Get involved in the next NUS HEA student sustainability survey

11th November 2013

The dust hasn’t settled on the third NUS HEA report on student attitudes towards, and skills for, sustainability yet, but they are thrilled with how widely it has been reported and cited.

The report shows that, consistently over the last 3 years, c60% of Higher Education students want to learn about sustainability, and c80% want their institutions to embed it in their operations, with a base of c14k student respondents in total. These are really important findings in the new funding landscape, where the student voice is notionally at the heart of the system.

In October 2013, to help you engage more fully with your students on this issue, the EAUC responded by opening our Membership to allow students and student union (SU) staff access to the services and benefits currently used by staff. Find out more

The NUS have now launched the fourth year of the survey! They are aiming to get as large a sample as possible this year, to really add weight to the evidence base, and so they have a something up-to-date to share with policy makers in the run up to the General Election to help get sustainability up the running order.

Promoting the survey at your institutuion

The NUS will share the responses from each institution, so you could have an important local data set as well as the national picture. If you want a locally statistically significant sample, you are advised to work with your students’ union to promote the survey to all of your students.

The survey is open at www.nus.org.uk/uni-skills and will close on 30 November 2013. There is a £500 first prize and ten £50 runner up prizes for completed entries.

The survey was sent out under a generic title as it is important that a wide range of students are targeted so as not to bias the results. The NUS is encouraging people to promote the survey in a neutral way, focused on university life and skills, to avoid biasing the responses towards those with existing positive opinions towards the environment or sustainability.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Rachel.Drayson@nus.org.uk.