Green Gown Awards 2015 – Sustainability Professional Award - Dr Rosemary Willatt - Finalist

Sustainability Coordinator - London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London

Rosemary has gone beyond her core role around operational sustainability at London College of Fashion. She is the first person in the role and has quickly developed relationships with staff and students leading to positive engagement opportunities.

This includes a number of collaborative projects such as developing the first staff volunteering policy, working with local organisations and students on creative upcycling of waste materials and developing networks of sustainability expertise through publicising and celebrating staff members’ initiatives.

Giving staff and students a range of opportunities to engage with sustainability in the ways they feel are valuable and relevant to their skills offers them opportunities to contribute to the institution’s sustainability vision. Staff have pledged tens of hours of volunteering time and students’ innovative pieces are currently on display in a three-month exhibition open to the public at a local organisation. These initiatives also create opportunities for engagement with local communities.

Top 3 learnings

1 Shout about the amazing and diverse expertise and achievements of staff and students – many people inside and outside the institution will be interested and want to get involved themselves

2 Collaborate and ask staff, students and external partners to get involved so you can bring a range of expertise to every project and engage people with different interests

3 Keep going – most things start small but once you can demonstrate the benefits you can show how these could scale and lead to bigger changes.

Videos

• Sustainability Coordinator - London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London (click to hide)