In a collaboration between Climate Action Leicester and Leicestershire (CALL) and Phoenix, The Ants and the Grasshopper will be screened during the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP27). Filmed and made over the span of ten years, The Ants & The Grasshopper follows Malawian farmer Anita Chitaya as she fights climate change, gender inequality and child hunger, beginning in her village and taking the issue all the way to the White House. Staff and students are encouraged to attend. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session hosted by CALL, with a panel that includes DMU Net Zero Research Theme Director Mark Charlton.
Read moreCOP27@DMU: Launch event in Trinity Chapel
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.
Read moreCOP27@DMU: Net Zero Football Goals
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!
Read moreCOP27@DMU: Save Money – Go Green (Travel and Transport)
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.
Read moreCOP27@DMU: Save Money – Go Green (Saving Energy)
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.
Read moreCOP27@DMU: Carbon Literacy Training Taster Session
The Carbon Literacy Training is a fun and interactive training session that enables participants to better understand the climate emergency and to develop meaningful plans to play their part in combatting climate change. The training is available for DMU staff and students. This short introductory session is a taster session for the full Carbon Literacy Training. In this session we will touch upon some of the full course content which includes a basic understanding of climate science, an understanding of carbon footprints, an explanation of climate justice and how different countries are susceptible to climate impacts and the importance of communication in engaging people on climate issues. It will also be an opportunity to meet other staff and students who are interested in climate change.
Read moreCOP27@DMU: Carbon Literacy Training
The Carbon Literacy Training is a fun and interactive training session that enables participants to better understand the climate emergency and to develop meaningful plans to play their part in combatting climate change. The training is available for DMU staff and students. The course provides a basic understanding of climate science, an understanding of carbon footprints, an explanation of climate justice and how different countries are susceptible to climate impacts and the importance of communication in engaging people on climate issues. It will also be an opportunity to meet other staff and students who are interested in climate change.
Read moreCOP27@DMU: E-bike ‘have a go’ session 
Leicester has the largest e-bike hire scheme in the UK. The Santander Cycles Leicester scheme has 50 docking stations across the city with 500 electric bikes to hire. There are two e-bike docking stations located on the DMU campus. This event will provide an opportunity for DMU staff and students to have a go on one of the SCL e-bikes on a pedestrianised part of the campus. Staff from Leicester City Council and the DMU Sustainability Team will be on hand to explain how to use the bikes and how the SCL system works to hire a bike from a docking station and how to return the bike after a journey.
Read moreResearchers join Hub Nutrition Debate at FAO Summit
DMU Senior Lecturer in Nutrition Dr Jessica Jin and PhD student Tutuwaa Baffo represented the university’s United Nations Academic Impact SDG Hub for SDG 16 at a forum debating how sustainable diets can be achieved. The event was put together by the University of Pretoria (UNAI SDG Hub for SDG2) as a side event to the FAO Science and Innovation Forum side-event, a panel discussion entitled: Exploring complexity: Policy options for nutritious, affordable and sustainable diets for all. here is a video of the debate:
Read moreDiscussing SDG10 in “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
Evidence shows that literature can be a significant tool for English language teaching and can help international students improve their skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing in English. Literary texts, such as poems, short stories and novels, can provide international students with exciting opportunities to practise these language skills while also learning about grammatical structures and understanding new vocabulary. Duff and Maley (1990) argue that the use of literature is influential in language teaching since it provides students with real examples of language applications, and opportunities to experience new genres and styles and learn how to distinguish the function of each.
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