Carbon Impact Project – Information for organisations

Are you a charity, social enterprise, or small business (under 250 employees), located in the London boroughs of Westminster, Brent or Camden?

Would you like to reduce costs within your workplace?

Are you concerned about your organisation’s carbon footprint?

We can help!

The Work Based and Placement Learning Project is a part of the University of Westminster’s Employability Strategy, to embed work based and placement learning activities into the undergraduate curriculum. As part of this scope, undergraduate courses offer students the opportunity to gain employability related experience. Alongside this initiative, the University also takes the role of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) very seriously and also has a team dedicated to the development and promotion of the SDG’s, both from a University estate and educational perspective.

What is the Carbon Impact Project?

The Carbon Impact Project aims to help organisations become more sustainable by looking at ways of reducing the amount of materials produced for events and recruitment fairs (and subsequent wastage), or look at day to day usage of carbon heavy materials and how these may be reduced/alternatives sourced.

Who is involved?

As a university, we are asking local employer partners and charitable organisations if they would be interested in taking part in the project. This would involve the organisation working with a small group of first- and second-year undergraduate students, with supervision by a designated project manager who will be overseeing the group.

What will the students be doing?

After undertaking Carbon Literacy training, the students, having been selected via interviewed and paid as Carbon Impact Consultants, will be working in small groups with the organisation to first establish the background and nature of the organisation, any specific requirements, or requests by the company, before researching current working practices, materials used and approximate costings. Students will then undertake research around new approaches and possible reductions or alternative materials that can be sourced and then feedback to the organisation by a presentation and report.

What time will I need to commit?

We would ask you to commit to 3 x 1-hour meetings: an initial meeting with the students to introduce your organisation and present an overview of the background and ethos of the company, a mid-way catch up to discuss achievements so far and challenges, and a final presentation.

We would also ask that you provide any data which may allow students to conduct their research into helping make your organisation more sustainable. Finally, we would you to commit to hearing the feedback and recommendations via a presentation to your company about the research and findings from the project.

Key Dates

Teams in training	W/C 23 Jan, 1 Feb
Client meetings (1 hr)	W/C 6 Feb
Mid-way catch-up meetings (1 hr)	W/C 20 Feb
Final presentations (1 hr)	W/C 6 March
Debrief / Celebration event	W/C 13 March

What’s the advantage for you as an organisation?

Potential cost-saving for your organisation
To reduce your carbon footprint
The opportunity to look at new ways of working
To interact with a vibrant student cohort
To find new potential graduate recruits

What’s the advantage for the student?

The opportunity to gain new employability, research, and presentation skills
Exposure to new sectors and employers
The opportunity to turn classroom-based theory into a reality and reduce our carbon footprint
Real-world employer challenges
How to work as part of a professional team

Costs involved

There are no costs involved, the only thing we ask is for your time to initially meet the students, and the commitment to provide any relevant (non-sensitive) data that may aid the project, and the time to hear the project results and recommendations at the end of the project

Contact

If you have any further questions about this proposal, please contact Helen Green, h.green@westminster.ac.uk or Ben Powell b.powell@westminster.ac.uk