Sustainability Fortnight, 2023
In 2023, the Sustainable Universities Network (SUN) in collaboration with the Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) is organising a national sustainability fortnight!
Overwhelmingly, sustainability student groups and staff departments are overworked. This sustainability fortnight aims to reduce the amount of work required to put on sustainability fortnight.
If you are putting on events during this week, please email us at sustainableuninetwork@gmail.com for your event to be advertised on our national schedule.
Aims of this initiative
We know sustainability weeks are an amazing way to engage your community but we know they can be a lot of work! Hence, our overarching aim is to create a national, coordinated sustainability fortnight.
Any online event that any participating university group or department organises will be added to a national schedule. This aims to reduce the amount of events you need to organise as you can just advertise the events others are putting on to your students.
Each day of the fortnight is themed!
Online events that match the themes will be included in an online schedule (still to come).
Day 1: Welcome to Sustainability Fortnight
Monday, September 18th
An introductory day to welcome people to sustainability fortnight!
We recommend organising:
Introductory seminars/webinars to your week
SUN will be organizing: a networking event to create a national position statement on what university students want to see more of at their university.
Day 2: Green Campus day
Tuesday, September 19th
"During World Green Building Week in September, ACTS celebrates Green Campus Day by supporting members to showcase the buildings and other innovative features that make their campuses sustainable. A range of online and on-site events can be freely accessed by staff, students, industry representatives and the wider community."
Day 3: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Wednesday, September 20th
The SDGs are the tool that the world is using to advance sustainability. But what are they? And how can staff and students use them to create sustainability?
We recommend organising:
Events to help educate your community on these goals. Encourage your university to start thinking about these goals, what they can do to advance them and how they would work to improve them.
SUN will be organising: A free lecture on using the SDGs in collaboration with the United Nations’ SDSN Youth.
Day 4: The Plastic problem
Thursday, September 21st
Carrying on from yesterday, today will be about plastic waste at a local level. What can we each do to reduce our impact? And does this impact even matter?
We recommend organising events like:
Workshops of reducing waste
Information sessions about reducing waste at home
Seminars about what your university is doing
Day 5: Biodiversity and habitats
Friday, September 22nd
Bees, bugs, birds and bush creatures - today will dedicated to biodiversity and local habitats!
We recommend organising events like:
Clean-ups, biodiversity blitz or tree-planting in and around your campus
Have some native animals visit your campus
Lectures and seminars about biodiversity
Tip: Hybrid events tend to be more accessible to a variety of people. Having an online component means that people from all over the country can come and listen.
Another tip: put on events that are practical and answer questions that students (and staff) are genuinely asking. Unique information is valuable as you can search for most information online!
Day 6: Climate change and climate action
Monday, September 25th
Climate change is a big issue. But how are we going to get ourselves out of this climate crisis?
We recommend organising events like:
How is your university addressing climate change?
How is Australia addressing climate change?
Climate anxiety related workshops and activities.
Day 7: Climate justice
Tuesday, September 26th
A lot has to be done if we are going to get out of the climate crisis. Today is about climate justice and making sure no one gets left behind. It is also about just transitions and making sure people do not become victims to the solutions.
We recommend organising events like:
Lectures on just transition
Discussion of how climate change is impacting the world's vulnerable more intensly.
SUN will be organising a free lecture on climate justice - including what that means and how young people can address it.
Day 8: Wasteful habits
Wednesday, September 27th
Food and fashion - we have a lot of wasteful habits! So how can we reduce our community's impact? And how can we scale our reduction?
We recommend organising events like:
Workshops and seminars on waste reduction
How is your university reducing its impact?
Day 9: Equality and justice
Thursday, September 28th
Sustainable development challenges often impact the marginalised more intensely. So how do we make sure our movements involve those voices? How do we make sure we are serving the most vulnerable in our communities?
We recommend organising events like:
Seminars with guest speakers who can talk about intersectionality
Indigenous knowledge workshops
Day 10: Mental health
Friday, September 29th
Sustainable development is an exhausting field to be in. But we do it because we care! This day is dedicated to taking care of each other as well as starting some real conversations about mental health.
We recommend organising events that can help improve the mental well-being of your students. This can be coping strategies or by having upfront conversations about mental health struggles within the sustainability space. Both are important.