2024
In 2024 the sustainability workgroup organized the SSC Energy Challenge. Between February 15th and April 15th, five teams took on five projects linked to this topic:
Team Energy Use Tips & Tricks:
Many people want to work more energy efficient but are unsure where to start. We want to inform everyone by sharing practical tips: what can you do and how much energy does that save? Our team provides suggestions for effective and accessible ways to reduce energy consumption.
Team Energy Helpdesk:
The Energy Helpdesk aims to solve practical requests from all SSC staff members and students to help them in reducing the energy consumption at SSC. The Helpdesk intends to do this by logging and monitoring issues and initiatives, and by sharing good practices, outcomes & learnings. We collaborate with FCO and the team above.
Team Warm & Cold:
This group brings together the Student Council, FCO and the School Board and aims at finding and implementing an optimal temperature in the workplace. To reach this goal we need to compile information about the processes of setting the temperature in different rooms. Therefore, we will list these processes and the needs of the occupants, to lay the foundation for efficient energy consumption.
- More information? Contact team captain Medha Guru.
Team Sustainability Research:
The SSC Sustainability workgroup, in collaboration with the R&I 'Co-creation for Inclusive Knowledges Lab,' will organize a networking event dedicated to sustainability-related research. This gathering aims to bring together SSC researchers with expertise and/or interest in conducting research on Energy and other sustainability-related themes. We are looking forward to an insightful and collaborative event designed to strengthen sustainable connections and foster discussions related to sustainability within the SSC research community.
Team Sustainability Education:
At the VU, we prepare our students to engage with the core challenges they will encounter during their working lives. Climate change and the energy transition are quickly changing how we conduct research, write policy, and do business worldwide. A head start in this changing world, begins with a future proof curriculum. Our aim is to build, expand and support a network of SSC teachers who want to include climate change and sustainability in their teaching. As a first step, our goal is to organize a practical workshop for teachers on how to implement this topic in your course.
2023
-In the autumn of 2023, an SSC Sustainability Survey was created in collaboration with VU’s Sustainability Office. There were 124 responses in total, from teachers, researchers and support staff of our school.
-From March until October 2023 we hosted the Sustainability Challenge at our school:
The challenge booklet was made to help in coming up with a suitable challenge and learning from the process of (attempting to) change. Besides this booklet, there was a physical location that embodied the change of the collective, the 'change tree', which visited all departments.
The idea was to try to change a habit in 21 days. The challenge could be about finding a more sustainable way to commute, using less paper, eating less dairy, turning off lights, etc. The challenges were linked to the six impact topics from our school's sustainability policy.
If you want to get an idea of the impact of your consumption patterns, you can use a footprint calculator, for instance on this website (in Dutch) or on this website (in English).
