Monday 16 January 2012

Establishing How the 2010, £600 Million Cuts in Funding to the Sector Have Affected Sustainable Initiatives Across University and College Campuses.

Last week I wrote and circulated a survey, the purpose of which was to obtain a clearer picture of how the 2010, £600 million cuts in funding to the sector have affected sustainable initiatives across University and College campuses.
Through the course of my research as the SUSTE-TECH PM with the EAUC, and in my previous role at the University of Limerick, I experienced the unfortunate effects insufficient funding has on sustainable projects. Funding cuts result in institutions being unable to participate in sustainable, cost saving exercises and/or unable to complete projects they may have previously signed up for.
This also results in a waste of institutional funding and resources and of the time and efforts of everyone involved.
While this may have seemed like an obvious and simple solution by the government to save money, it only results in even greater long term costs as initial saving made are lost and further waste is created.
However, some institutions have seen the cuts as an incentive to improve their overall sustainable performance. They have used the “measures of austerity” to be more vigilant about wasting resources such as energy and encouraging more sustainable work practices. I, for one, am keen to learn what exactly institution have done to save money and reduce their ecological footprints at the same time.
This survey is targeted at Environmental/Sustainable, IT/ICT, Procurement, Buildings & Estates, Operations, Energy, and Waste managers, interns, assistant managers, team members etc., within the FHE sector.  There are 3 x £30 gift certificates from an online retailer to be won and everyone who completes the survey will be automatically entered.  The closing date for being in with a chance to win one of the prizes is January 30th, 2012 but the survey will remain open long after that.
Simply click on the following link to participate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7XB7ZPT
I'm hoping that the results of this survey will support my theory that cutting funding to support sustainable projects in an attempt to save money, has the opposite effect.
Hopefully, future decision makers will realise this and award funding to sustainable, cost saving projects, when trying to save money.

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