September was a busy time for all teams across the University as we welcome both returning and new students back to our campus.   

Several teams work in-person engagement events organised by the central welcome team, which take place from 21 to 25 September. The University’s Environmental Sustainability team had the opportunity to attend a number of these including the Welcome Fair, The Spend Smart Fair and Well-fest (organised by the Well-being team).   

This year, the Environmental Sustainability team brought commissioned Design Boards, showcasing the breadth of work they do across at the University, to help guide conversation and better showcase initiatives that students can get involved in.   

The team are recruiting student Sustainability Champions for the 2026/27 academic year and, thanks to a push at Welcome Week, currently have over forty sign-ups to their volunteering programme. Last year, dedicated students ran eleven engagement campaigns and events over the course of two semesters, promoting the sustainability initiatives here at the University.  

Following the close of applications on 18 October, the new student Champions will break into their respective groups and begin to plan and deliver their own campaigns. The Champions network extends to our Eco-Champions in the Faculty of Biology, Health and Medicine. These students are planning to deliver an engagement event focused on reducing the environmental impact of Halloween as a celebration, demonstrating how the Champions programme is a vital mechanism in embedding sustainable thinking through community engagement and social practice.    

The team also invited developers of their two sustainability engagement apps to promote these projects in person. No Time to Waste is a sustainable behaviour change app where users log day to day environmentally friendly actions to earn points. CommuteUoM is the University’s official travel app designed to help users access cheaper, greener travel.   

These in-person engagement events are always productive for boosting the visibility of Environmental Sustainability on campus. Being able to chat face-to-face with a range of students from varying degree backgrounds about sustainability challenges is always incredibly insightful.