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Green impact in the Institute of Ophthalmology
By qtnvphi, on 5 October 2022
The Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO) has again achieved gold for Green Impact and LEAF and additionally received an award from the ECL Small grants Scheme. The team led by Jill Cowing have worked hard to improve the local environment, reduce waste and minimise the Institute’s carbon footprint but still has a long way to go. Jill reflects on recent green initiatives at the IoO.
Some things we have focused on in 2022 are to revive the IoO garden and set up a cycle club.
The IoO had a small area of land around some lecture cabins which had been neglected for many years. Around five years ago some members of staff got together decided to create a garden where we could sit outside to have lunch and even the odd meeting.
We used old items from labs and repurposed them as planters. One of these was a racking system in which we planted lots of herbs. All was going well until COVID struck and IoO closed down for all but essential work. As a result of this many of the plants in the garden were no longer cared for and died. We have now replaced many of the plants and with a generous award from the ECL Small grants Scheme, and purchased lots of new herbs. In particular, we have several varieties of mint including spearmint, apple mint, chocolate mint and garden mint. Some of the other herbs we bought were borage, thyme, sage, parsley, camomile and chives.
The idea of the herb garden is to provide fresh herbs for anyone wanting to take a little home to put in their cooking but they also attract insects and smell wonderful when you brush past them, particularly the lavender. We now have a small team who are once again looking after the garden and watering regularly so hopefully this time everything will continue to grow and flourish once again.
Queen Square Institute of Neurology celebrates success at UCL Sustainability awards 2022
By qtnvphi, on 7 September 2022
Green Impact and LEAF
The awards were made in recognition of the innovative best practice across the Institute, examples of which can be found on our Sustainability pages and builds upon our success at previous awards. The UCL sustainability team congratulated those who had taken an Institute wide approach to Lab submissions, including ION, for which they thanked Steffy Czieso (ION Labs Operations Manager) for co-ordinating.
Steffy Czieso, ION Lead for Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF):
“Lab based research is incredibly resource intensive and the use of plastics and energy consuming equipment is unavoidable. The Queen Square Institute of Neurology is a world-leading centre for neurological research within UCL and I think it is our duty to find and implement ways to make our research as sustainable as possible. Working as a team, creating awareness amongst the research community and applying best practice can make a huge difference and therefore I am very enthusiastic to work with IoN lab staff, UCL sustainability teams and Estates to build a greener lab environment.”
Sarah Lawson, ION Lead for Green Impact (Office Sustainability):
“I have worked on Green Impact with an increasing number of ION departments over recent years, and am delighted to see how Sustainability has become increasingly embedded in ION culture. However, the pressure to act is also increasing, and I invite all ION staff and students to act together to take up UCL’s challenge: “we can change what’s possible tomorrow, by making a change today.”
Sustainability Research Award
Professor Sanjay Sisodiya (Deputy Director for Sustainability and Climate Change, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) was presented with the Sustainability Research award for co-ordinating investigations of the impact of climate change on people with neurological conditions. To address these issues, Professor Sisodiya established a consortium of neurologists, scientists, epilepsy nurses, representatives from industry and charities supporting people with epilepsy, called Epilepsy Climate Change.
Recycle the present, save the future! ION Green Day July 2022
ION celebrated our success at the awards at several ION Green events in July, including a Lab Repair Workshop and a “Meet your ION Green and Lab Champions” demonstrating ION sustainability activities, Lab freebies, Sashiko embroidery, book swap, and Toast beer tasting. We invited people to make pledges, and list goals and challenges they have for their department/team, and what sustainable lab initiative or improvement they would like to see at ION. We also showcased our Sustainability activities at the ION Summer drinks.
UCL’s Centre for Behaviour Change relaunches the Environment & Behaviour Hub
By qtnvphi, on 1 August 2022
Last month UCL’s Centre for Behaviour Change relaunched the Environment and Behaviour Hub. Maria Lunetto highlights the aims of the hub and network, and invites interested groups and individuals at UCL to get involved.
What is the Environment & Behaviour Hub?
We are a member-led network for anyone with expertise or interest in understanding and changing behaviours that affect the environment. Our objective is to bring people together to connect and exchange skills, ideas, and resources.
Today we have more than 450 members from academia, the public and private sector. We share a monthly newsletter in which we spotlight a person, organisation, or project related to environmental issues and behaviour change and post job opportunities, events, and news. We also run a LinkedIn group, which allows members to ask questions, promote their work, and discuss ideas. In the past we have also led webinars and interviewed experts in sustainable behaviour change about how they use behavioural science in their roles.
Why Environment and Behaviour?
In order to successfully tackle sustainability challenges large scale behaviour change is needed. This includes individual consumer action, such as recycling, reducing meat consumption, and buying less products. More broadly though, it also includes behaviours that are not related to consumption, but that address the political landscape. For example, protesting, voting, and taking part in citizen assemblies are also behaviours that can help to address environmental challenges. However, behaviour change is not only required on the individual level but extends to the organisational and governmental level. In fact, the UK Climate Change Committee has estimated that 62% of emission reductions to meet the national net-zero target will rely on behavioural changes. The other 38% will come from low-carbon technologies and fuels. In reality, these also represent changes to human activity given that technologies and fuels are things used by people—in other words, 100% of reductions necessitate that people behave differently.
Using behavioural science to address climate change is a relatively new approach. It aims to explore why people behave in a certain way, and what hinders them to exert a different, potentially more environmentally friendly behaviour. Based on these insights, behavioural scientists/designers/architects (there are many names out there) design interventions that are specific to the context and the people that interact with them. For example, governments may want to prompt citizens to use less energy. In a context where people are relatively wealthy, strategies around highlighting the estimated lifetime running costs of appliances may not be effective. Changing default options to more energy saving settings or benchmarking one’s own consumption against that or peers (e.g., messaging ‘Your energy consumption is higher/lower than that of most of your neighbours.’), however, could achieve impact at scale.
Understanding and tackling behavioural sustainability challenges can be very complex. They often include a multitude of people with diverging interests and understandings of the problem and the desired outcome is not always clear. Given this complexity, we wanted to crate a platform where people interested in the field, regardless of whether they work in academia, the public or the private sector, have a chance to exchange experiences and resources or find partners for collaboration.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in feel invited to join our LinkedIn group or subscribe to the monthly newsletter. If this is not enough for you and would like to get involved in running the Environment & Behaviour Hub, feel free to send an e-mail to maria.lunetto.19@ucl.ac.uk.
Sustainably balancing the wellbeing of people and our planet
By qtnvphi, on 30 June 2022
Bella Vivat and Annie Jeffery, co-leads of the Green Team in the Division of Psychiatry are running an online workshop on 6 July, exploring sustainability, including wellbeing, in the context of current environmental and mental health crises.
Our workshop is entitled: “Sustainably balancing the wellbeing of people and our planet: Learning from lockdowns and the intersecting climate, environmental, and mental health crises”. It is a contribution to the upcoming online international conference: DSA2022: Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world, 6-8 July 2022.
We designed our workshop to encourage and facilitate small group discussions with international delegates around the issues that particularly concern and interest us regarding sustainability, on which we are leads in our Division. These issues also overlap and interact with our research interests, Annie in mental health, Bella in spiritual wellbeing at the end-of life.
We have two colleagues from beyond UCL who will be joining us as facilitators of the small group discussions. Asmita Pasnaik is a newly qualified architect from Mumbai, who is interested in making urban space more responsive to human needs. Xandra Miguel Lorenzo is Spanish, and works in the field of domestic violence, with a special interest in how outdoor spaces can benefit women who are experiencing domestic violence, particularly during pandemic lockdowns.
DSA2022 conference organisers have thought carefully about online conferences and the issues they raise for delegate fatigue and disconnection. The organisers encourage contributors to share materials in advance, to enable delegates to reflect ahead of the conference, so that conference sessions can prioritise discussion rather than information sharing. We have collected key resources to share with delegates ahead of the workshop, for use as a springboard for further development in the small groups in our breakout rooms. We all hope the mutual exchanges in our workshop will benefit our learning as well as that of delegates, and we hope to gain rich material for further reflection and to share with our Divisional colleagues.
DSA2022 is the most recent of the annual conferences run by the UCL-based Development Studies Association. Registration is still open, and both delegates and non-delegates can sign up to attend the pre-conference webinars: DSA2022/Pre-conference webinars and conference plenaries.
Developing the UCL Ear Institute roof garden
By qtnvphi, on 9 June 2022
A team in the UCL Ear Institute were highly commended in last year’s UCL Sustainability Awards for their sustainable roof top garden. Graham Nevill, who co-led the initiative, reflects on the creation of the garden as a place for relaxation and recreation.
The Ear Institute was created in 2004 using part of the site of the now closed Royal National Throat Nose and Ear hospital on Gray’s Inn Road.
On the third floor is an open roof terrace which after the purchase of tables and chairs is often used by staff for lunch breaks and occasional work-related gatherings. It is an open area of concrete tiling that presents a hard uninviting aspect especially as the area, although surrounded by a low perimeter wall, is often exposed to full sun and can be quite windy at times.
The department is making moves to address sustainability by various initiatives but what we felt was needed was a definite greening of the roof space, not only to give staff a more welcoming area but to encourage, albeit in a small way, an increase in insect biodiversity by creation of a roof garden designed to encourage local fauna.
It was not considered in keeping with sustainable principles if we just went ahead and bought from a supplier all the necessary timber which would also be quite expensive. We designed a garden consisting of five, one metre square raised bed planters made from discarded wood pallets which were found within easy walking distance from the Ear Institute.
Four pallets would be used for each bed by standing them on end and securing the resulting square by drilling together with batons. These were then painted in a weather resistant wood paint and the inner surface wrapped with black weed proof membrane and inside was placed a durable, thousand litre builder’s hippo bag.
It was a bit of a struggle to find a supplier for bagged soil who would deliver to the area as many would bulk deliver, but only onto the pavement. Eventually soil was sourced that proved to be excellent, a heavy mixture of rotted manure and compost that would hold moisture far better than normal garden compost. We thought it would be excessive both in weight and cost to fill each hippo bag fully and so, since most plants will only need the top third of the bag to root, we decided to fill the bottom two thirds with inert material followed by rotting wood to facilitate slow nutrient release, then topped with a square of turf to stop the soil falling through.
We created a planting scheme that used plants able to resist the drying conditions, examples were either bought from Camden garden centre of from donations from staff members gardens. When plants had been added to the beds, a layer of wood chip was added to mulch the surface to reduce water loss.
We always recognised that watering would be an issue as there is no tap on the roof, the only source being the lab below and a number of trips up and down stairs to do the watering. To provide an immediate source we constructed a rain water collection point consisting of a large flat collection surface running via some discarded guttering into a normal black plastic covered dustbin. The water does tend to be used up quite quickly in hot weather so we are still having to occasionally bring water up from downstairs.
While the roof has now been made a more pleasant place for relaxing there was still the problem of a lack of shade in the heat of the day. Creating a large amount of shade was never going to be possible mainly due to the windy nature of the roof damaging any structure and parasols were considered unsuitable as they could blow off the roof.
A limited solution was the creation of a shaded corner using the height of bamboo plants planted into a similar arrangement as the main beds. A central focus was a small solar powered water fountain set into pallets around which was placed pallet seating with a carpet covering and cushions fashioned out of foam packaging. We felt this would fit into the college aspiration of creating a relaxing wellness space for people to gather around. So far the work has been well received and a spacious but sterile area transformed into a welcoming and relaxing space that hopefully, does at least a little to encourage wildlife into the local area.
Wild Bloomsbury
UCL is working in partnership to create a ‘Wild Bloomsbury’: improving biodiversity, supporting wellbeing, building climate resilience and reducing air pollution for our local community. With our goal of creating 10,000m2 of extra biodiverse space by 2024, we have the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of nature based solutions, while forming strong community partnerships and making a better Bloomsbury for everyone. Find out how you can get involved
PALS 1st Year Sustainability Poster Competition
By qtnvphi, on 5 May 2022
The UCL PALS BSc Psychology 1st Year poster conference session took place on 28 March 2022 in Bedford Way and online via Gather Town.
This year, students presented their research on the question: “What makes people donate to charity?” The idea was to encourage the UCL PALS student community to think about environmental charities. At the end of the online experiment, participants were directed to the “PALS Green Team Fundraiser” JustGiving page where they donated a total of £396. This sum was matched by the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences to make a total of £792. The funds raised will be split equally between the following three charities:
- Harington Scheme – provides a unique opportunity for young adults with learning disabilities and/or difficulties, delivering individual learning programmes in horticulture designed to help them into employment, further education or a more rewarding life.
- Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) – a charity that protects wetlands and wildlife. Rebecca Hobbs on behalf of the WWT said the following: “We at the WWT are honoured that UCL students and the UCL PALS Green Impact Team chose to donate to us as part of their sustainability experiment. This generous donation will help protect blue spaces for wildlife and people alike.”
- LifeAfterHummus – Community Benefit Society based in Somers Town which acts as a foodbank to Bengali and Somali families suffering from food poverty.
Dr Miles Tufft (Lecturer at UCL), who helped adjudicate the event, shared: “The overall quality of the research was excellent and I was particularly impressed by the levels of insight, critical reflection and poise shown by the students when presenting their posters. Delivering research to this standard in only their first year is a real testament to the hard work they’ve put in across the year, and added to the fact that real donations were raised for excellent causes, made this a real pleasure to be involved with.”
Dr Katie Fisher (Lecturer at UCL), who ran the event together with Professor Daniel Richardson, said the following: “The students produced impressively high-quality research and poster presentations which would not be out of place at any academic conference. They gave very interesting insights into the psychology of charitable giving, and had lots of great ideas for future research into sustainable and pro-environmental behaviours – topics which are clearly of the utmost importance to them.”
John Draper (Head of Administration at UCL PALS) added: “It was really pleasing to see such great engagement from students and staff in this event, and I was particularly pleased that the PALS Green Team was able to take such an active role. One of the Faculty of Brain Sciences’ five sustainability pledges is that ‘Sustainability is included in each student’s curriculum and induction’. This event plays a significant role in enhancing student awareness of sustainability issue.”
The poster conference was a great opportunity for students to hone their academic communication skills, meet other members of the department and become more involved in the PALS Green initiatives.
- View the three posters selected as the winners
- Find out more about the work of the UCL PALS Green Impact Team
Sustainability at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
By qtnvphi, on 30 March 2022
The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (IoN) Green Team reflect on how IoN is committed to raising awareness of sustainability and using its expertise, both academic and professional services, to tackle climate change.
ION sustainability initiatives and activities
EpilepsyClimateChange
Professor Sanjay Sisodiya is co-ordinating investigations of the impact of climate change on people with neurological conditions. To address these issues, Professor Sisodiya established a consortium of neurologists, scientists, epilepsy nurses, representatives from industry and charities supporting people with epilepsy, called Epilepsy Climate Change:
“Climate change is with us. How will it affect people with epilepsy? How do we contribute to climate change in our professional lives? What can we do about it? EpilepsyClimateChange is hosting its first virtual conference to begin to address these important issues. Please join us so we can begin to plan and take action for a challenging future”.
Epilepsy Climate Change hosted its first virtual conference in November 2021 and won PR Week’s ‘Favourite Campaign of COP26’.
IoN have also recently advertised a three-year clinical fellow post for epilepsy and climate change.
Sustainability events
The Institute held its first Green Day Symposium on 25th January 2021, celebrating initiatives at UCL and beyond. The virtual event was joined by nearly 120 UCL staff and students.
Find out more about Sustainability activities at ION on our intranet and website
Sustainability awards at ION
ION’s commitment to sustainability has been recognised at UCL’s annual awards ceremonies, including three Bronze, three Silver and two Gold LEAF awards, one gold and two silver office awards in 2021. Office Green Impact is led by Sarah Lawson, and LEAF is led by Steffy Czieso, who are both are members of the Faculty Sustainability Committee, alongside Sanjay Sisodiya.
ION sustainability pledges
The institute has made several pledges to complement the Faculty’s, including a sustainable travel policy effective 15th February 2022: air travel for all UK-based business travel and any business travel to Northern Europe that is supported by Eurostar/ train links will no longer be reimbursed or permitted.
Sustainability roles at ION
In 2021 we appointed both our first Deputy Director for Sustainability, Professor Sanjay Sisodiya and our first Student Sustainability Ambassador, Heather Sampson.
Student sustainability
As the new Student Sustainability Ambassador for the IoN, Heather (MSc Clinical Neuroscience) will be working with the IoN Green Champions to improve student engagement and participation as well as help shape and build new sustainability projects.
‘We all have a responsibility to address the climate emergency, one of the biggest challenges of our time. The actions we take today to decrease our negative impact on the environment will directly influence the future of our planet. Together we can make change happen, so join us in creating a more sustainable IoN and UCL! I am very excited to work with the IoN Green Champions and encourage greater sustainability in the department’. Heather Sampson, ION Student Sustainability ambassador
Links
Find out more about Sustainability at ION on our intranet and website
Sustainability in the Faculty of Brain Sciences
By brain-sciences-sustainability, on 10 February 2022
Welcome to The Faculty of Brain Sciences Sustainability Blog. Here you will find updates on our mission to put sustainability at the forefront of Faculty activity. As a faculty, we are committed to raising awareness of sustainability and using our expertise, both academic and professional services, to tackle climate change. In 2021 we established the FBS Sustainability Committee to promote innovation and ensure sustainability is high on the Faculty’s agenda. With a membership of academic, professional services staff and students from each division and institute, we are committed to using our expertise to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing 21st century society.
Members act as ambassadors for embedding sustainability within the Faculty, sharing good practice and creating a network of engaged champions.
Faculty Pledges
Upon establishment we immediately made five pledges for the whole Faculty:
1. By next academic year (2022-23): Faculty implements Powered by Plants initiative.
2. By next academic year (2022-23): Faculty develop an implementable plan to reduce energy usage from the baseline year of 2018-19.
3. By next academic year (2022-23): all Division and Institute Executives and all-staff meetings to include sustainability as a standing item once per term.
4. By end of 2022-23 academic session: Each Division & Institute achieve gold in Green Impact & LEAF (where relevant).
5. Sustainability included in each student’s curriculum and induction.
Division and institute initiatives
Individual divisions and institutes have already made significant contributions to sustainability including: · PALS No-Fly Zone where PALS no longer support air travel within mainland UK and Eurostar destinations. This follows the highly successful Powered by Plants initiative piloted by PALS and now common across UCL and the wider university community. · Institute of Neurology won the UCL Xmas switch off pledge for 2021
· Institute of Ophthalmology implemented a printing policy aimed at significantly reducing printing
· The Ear Institute had moved from disposable to reusable fly viles, with reports of reduced water consumption for cleaning them.
Faculty Green Day
Our first ever Faculty Green Day will take place 24 March. We have a variety of activities planned, including:
· Talks on sustainability including food waste, the community and the circular economy
· Online interactive events and quizzes
· PALS Poster Competition – an in-person event where Year 1 undergraduate students will present posters based on the final project of their lab class. This year the lab is focusing on environmental issues and environmental charities.
Further details to follow but please save the date – we’d love to see you there.
Thank you to everyone for contributing towards raising awareness and improving sustainability within the Faculty. The committee is still in it’s early stages but we are looking forward to making significant progress within the Faculty and wider UCL.
John Draper
Chair, FBS Sustainability Committee