Sustainable Diets

Action: Develop and promote sustainable diets, including but not limited to veganism.

Impact: Creates a culture of vegan-as-normal, educates students about the existing range of vegan food available/that they may eat, increases demand for vegan options/reducing environmental impact of food SU sells, sets us up to be ahead of the curve commercially as veganism grows in popularity and Sheffield becomes Vegan Capital of the UK, SU more welcoming and inclusive space for vegan students. University prioritises local, sustainable, seasonal food in its procurement.

2018/19 Priority project shortlist:

• Educate and engage students and staff in sustainable diets.
• Develop and refine Sheffield Students' Union's position on sustainable diets and implement this internally throughout the SU.

Fossil Free

Action: secure positive reinvestment of University of Sheffield finances divested from fossil fuels and become leaders on Fossil Free research.

Impact: divested money is positively reinvested into much-needed renewables, students are educated about finance and investment and how to influence the University's investments. University moves towards generally more progressive investment policy. Students learn important campaigning skills, students learn how to navigate and intervene in University bureaucracy, SU and University lead globally on Fossil Free Research, creates links between academics and students for them to work together, University challenges the social license of fossil fuel companies.

Zero Carbon

Action: Engage with the University to encourage new developments to be zero-carbon by design and work with the University to develop an action plan for a zero-carbon campus by 2034.

Impact: University is not tied into carbon-intensive infrastructure (expense to retrofit), SU and University lead the way together demonstrating possibility of alternatives to students and others in the sector. University adopts renewable sources of energy, it supports local renewable energy cooperatives, it becomes energy self-sufficient and a local supplier with its own solar or wind farms, empowers and educates students to be involved in the management of local renewables, University leads by example by fulfilling targets on emissions reduction and beyond. University adopts a sustainability strategy in collaboration with the SU, engages students in long-term planning of their University. Our members will lobby the University to rigorously pursue a sustainability strategy using renewable energy sources, especially at the SU, and exceed carbon emissions reduction targets.

2018/19 Priority project shortlist:

• Drive the University towards being a zero-carbon campus: secure key changes and actions to move the agenda forward.
• Engage with students around Scope 3 emissions, Zero Carbon solutions and how to take action locally.
• To put in place sub-metering, policy, feedback and action systems that enable the Students' Union to continually monitor and reduce our energy consumption.