit

organizatio

ns

Miljöbron Miljöbron Miljöbron

Unique

model at

the

university

VGR-

överenskommelse

som handlar om

klimatsmart

livsstil hos unga

Studentsektion

er på LiU som

vill jobba

strukturerat

med

Vill införa

Fond(”pott”)

att söka pengar

för hållbart

studentproje-kt

30

vuxna. Studenter

engagerade som

klimatambasadeo

rer

miljöarbete

inom den egna

sektionen är

välkomna att

vara med i

något vi

kallar Gröna

sektioner.

31

Appendix B – SWOT analysis from Weidner (2014) Note: original tables have been rearranged. Green Office Strengts (at the Green Office level) Wageningen Intensive and effective learning process of the Green Office

team: Transfer of knowledge about sustainability from the Taskforce sustainability during the first semester increased knowledge among the team members. Improved relationship among different departments of the university: The creation of an internship and the undertaking of several projects undertaken within different departments enhanced communication and collaboration. Strong and efficient monitoring and evaluation process: Each coordinator is responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of his own projects, which increases efficiency, saves time, and promotes a professional image of the Green Office. Tight connection with Studenten voor Morgen which promotes the Green Office projects locally and nationally, fostering the Green Office network. Maastricht Central geographic situation: Established in the city center, close to main Inner City campus of Maastricht University, it facilitates accessibility and communication Central organization responsible for sustainability at the university: Helps create relationships between different stakeholders of the university and improves cooperation in the field of sustainability. Long opening hours: Based on office hours, Monday to Friday, from 10am to 4pm, it facilitates accessibility. Sustainability documentation database: The constantly-updated database forms a rich and accessible repository on sustainability thus saving time and increasing knowledge sharing. Interconnection online system: It provides a contact point for sustainable stakeholders and facilitates communication within a network of like-minded people. Integration of the Green Office into Maastricht University: Its institutionalized, organizational structure and permanent office mean that it benefits from stability and sustainability. High rotation of the student employees: Rotating student generations bring new enthusiasm and innovative potential to the Green Office Physical and online representation: Its representation increases awareness of the stakeholders and creates a larger community. Specialization of each student employee to cover the full-portfolio of activities, and involvement of staff members in the decision-

32

making process increases their expertise and gives them more credibility. Partnership with Morgen, the national student organization promoting sustainability: Promotes the Green Office image throughout the Netherlands, and creates connection to other student-led initiatives. High budget compared to usual student organizations at Maastricht University: Provides more tools, resources and therefore more projects. Utrecht Sound engagement in follow-up actions: The team invests time in the follow up of student consultancy reports from the Living Lab projects to make sure that they are used at the university, which improves efficiency, reliability in the Green Office, and sustainability. Improved connection between stakeholders interested in sustainability: students feel more heard in their claims and questions regarding sustainability through the support at the Green Office. Efficient location of the Green Office at the university: 90m2 office space and no rent costs

33

Green Office Weaknesses (at the Green Office level) Wageningen Little experience of the Green Office team in practical issues related to running an organization/projects. Unclear role division between Green Office Coordinator, Thematic Coordinators and Volunteers: Can create confusion among the Green Office team and the university stakeholders and waste time. Inexistent knowledge management: the intensive learning process that the team received is not stored or managed, as no storage system exists. Weak use of professional tools: Missing coherent structure for the management of the Green Office activities. Little awareness of the Green Office activities among the students of Wageningen UR. Maastricht Lack of organizational tools: Missing coherent structure for the organization of the Green Office activities like brainstorming, presentations, and events. Knowledge and skills: By definition, students are still learning. The lack of certain knowledge and skills with regards to e.g. project management, sustainability or stakeholder engagement, provides a challenge. Difficulties with capturing student awareness: The results of several awareness-raising events are not encouraging. High division of labor within the staff of the Green Office: Makes it hard to maintain an overview of the organization’s activities as members are specialized and split into different portfolios. Revolving generations of students: Constant turnover of students can create challenges for the continuity of projects and contacts, if transition periods are not organized well. Divergent staff opinions on the representation and communication regarding the sustainability dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Utrecht Difficulties in structuring the Green Office activities: tasks, initiatives, projects. The team, the office space and the budget are set-up but there is no coherent structure to manage the flow of tasks, ideas, or questions at the Green Office: “It proves to be difficult to choose where to start”. Slow set up of sustainability projects/initiatives as sustainability is not the most important topic for university employees and decision makers: This results in a loss of interests of the students in the Green Office projects.

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Green Office Oppurtunities (at university level) Wageningen Possibility to increase network and ideas: Wageningen UR Green Office can benefit from the increasing sustainable change happening in the Netherlands with the Studenten voor Morgen, established Green Offices, and green organizations in Wageningen. Robust problem-solving capacity within the university for sustainability issues as many programs (e.g. Alterra, Food & Biobased Research, Livestock Research, membership to the Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment – SENSE…) and specializations exist within the university and focus on sustainability: Opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing. Room for increasing volume and effectiveness of the Green Office promotion: revealed by a survey on student opinion which highlighted the lack of promotion of the activities and the absence of a clear link to the Green Office, as well as the existing interest of the students for those initiatives. Maastricht High barriers of entry for sustainable initiatives before the Green Office creation: there was neither financial nor other established institutional support for student initiatives in the field of sustainability. The close position of the Green Office with the university distinguishes it from other student sustainability groups, thus empowering it and its staff. The growing movement in sustainable transformation throughout universities in the Netherlands: creates an opportunity to establish a network of knowledge and best practices to improve existing projects and to develop new projects. Commitment to sustainability: While Maastricht University signed the third Multiple Year Agreement on Energy Efficiency (MJA3) in 2008, the university committed itself to improve its energy efficiency per square meter by 30% - or 2 percentage points from 2005-2020, thus facilitating the set up of energy efficiency initiatives. Attraction of national and international attention after the Green Office won prestigious awards, also increased the reputation of the Green Office among key stakeholders within the university Growing support of Maastricht University towards sustainable transformation: it regards sustainability as one of its core values and actively communicates its progress toward becoming a sustainable university. The growing influence of social media such as Facebook: facilitates promotion and communication. Utrecht Enthusiasm, especially amongst students, at Utrecht University to start all kind of sustainability projects.

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Green Office Threats (at university level) Wageningen Bachelor/master students’ rotation system at the university could alter the vision and ideas of the current staff members, as well as the Green Office’s sustainability activities. Risk of confusion regarding the goals and scopes of the numerous, existing sustainability structures at the Wageningen UR : these structures include the Science Shop, which is one of the major links between society and research executed at Wageningen UR; WEP, an organization of students that aims to make the university and its students behave in a more sustainable way is not stored or managed; the Taskforce Sustainability, which got the task to give sustainability a structural place within the operations; the Academic Consultancy Training which has been developed by Wageningen UR to enhance the abilities of students to function in professional teams; and the Green Office. The communicated message of the Green Office needs to stay clear and consistent with its activities. Maastricht Lack of interest about sustainability development at the university among students and staff of the university Risk of confusion among university stakeholders: different messages communicated by the various sustainable student associations at Maastricht University. Concerns about a new top-down approach: The internal and external professionalization of the Green Office through a change in its structure created a fear that uncontrolled professionalization could make the Green Office highly bureaucratic and less innovative, which was not its initial goal. Risk of lack of expertise of the staff members of the Green Office: With a constantly-changing workforce, the Green Office can face difficulties in gradually building necessary skills and knowledge. Moreover, staff members of the Green Office are merely student employees who, while integrating the Green Office, have little knowledge about sustainability, lack work experience in the field, and, as they are not professionals, their technical and institutional knowledge is limited. Utrecht The main difficulty is to convince decision-makers of Utrecht University to implement all these good ideas.

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Appendix C – Results from the Workshop Portfolios

Suggestion of projects for the Sustainability Office Gothenburg Education Empower teachers to integrate SD in lectures See what aspects of sustainability that could fit into university courses Further development of the "SD Toolbox" Environmental labeling on programs, aim to include sustainability in everything we do Research Set research agenda Support students writing about sustainability Research institute as SA focusing about sustainable care Integration Open up the university Work with the rest of the society, sustainable events for everyone Student-bussiness connections Cross regional and national connections with student associations Knowlegde sharing academy - society The University Improve public places Collaboration across institutional boardes Develop a actions plan for integrating sustainability and the living lab Sustainable Campus Food - Working for green restaurants and urban farming Waste Material - be a platform for sharing Outdoor

Participation on integration of sustainability into the major campus developments (Näckrosen, Medicinareberget) Accessability Student-to-student-outreach Communicate sustainability to students

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Suggestion of partners for the Sustainability Office Gothenburg The University GU, Chalmers and GMV The environmental units at Chalmers and GU The Librarys GU, Chalmers Boards Klimatrådet Communication department The property owners of the universities; Akademiska hus, Higab, Chalmers fastigheter etc. Students Community The Unions The student associations at GSSA Student sustainability associations nationally Active students showing interest in sustainability and already working on issues on the side Other Green Offices and RootAbility Bussiness CSR Västsverige Drivhuset Västtrafik SP Astra Zeneka Volvo Pfeizzer NGOS Miljöbron WWF Engineers without boarders Studiefrämjandet Folkuniversitetet Utrikespolitiska föreningen Sustianergies Society Gothenburg VG-regionen Cykelköket Primary and high schools

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Suggestions for the Sustainability Office Gothenburg Vision Represent the idea of real sustainability -> Gothenburg for a sustainable future

To learn how to transform society by starting with the transformation of the university - connecting this to the outside world A GO that is accessible to everyone and reach out To connect people Mission Integrate sustainability into the whole institutional approach The link than can fire up the initiatives among students - leadership Engage everyone in sustainability Integration Including as many areas as possible to be able to work with and adress as many projects as possible. Resources Nice space: meeting space, café, bookable rooms Visiable physical space in every institution (8 GU, 2 Chamers) - 1 hub in the middle Project budget + communication Salary OH IT Inventory Trainaing budget Student & Staff Students from all faculties Staff: environmental coordinator, equality/accessibility/health coordinators