SDG Events – DMU SDG Bulletin

27 ideas gathered from COP 27 at DMU

6 December 20226 December 2022DMU SDGs

Continuing its commitment to taking climate action, on and off campus, De Montfort University engaged staff and students in its own ‘COP 27’ to encourage more input and receive 27 ideas to help the university continue its leadership in sustainability.Activities were kick-started with a special launch event to coincide with the opening of the political discussions in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, which called for suggestions on how the institution can keep momentum on developing work for a greener future.

Governance and collaboration in spotlight

6 December 20226 December 2022DMU SDGs

Experts will describe the success or otherwise of moral interventions in the sphere of governance and citizen collaboration, within co-created outreach and research projects that have used citizen testimony to explore relations between the state, the corporate sector, and indigenous people/disadvantaged citizens at a forthcoming seminar at DMU. Using the framework of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, Speakers at the event, titled: Peace and Justice? Participatory research in the Global South, will identify the conditions that enable or prevent the free communication of citizen perspectives and demands within national and trans-national political systems. Full details of the event, on December 14 2022 can be found here

International campuses unite for the SDGs

6 December 20226 December 2022DMU SDGs

Students and staff from DMU’s international campuses came together to discuss their sustainability societies in a bespoke online call.

DMU Leicester, Dubai and our Trans-National Education (TNE) partner Asia Pacific University in Malaysia came together to share their work towards various UN SDGs.

Students spoke about the projects they had done so far and what they would like to do in future.

One of the ideas is to hold an online sustainability hackathon between the three universities to create solutions to SDG challenges that can be delivered by the students locally.

The early morning call in Leicester – to accommodate time differences in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur – saw about 30 students and staff take part.

Climate Action Awards launched at DMU

18 November 202218 November 2022DMU SDGs

A new awards initiative to celebrate staff and students who are going the extra mile for sustainability at De Montfort University, Leicester (DMU) and beyond, has been launched.

The inaugural ‘Climate Action Awards’ will celebrate and recognise the sustainable efforts and commitment of staff and students across the university, with the opportunity to come together and celebrate all their hard work at a bespoke ceremony in December.

Staff and students are being encouraged to take part in the awards by submitting any work they have undertaken through; research, teaching and campus activity in the pursuit of acting to reduce global warming and improve sustainability.

Associate Director of Sustainable Development Goal Impact, Mark Charlton, said: “These awards are about recognising the efforts staff and students are making through their efforts and innovations.

“We have made the entry process as simple as possible to draw out as many examples as possible of good work being undertaken to take climate action, no matter how big or small.”

Entries are now open and will close on Friday 2 December.

DMU students encouraged to take 5KM ‘Tiger Run’

15 November 202222 November 2022DMU SDGs

DMU students are being encouraged to take part in a Tiger Run to show solidarity with students at our trans-national education partner Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU). They are being encouraged to follow the lead of Rajveen Kaur (pictured), 21, a graduating FinTech student from APU, who is passionate about animals, the environment and its sustainability, has recently been elected as one of the Malayan tigers’ conservationists. Rajveen was elected by the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT) for its Youth for Tigers (Y4T) programme, as youths have a key role to play in bringing about positive change for the Panthera Tigris Jacksoni – the scientific name for this protected animal species. Officially carrying out her duty as a “Stripe” – a title for the five student leaders from respective universities selected as tigers conservationists, with tenure from August 2022 to February 2023 – she is expected to work with other team members to organise a group project, as well as an individual project for Y4T aimed at raising awareness and funds.

Research Associate to join project review seminar

15 November 202215 November 2022DMU SDGs

Long-standing DMU Media Discourse Centre Research Associate and Land Campaigner for the radical NGO Global Witness, Ali Hines, is the author of the recent report Decade of Defiance, which details the sometimes fatal struggle of activists to protect the environment, and the murders perpetrated by those determined to exploit and despoil the land. The Report was covered in news outlets like Le Monde, the Independent and the Guardian. Ali wrote her third year dissertation on green issues and, graduating from De Montfort in 2003, went on to take an MSc in Environment, Science and Society at UCL. She also produced two chapters for the MDC publications Sites of Protest (2016) and Journalism, Power and Investigation (2019), and gave a keynote at our ‘Global Culture’ conference in 2015. On Wednesday, 14^th December 2022 at 2pm, Ali will join a number of guest speakers at an online review and impact assessment of four participatory projects, all of which were conducted in order to gain insights into the actual conditions that determine the social fate of ordinary citizens and indigenous peoples in the Global South – issues linked heavily to SDG16 targets.

COP27@DMU: Launch event in Trinity Chapel

1 November 20221 November 2022DMU SDGs

DMU is set to host a series of events alongside the world’s biggest climate change conference to give staff and students the chance to get involved. The United Nations Annual Climate Change Conference, COP27, is set to take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt between November 6-18, 2022, and will see world leaders meet to try and agree policies and strategy to create a more sustainable global future. To mark this, DMU is encouraging staff and students at DMU to help drive climate action at the heart of campus by hosting activities during this time.

COP27@DMU: Net Zero Football Goals

1 November 20221 November 2022DMU SDGs

Leicester Nirvana FC asked experts at De Montfort University if they could support their ambition to become the United Kingdom’s first Net Zero amateur football club. Using the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as a framework, exciting plans have been developed to progress this vision. Soon other grass roots teams from around the world wanted to join, including SG Eintracht Peitz, a German team leading the way in this project. Since its inception, the project has received a lot of interest and input from amateur sports clubs, researchers, businesses, public officials and the local community. This is an opportunity for anyone interested in the project to learn about the innovations so far, find out more and consider getting involved!

COP27@DMU: Save Money – Go Green (Travel and Transport)

1 November 20221 November 2022DMU SDGs

With the ‘cost of living crisis’ affecting us all, we are all looking for ways to keep costs down and to save money. With the high cost of petrol and diesel there are opportunities to save money by going green and adopting more sustainable travel behaviours. With many people looking for ways to reduce the costs of commuting the DMU sustainability team will be running a webinar to demonstrate how to save money on travel. In this webinar the team will provide hints and tips on how to save fuel while using your car, as well as the support that exists for staff members who want to use alternative forms of travel including public transport, walking and cycling.

COP27@DMU: Save Money – Go Green (Saving Energy)

1 November 20221 November 2022DMU SDGs

With the ‘cost of living crisis’ affecting us all, we are all looking for ways to keep costs down and to save money. With the high cost of both gas and electricity there are opportunities to save money by going green and adopting more energy efficient behaviours at home and in the office behaviours. With many people looking for ways to reduce the costs of energy use the DMU energy team and sustainability team will be running a webinar to demonstrate how to save money on fuel bills.