Students’ Union wins NUS funding for transformative sustainability project within local community

The University of Northampton Students’ Union is proud to announce the launch of Planet Too – a transformative sustainability project, which will create a huge increase in pro-environmental behaviours at The University of Northampton and the local community.

The project builds on the University’s commitment to social value and combines aspects of volunteering and campaigning with social enterprise and employability to engage students in leading change on their campus.  It also targets private and community student housing, aiming to reduce the impact on the environment by unnecessary energy consumption.

NUS (National Union of Students) is providing The University of Northampton with over £250,000 to fund the first two years of the project’s delivery, with long term legacy being built into the project to ensure that its positive impact keeps expanding over the coming years.

“The University of Northampton Students’ Union is delighted to be a recipient of the Student Green Fund,” said Students’ Union President Haviour Chen.

“The funding will enable the Students’ Union to embed the principles of sustainability and the ‘triple bottom line’ across every aspect of enterprise and entrepreneurship education, and social enterprise development within the University of Northampton and facilitate greater engagement with our local community.”

“Our project, P2, has been developed by our members, in partnership with Students’ Union Staff and the University with support from the Vice Chancellor, National Landlords Association Northampton Branch and Ashoka, the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide. We can’t wait to start work on this exciting opportunity.”

Professor Simon Denny, Director of Enterprise, Development and Social Impact at the University of Northampton said: “We are proud to have worked with the Students’ Union developed the Planet Too project. The University of Northampton is committed to creating a campus where sustainability and social value are at the heart of our offering to students.”

The University of Northampton Students’ Union are part of a wider collection of students’ unions using the £5mil to green their institutions and wider communities – with the overall Students’ Green Fund engaging 50,000 students nationally, and embedding sustainability into the core purpose of higher education across England.