Michaelmas Term 2022
Since launching in late September, Durham Climate Society has hosted a range of inspiring speakers, rapidly grown Durham’s Climate Community and been shortlisted for our first award. In 3 months, we have grown to 575 followers on Instagram and over 200 SU members. We’ve been hugely inspired by the phenomenal support for our society and our mission to embed sustainability within the University and create a central hub for student and staff engagement with climate change.
‘The most encouraging thing I’ve ever seen in terms of student involvement in climate at Durham’
Professor Robert Song, Environmental Humanities
Last term we held talks from 4 superb guest speakers: James Close from NatWest, Marco Duso from BCG and Peter Kirby & Will Smith from Fred. All of the events were met with enthusiasm and support, with over 220 students and staff attending. The speakers greeted the immense difficulties involved with the climate catastrophe with optimism; offering positive suggestions on how to make a meaningful impact.
The highlight of the term was our COP27 Debrief with an engaging and inspiring panel made up of student, academic, staff and council climate leaders – building cooperation and dialogue between all areas of the Durham community. The event helped the shed light on the complexities of the COP27, as well as providing details on the implications of the decisions that were made. The COP27 Debrief proved to be a huge success with over 140 students attending to voice their own concerns and to listen to the highly valuable insight provided by our expert panel. Robert Song, Professor of Environmental Humanities, said: ‘I was really impressed at the number of people who turned out to the meeting and the enthusiasm and energy that people were showing. Truthfully it was the most encouraging thing I’ve ever seen in terms of student involvement in climate at Durham’.
The events allowed for interesting and passionate discussion about the climate crisis and provided the first opportunities for collaborative student and staff conversation. They were also instrumental in fostering links with other climate groups and helped to begin the development of a united Durham Climate Community to drive impact on campus.
Meaningful change does not only come from student engagement, but from passionate collaboration with the University. We held collaborative consultations on our ground-breaking College Sustainability Policy, in which students and staff were encouraged to have their say on the best ways to embed sustainability in every aspect of university policy. By urging people to participate in the consultation process we were able to create a policy that represents a diverse range of perspectives. The process allowed for the empowerment of all communities in Durham and gave students ownership and involvement in the sustainable changing being made across the university. A key mechanism to achieve our aim is to produce a strategy that will pave the way for Durham to achieve net zero as a university, and through Epiphany term we will continue with this endeavour.
“It was an honour to be shortlisted as finalists for the Bright Network Sustainable Society of the Year Award 2022 after only 7 active weeks.”
The reaction to the society has been overwhelming, and it was an honour to be shortlisted as finalists for the Bright Network Sustainable Society of the Year Award 2022 after only 7 active weeks. Moreover, we were able to secure £2,720 in funding from multiple sources which will be used to further inspire Durham’s future climate leaders. We wish to thank everyone who got involved in our first term, without the support of students and staff our goals would be unachievable. In Epiphany term we will endeavour to continue to be a proactive force for profound change within the University.
