Reading University Students’ Union:
full marks across the workbook
Reading University
2010-11
Go Green Week publicity
This year three teams at the University of Reading gained all possible points available to them within
Green Impact, one of those teams being the Students Union (RUSU).
Three key aspects of the RUSU success were; senior management buy-in with clear support from their
chief executive, the existence of their internal environmental task force who led on their activities and
the fact that they have good communications within the union as a whole.
One key benefit for RUSU was the fact that they have participated in the Green Impact Students’ Unions
scheme for a number of years so had many of the areas covered already and systems in place. This also
helped them as they were able to learn and build on their past experience, something that more and
more departments will be able to do as they move into their second and third year of participating in
Green Impact Universities and Colleges.
The fact that they are student focussed meant that RUSU could draw on the ideas and enthusiasm of the
students, an opportunity open to many academic departments also.
There are also a number of members of staff in RUSU who have a personal passion for the environment
and/or supporting charities which really helped. However, they will not be unique in this; it is just a case
of identifying those people who are keen to get involved.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing but whenever they came across any difficulties, such as understanding the
detail of some of the criteria or uncertainty about how much detail they were expected to provide, they
contacted the Energy Officer, Tom Yearley, for clarification. This is something all departments should do
if they face uncertainty over any of the criteria.
RUSU did mention their desire to utilise their experience by supporting other departments at the
university in their green impact activities next year so do get in touch at [email protected] if you
would like to gain some of that support at the University of Reading.