A commitment to continue to embed sustainability at the centre of its education has won De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) and De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU) an accreditation to the national Responsible Futures scheme for the second time.
Responsible Futures is run by Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK) on behalf of the National Union of Students (NUS) and is awarded to universities which are helping students gain the skills and experience they need to develop in a global society.
The scheme enables universities to develop and be audited on their efforts towards the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to see students leave higher education with the knowledge, skills and values to evaluate the world around them and live a more sustainable life.
Not only did DMU win this accreditation in 2019, but its efforts have now been further recognised with a re-accreditation for a further two years, something not seen often, with DMU being one of only 14 institutions in the country with the accreditation.
Larissa Kennedy, SOS-UK and NUS National President said: “Congratulations to De Montfort University and De Montfort Students’ Union on this fantastic achievement!
“Thank you for your commitment to empowering students to access the skills and knowledge they need to forge a more sustainable education system and more sustainable world.”
DMU and DSU have been recognised due to their efforts within the community, putting sustainability into the heart of teaching, managing the campus in a greener way and its transparency in actively encouraging students to live life in a more sustainable way through its wide range of activities, events, and schemes.
The audit is carried out using student-led auditing, an opportunity for students to gain valuable employability and sustainable development skills, while playing a leadership role in supporting DMU to advance sustainability within learning.
One student said: “This has been a brilliant and informative experience surrounding such important topics that have clear positive impact and change, it has been interesting and rewarding to be involved.”
Another said: “I think that it's important that I've been involved with the audit. This has literally set the tone for more things I want to discover about DMU, as a first-year student. I'm interested in seeing what they do in the future.”
By being part of the Responsible Futures scheme, DMU aims to give students at the university the skill set to embed sustainability in their future careers in a bid to make change.
DMU’s Sustainability Manager, Karl Letten said: “The big goal for our work on sustainability is engaging students. We can reduce waste and recycle stuff on campus, but in terms of having the biggest impact, it's about how we can inspire and support students at DMU.
“You're going to graduate in a year or a couple of years, you'll have a career, if we gave all students at DMU the skills to act on sustainability in their careers, the impact of that could be massive.
“That to me is the really important thing. Regardless of the organisation, always focus on the thing that has the biggest impact.”
The accreditation work was undertaken by DMU’s Education for Sustainable Development project, DMU’s Sustainability Team and De Montfort Students’ Union and will be in place until 2023, at which point another validation audit will need to be carried out. This achievement is also further recognition for DMU’s commitment to the UN’s SDGs.
Posted on Thursday 13 May 2021