Project information

Global Justice for People and Planet

To inspire and support young people to take action to tackle global inequality and climate change. We will give young people the knowledge, confidence and skills to take action in their college, university or community to promote global justice and sustainability.

June 2011 - June 2012

Charity information: People & Planet

People & Planet logo
  • Need

    Need

    There are two key problems. One, environmental management and ethical supply chains have never been a priority for the education sector which is judged on the basis of research, teaching and exam results. So policies and performance need significant improvement. Two, even if students care about global social and environmental justice, they need support and the opportunity to come together to reinforce their belief that change is possible.

    Solution

    In three ways. One, by extending knowledge and understanding of global injustice and what sustainability means. Increased understanding will enable informed debate and active participation. Two, we will challenge feelings of apathy and isolation by encouraging students to take practical action in their college or university to expose shortcomings and demand improvements. Three we will create a momentum for change by students feeling part of a national movement of like-minded individuals.

  • Aims

    Aim 1

    To increase knowledge and understanding of gloal injustice, climate change and sustainability

    Activities

    » to run inter-active learning workshops for students
    » to organise regional and national events

    Success will be...feedback from student participants on quality of workshops or events

    Aim 2

    To improve environmental and ethical procurement policies and practices in the education sector

    Activities

    » to participate in sector-wide initiatives to stimulate or sustain change
    » to provide skills training to students to enable them to more effectively influence their university
    » to undertake national level advocacy of key decision-makers
    » to secure media coverage of key developments and activities

    Success will be...monitoring universities' environmental/ethical procurement policies and practices through annual preparation of the People & Planet Green League

    Aim 3

    To inspire collective action and peer learning

    Activities

    » facilitate and support online communications through e-comms, blogging
    » maintain and develop website to record activities and achievements
    » maintain cohesion through skype communication

    Success will be...measure numbers of people active online and participating in network-wide communications and liveliness of contributions

  • Impact

    Impact

    The project seeks long-term change at two levels. First we aim to inspire students to develop an active commitment to global social and environmental justice. This can be measured by the size and activities of our groups network. Second, we aim to improve environmental and ethical procurement policies and practices in universities. There are standard measures for a range of indicators (carbon, water, energy, waste etc) to demonstrate progress.

    Risk

    A major risk is that the education sector becomes so pre-occupied, amongst students and staff alike, with dealing with expenditure cuts and student loans that climate change and sustainability are seen to be of minor significance. Our response is that modelling the transition to being a low carbon and ethical university will be a hallmark of success in the long-term.

    Reporting

    6 monthly project reports to foundations; personalised reports to major donors.

  • Budget

    Budget - Project Cost: £40,000

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      Amount Heading Description
      £15,000 salary contribution training & volunteering manager
      £12,000 Summer Gathering event planning and implementing 3 days residential event for 60 key contacts
      £10,000 Shared Planet conference contribution to costs of national event in November 2010
      £3,000 salary contribution website management and online support to student network
  • Background

    Location

    The project will work with students in colleges and universities across the UK. Their size, wealth and diversity ratios vary enormously. The common thread that links them all is People & Planet's reputation and ability to organise and communicate effectively with students and inspire them to take action in accordance with the maxim 'Think Globally, Act Locally'.

    Beneficiaries

    Direct and immediate beneficiaries are the students who take part in training sessions, group activities and other events. We estimate that these will total 300-400. Indirect and long-term beneficiaries are those most vulnerable to exploitation in global supply chains or catastrophic climate change.

  • Why Us?

    Why Us?

    People & Planet has been working exclusively with students for over 40 years. We have a strong existing network, a proven ability to organise inspiring national and regional events, provide some of the best global citizenship and campaigning training available and have a long and impressive track record of student action on and global poverty and injustice, and climate change.

    Read more about the Charity running this project.

    People

    Adam Ramsay: Staff

    training and volunteer manager - will plan and deliver national events and support volunteer organisers with regional ones

    Louise Hazan: Staff

    climate change campaigns manager; will provide training on climate change; ongoing support for student-led initiatives and lead national advocacy

    Rich Lott: Staff

    Will provide IT support and web management