12 June 2008
One in three UK colleges has pledged to go green and take on the role of environmental champion within the local community.
Over 120 colleges have signed up to a new Green Declaration, developed by the Association of Colleges (AoC) and the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC).
The Declaration commits signatories to making environmental sustainability a guiding principle in all areas of their business.
It requires participant colleges to promote sustainable development within communities, ensure a prudent use of resources, introduce (realistic) environmental standards in building design and maintenance, develop safe, green and accessible routes to college and introduce sustainability into the curriculum where possible.
The Declaration is part of AoC’s Green Colleges campaign, which has lead to a new Learning and Skills Council fund for capital environmental projects valued at £100,000 or under.
250 colleges were successful in their applications to the fund, with the LSC backing over 1200 separate projects valued at more than £22million. CO2 savings from these projects are expected to realise in excess of 350000 tonnes over their lifetime.*
Lisa Dubow, AoC Campaigns Officer, says;
“This level of take-up among colleges is great and shows they take environmental and sustainability issues seriously. The declaration is a public commitment that colleges will look at all aspects of their business in order to implement environmental best practice, and hopefully become a catalyst for change in the wider community. Management, staff, lecturers and students pushing the green agenda are setting a really positive example.”
Iain Patton, EAUC Executive Director, says;
“Colleges see and grasp the huge potential which sustainability offers and the risks they take by ignoring it. The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges encourages every college in the country to sign up to the Declaration. With the support of the EAUC and the AOC they will start out on a commitment towards ensuring that colleges help their staff, students, teaching and buildings to become beacons of sustainability excellence.”
*See http://www.salixfinance.co.uk/furthereducation.html
ends
Contacts:
Michael Williams
Press Officer
020 7034 9900
07921044511
michael_williams@aoc.co.uk
FE Facts and Figures
• 727,000 16 to 18 year olds choose to study in colleges (compared with 447,000 in all schools)
• Colleges provide 46% of entrants to higher education
• Ethnic minority students make up 16% of learners in colleges compared with 9% of the general population
• 27% of 16 to 18 year olds in colleges are from the 15% most deprived wards in England (compared with 9.5% of 16 to 18 year olds in maintained school sixth forms)
• 64% of those in receipt of an Education Maintenance Allowances in 2005/06 were studying in an FE or sixth form college
View all news
