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19 March 2013 |
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 News
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LSE tops Russell Group in Carbon Reduction league table The School
has topped the Russell Group in the 2011-12 Carbon Reduction Commitment
Energy Efficiency Scheme league table. The mandatory scheme aims to
encourage large private and public sector organisations to develop energy
management strategies that promote a better understanding of energy usage.
The 2,097 CRC participants achieved a total reduction of 7.63 per cent
(equating to 4.64Mt CO2) in reported carbon emissions in comparison with
2010-11.
LSE has a carbon reduction target of 48 per cent by 2020 and in 2010-11
reduced its emissions by 14,907 tonnes CO2 emitted.
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Sustainable Projects
Fund winners announced
The winners of the 2013
LSE Sustainable Projects Fund have been announced, with £14,000 being
awarded to kick-start seven student and staff-led projects that will
improve environmental sustainability within the LSE community.
The winning entries were:
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A pilot for Maths
modules to include environmentally themed worked problems (£3,000).
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Bike service points in
the NAB and the Towers (£1,200).
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A study of LSE
recycling behaviours (£390).
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Enhancements to the
gardens in Passfield Hall (£6,000).
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Student focus groups
to identify options to improve sustainability communications
networks (£500).
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An online marketplace
for LSE students and staff to exchange goods with each other
(£2,000).
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Ethical costumes
bought for Timeless, an LSE student theatre production (£700).
Julian Robinson, director
of Estates, said, “We are delighted to support these projects, which
will positively contribute to the life of the School whilst improving
its environmental impact. The strength and variety of all the
applications was a testament to the huge wealth of talent and creativity
at the School.”
The School received 11
applications from undergraduates, postgraduates and staff, tackling a
wide range of issues, from waste, to biodiversity, to climate change.
The Sustainable Projects
Fund is an LSE prize-fund for student and staff-led projects that
enhance sustainability at LSE. It is run by the LSESU
Sustainable Futures Society. The money comes from a 10p ‘tax’ on
bottled water sold by LSE Catering. Funds are awarded annually by an
independent judging panel including students, senior academics and the
Director of Estates.
For more information on
the Fund and the winning projects, click
here.
The 2014 Fund will open for submissions in autumn 2013.
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One day's waste at LSE
LSE produced 1,920 tonnes of waste in 2011-12, a figure we are
working hard to reduce. As part of the drive to encourage staff and
students to reduce their personal waste-print the Sustainability Team
put a day's worth of waste on Houghton Street during LSE SU's Go Green
Week.
Top tips to reduce your waste use from the Sustainability Team:
- Take a reusable container to the takeaway.
- Use a reusable mug - new LSE smart mugs are coming soon.
- Think before you print.
- Refill your bottle at the water fountains.
Visit
Sustainable LSE for more information.
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Climate Week debate - are universities equipping us for the future?
LSE hosted a public debate on 6 March in partnership with national
Climate Week, titled
'University Climate Challenge: are universities equipping us for the
future?'. The event questioned how universities can use research to
shape well-informed public policy, communicate ideas to enrich public
debate and teach future generations of global citizens.
The panellists were Bob Ward, policy and communications director of the
LSE Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Alice
Bell, a research fellow in science policy and communication from Sussex
University, and Sam Randalls, a lecturer on the social and political
contexts of climate change at UCL. The event was chaired by Philipp
Rode, executive director of LSE Cities.
An excellent and stimulating discussion session followed the three
speakers' talks, which questioned the extent to which academics should
engage with the political context of their research without becoming
'advocates' for particular policies, whether universities should teach
climate change 'facts', or instead teach students to think critically
about a plurality of 'climate changes', and even the ever-changing role
of the university itself within society.
There were no easy answers to these challenging questions, but those
present left with a wealth of new ideas to help address the challenges
ahead.
This event will be available as a podcast later this month. For details
on Climate Week, a national week to raise understanding of climate
change issues, click here.
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Bird spotting at the Sportsground
This owl (pictured left) was spotted at the Sportsground by eagle-eyed head
groundsman Steve Butter. It's a 'little owl' (that's the species, not its
size).
The Sportsground is managed in a way that nurtures biodiversity. A
wildflower meadow and wood stacks encourage insects, which attract small
mammals and birds, which in turn have made it an inviting home for the bird
of prey in the photo over the last few years.
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Notices
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Green Impact Audit Week
From 11-15 March, the School's Green
Impact teams were audited by 42 staff and student auditors.
The auditors received a half day IEMA
accredited audit training from NUS Green Impact project officer
Charlotte Barrow, and conducted audits of the School's Green Impact
departments. This year in impressive 70 per cent of the School's support
divisions, research units and academic departments have active Green
teams. New teams this year include International Development, the
International Growth Centre, the Research Division, Law Department,
Media and Communications, PCPD, Cafe 54 and the Institute of Public
Affairs.
While new teams will be aiming to achieve
their Bronze award, old hands at the Estates Division, Mathematics
Department, Grantham Research Institute, LSE Catering, ODAR, Residential
Services, Rosebery Hall and the Students' Union will be going
head-to-head in the battle for Gold, Platinum and Excellence Awards.
The results will be announced at LSE's
Celebration of Sustainability on Friday 10 May by School Secretary Susan
Scholefield, Grantham's policy and communications director Bob Ward, and
LSE alumni and managing director of OPower, Nandini Basuthakur.
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Approximately 80
million chocolate eggs are sold in the UK at Easter,
generating around 4,370 tonnes of card and 160 tonnes of foil
waste. Most of the plastic packaging used is not yet recyclable,
which means it will end up in landfill. |
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New Cleaning Consumables Provider After a long tender process
'Not Just Cleaning' has been appointed as LSE's new cleaning consumables
provider to provide products sourced for their quality, safety and
environmental credentials. The changes mean products that save resources,
are safe for the environment and minimise other environmental impacts
arising from making and using products such as energy consumption,
transportation, methods of use and waste disposal.
In practice, new foam soap the dispensers instead of liquid soap will
reduce water usage by 16-45 per cent. Changing toilet rolls and dispensers
to Vertsatwin system will reduce pallets of toilet tissues from 80 to 47 in
a 12 month period. The change will cut the number of deliveries by 41 per
cent and cut carbon emissions.
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Recycling League Table
As part of the push to improve the quality of staff and student's
recycling skills, bin audits were carried out by waste officer Richard
Allen on all departments participating in Green Impact.
The results will be announced at the Celebration of Sustainability in
May.
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Green
alumni
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In this regular column we catch up with alumni involved in
sustainable activities and find out how their time at LSE shaped their
interest in sustainability.
Nandini Basuthakur (MSc Economic History, 1993) is senior vice
president and managing director of Opower, an advanced customer analytics
and software driven, energy efficiency company that was recently named
Cleantech Company for 2012. She has responsibility for building up Opower's
international expansion efforts and London office.
Were you involved in any sustainable
activities whilst at the School?
I can't point to specific, discrete
sustainable activities whilst at LSE in the 1990s. However, I do consider
that economics as a discipline assists in thinking about scarce resource
allocation across competing ends. My time at LSE and the courses I pursued
challenged me on public good theory and the limitations of natural resources
from a historic and economic perspective. I can recall vividly the first
Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and sharing stimulating conversations about the
future, the green agenda and the possibilities of innovation taking care of
people and our planet.
How has this interest in sustainability
carried on since leaving LSE?
My interest in sustainability has evolved
considerably since leaving LSE. Through my work, I've witnessed in the past
two decades of evolution from no clear sustainability values for
organisations to the institution of measures regarding social and
environmental performance, community programs and procurement practices.
It's been exciting to look back and forward, and to now be at the centre of
one of the most successful cleantech companies.
How did your studies at LSE relate to your
current sustainability work with Opower?
LSE enabled a multinational and
multidisciplinary experience of life and studies. This has been a continued
theme for me in my varied career with operating experience in multiple
countries and covering diverse disciplines. I love the camaraderie,
competition and challenge of making energy fun and compelling to
stakeholders and consumers around the world. The best energy is the kilowatt
not used!
If you were to make one recommendation to
current students and staff at LSE on sustainability, what would it be?
Sustainability is at its core a dialogue of
values that each of us can enhance and embrace in our own unique way. There
are numerous opportunities to engage in good business practices, enhance
audience engagement, empower people, lead discussions and our communities.
Seize them and care enough to make a difference! |
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Animal farming globally contributes to rainforest depletion,
produces 18 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions,
and accounts for over 8 per cent of global human water
consumption. LSE Catering hold regular Feel Good Food Days in
the Fourth Floor Restaurant
aimed at encouraging students and staff to start reducing their
meat consumption. In fact, the latest Feel Good Food Day is
today (Tuesday 19 March), so if you've not already eaten do
check out the goodies on offer on the Fourth Floor. |
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Residences
round-up
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Plans for action
LSE managed halls of residence are working hard to develop their own
individual Environmental Action Plans. This bottom-up approach will
provide targets that meet overall Sustainability policy objectives and
tie in closely with each halls' individual locality and operating
circumstances. Piloted first in Northumberland Hall, it is proving a
great opportunity for localised ideas on boosting sustainability in our
halls as well as providing fertile ground for cross seeding ideas.
Green Impact
Every LSE managed hall of residence is taking part in this year's Green
Impact Awards. Roseberry Hall is the hall to beat as the only hall to
achieve a Gold Award last year.
Student Switch Off
Student Switch Off is going strong with
xx Residence
Sustainability Champions working hard to get their friends to Switch Off
and take the lead in energy reduction (top picture left).
Biodiversity Boost
Passfield Hall's sustainable team of staff and students have won £6,000
funding from the Sustainable Project's Fund to boost biodiversity and
develop their garden (bottom picture left). |
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60
Second Interview
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with.....
Kira Matus
I'm not going to bore you with a
long discussion of my academic
background (I have my faculty
webpage for that), other than to say
that I'm a lecturer in public policy
and management in the Department of
Government, where I teach on the MSc
Public Policy and Administration and
MSc Registration courses (plus the
undergraduate degreed). I'm an
American and I grew up outside of
Boston, in a cute little New England
town with lots of trees and space.
Academia keeps me pretty busy, but
when I have bits of free time I tend
to spend them cooking, hiking,
reading and baking, or just spending
time with friends.
I am also a pretty easy sell for
random outdoor adventures (learn to
surf in Devon in November? Why not?
Go camping in upstate New York in
December? Sounds great!). During my
PhD my advisor was seriously
concerned that I would end up frozen
in a cave someplace, or that I would
end up dropping out to go to
culinary school and open a bakery. I
also love to travel - which may be a
large motivator for my career in
academia. I spend a lot of time in
China, and living in the UK has
allowed me to start exploring
Europe. I do find that, even on
holiday, I end up thinking about the
sustainability issues of wherever
I'm visiting. There's nothing like
sitting on a beautiful beach,
contemplating sustainable
development.
If you could have three wishes
what would they be?
If I could have three wishes...I
would want every child in the world
to have access to a quality
education. I would want to adjust
our political and economic systems
so that they reward longer-term
thinking over short-term gains,
because otherwise we're going to end
up in big trouble soon. And for my
third wish, purely for myself, is
that I want to be able to spend at
least one summer evening every year
on the lawn at Tanglewood (the
Boston Symphony's summer home),
listening to beautiful music and
picnicking with my friends and
family.
What book are you reading at
the moment?
This term has been so insane I
have been WAY off my usual bookworm
pace. The next book on my list of
pleasure reading is Beijing Coma
by Ma Jian. On the academic side,
I've been making my way through
Mao's Invisible Hand: the political
foundations of adaptive governance
in China. I guess I'm into China
this month!
What would you do if you were
LSE Director for the day?
If I were Director for the day I
would do three things. I would start
by eliminating, as much as possible,
the system of student assessment
that relies on 100 per cent final
exam. This includes finding a way to
make it easier to allow for systems
of continuous assessment (like
series of papers or mid-term exams,
graded coursework and class
participation), and also more final
papers, especially for
undergraduates.
The second thing I would do is
set up a list of five major 'super
wicked' problem areas where the
combined brainpower of LSE academics
and students could have a huge
impact, and I would set up
interdisciplinary centres with
strong seed funding and lots of
support for pulling in more research
funding in each. Sustainability
would obviously be one of these!
Finally, I would start an LSE
Alumni Green Fund, to start
collecting substantial donations to
go towards sustainability work -
both by Estates to do things to
reduce the campus' environmental
impact, but which would also fund
activities for students (like
setting up courses and projects) and
also seed funding for academics.
What is your favourite
biscuit?
Where I'm from, biscuits are
usually consumed with grits and
gravy. On the assumption that you're
referring to a 'cookie', I have to
go with the classic - a nice, warm,
chewy chocolate chip cookie. They're
really hard to find here - so I
import big bags of chocolate chips
when I go back to the US and bake my
own!
What change would you like to
see in the world in 50-100 year's
time?
In 50-100 years, I would like to
see a world where we've at least
begun to move towards a system that
recognises, and responds to, the
reality of a large population in a
resource constrained world, and thus
tackles major sustainability AND
development challenges head on. I
DON'T want to see a radically
two-tiered world, with 'haves'
walled off, jealously guarding their
resources from the rest of the
world.
What is the strangest food
you've ever eaten?
Hmmmm...what's strange to me is
totally normal in other places where
I spend lots of time. So in London,
having eaten donkey or lotus roots
in China is pretty odd. But in
Beijing, having a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich every day for lunch
growing up would be strange. It's
all about context!
If you could live anywhere in
the world where would you go and
why?
I would go back to New England
and find a house on a lake in the
mountains (probably in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire or
Vermont). I love living here, and I
have been fortunate enough to visit
some beautiful, amazing places. But
that will always be home to me. |
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Advice
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Want
to know more?
If you have any questions about the sustainability work going on around
campus or would like to become involved, why not contact one of the many
Green Impact Leaders who take active roles in the School's work in this area. A
list of Staff Sustainability Champions is online
here.
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