Our Commitment to Sustainability
At TUS our vision is to be a ‘catalyst for sustainable change through education and research that transforms lives, our region and the world beyond’. Sustainability is one of our six core values and a key element of our strategic priorities. This translates into a commitment to be more sustainable in all our activities across our campus community.
For this event, we focused our efforts on some key areas, using the TUS Sustainability Guidelines as well as the Sustainable Event Guidelines from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Galway’s Sustainable Event Checklist, as well as Sustainability – TUS. These are listed below:
- Choice of Venue (TUS Athlone is easily accessible by public transport).
- Online Registration via TUS Events page.
- Communication via Email and Social Media and Event website.
- It is envisaged that Symposium outputs will be shared as openly as possible.
- Limited event merchandise.
- Sustainably sourced lanyards (which will be reused for other events in TUS so please return yours at the end of the event!).
- Use of public transport encouraged and buses arranged for students.
- Encouraged use of reusable water bottles (water coolers are available along the corridors of the Mary Ward Centre for Science) and coffee cups.
- Locally, sustainably and ethically sourced food (Midlands Catering).
- Fair trade tea/coffee.
- Conscious decision to limit food waste when ordering.
- Conscious effort to turn off lights/close windows when leaving rooms.
- Encouraging exhibitors to consider sustainability in the context of their engagement with our event.
- Choosing accommodation that is committed to sustainability #sheratonhotel.
- Our TUS Green Campus initiative includes a Green Charter which sets out targets for litter and waste, teaching, learning and research and campus and community engagement.
Sustainability is also about equity, accessibility, inclusion and diversity. Key areas of focus for this event are:
- Consideration of the gender ratio for presentations and the panel.
- Provision of quiet spaces for people to step away from the symposium if needed (these will be signposted and include spaces inside and outside the building).
- Costs for attendees are kept to a minimum and students do not pay to attend.
However, we acknowledge that we can always do better! We would love to hear your suggestions if you can think of other ways to be more sustainable when organising an event. Please email us at eduxr26@easychair.org.
Sincerest thanks to colleagues in the TUS Sustainability Team for their support.
