Student action
Our students are fundamental to our purpose as a centre for innovation and to create positive change.
As ambassadors for change, future leaders and members of a global society, they play a crucial role in our efforts. To effectively address sustainability challenges, we work closely with our students, co-developing impactful sustainability initiatives together.
This includes the roll-out of summer internships directly addressing sustainability challenges faced by the university, the formation of engagement groups in which students can share their concerns and aspirations and the inclusion of student feedback in the governance of sustainability workstreams across our global campuses.
Sustainability at the Student Union
Our student community continue to actively demonstrate their advocacy for sustainability through self-organised activities and efforts, including the creation of student societies addressing sustainability themes. Visit the Student Union Sustainability site to learn more about the positive approach being taken to address the challenges we face, and to keep up to date with student-led sustainability events.
Heriot-Watt Student Sustainability Forum and drop-in
Heriot-Watt University's Global Environmental Sustainability team and the Student Union have teamed up to deliver regular Student Sustainability Forum, which acts as a drop in open to all students from all disciplines. The forum is creating a space for dialogue within the University, bringing together staff and students to discuss all-things sustainability.
It has been designed as a space for students that is accessible, flexible, informal and as welcoming as possible, so that every student feels comfortable joining conversations about sustainability and the many forms it can take.
Sponsorship of Student Volunteer Sustainability Award
For the second year running the Sustainability team sponsored the Heriot-Watt University Student Union Strive for Sustainability Student Volunteer Award.
The award recognises a student or student group who has made an outstanding effort to promote sustainability on campus and in the community more widely.
This year it was won by the Net Zero Society, congratulations were also extended to the other nominees, Heriot-Watt Eco Society and Lucie Stewart (Volunteer at the HWU 'Re-Loved' sustainable clothing outlet).
UniRecycle initiative
Students departing from accommodation on our Edinburgh campus are invited to donate unwanted food and kitchen items in June and August as part of the UniRecycle Project to help reduce waste while supporting a local charity and their fellow students. Donation areas are in halls of residence ahead of the move out and instructions are sent to students on what can be donated and where. Any unopened food and non-electrical items left in communal kitchens after the move out deadline are collected by a team of Residential and Cleaning Services, ResLife and Chaplaincy staff and student and staff volunteers, these are recycled and donated accordingly.
The majority of the food collected is delivered to the Community One Stop Shop / Broomhouse Food Bank, an essential source of support for many in the local community. Over 400kg of food was donated as part of the halls clear out in 2023, demonstrating the impact of the initiative on reducing food waste.
Items such as crockery, pots and pans, and other kitchen equipment are redistributed to new students arriving on campus in September, an initiative the Chaplaincy have been running successfully for several years.
In addition to this we work in partnership with The Edinburgh Remakery, a local social enterprise which refurbishes old IT equipment to avoid landfill and supports people facing digital isolation and poverty. Departing students are encouraged to donate unwanted personal laptops, smart phones, and other tech items in the Tech Donation Box, which is located beside the reception desk on the ground floor of the Library.
Students can also donate preloved clothes, shoes, and bedding materials via the British Heart Foundation donation boxes which are stationed around the Edinburgh campus. Donated items are sold through local British Heart Foundation shops to help fund lifesaving research.
Heriot-Watt Student Sustainability Fund
All Heriot-Watt students, regardless of location, are able to apply for funding to support student-led activities addressing a sustainability theme. This can be as simple as organising a campus litter pick, or as involved as delivering large-scale events to advocate for a sustainable future. All funding applications should be associated with one of the many Heriot-Watt student societies, so whether you're wanting to demonstrate what a particular subject can do to address a sustainability challenge or showcase how a hobby can promote sustainable practices, we want to hear from you.
The Sustainability team is happy to discuss your ideas with you as part of the funding application process, just get in touch: SustainableHWU@hw.ac.uk
If you'd like a bit of inspiration in the meantime, here's some examples of ways in which the fund has been used:
- A fieldtrip to enable members of the Net Zero Society to visit an industrial facility to learn about opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of their operations.
- A conference event organised by the Muslim Society and the Net Zero Society to showcase research being carried out by society members.
- An excursion to a waste processing facility for members of the Eco Society and Net Zero Society to see where waste produced by the Edinburgh campus goes, and more importantly, what happens to it.
Make a funding application
If you feel ready to jump straight to making a funding application, please apply through the completion of this form.