21.06.07
New survey shows colleges leading sustainable sector
Cornwall College is part of a new national initiative launched
today which aims to showcase green education and help encourage
sustainable development.
The launch is marked with a survey of Further Education published
by the Association of Colleges today (21 June), which shows:
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70% of colleges have undertaken an energy survey and
another 19% plan to do so |
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77% of colleges encourage their staff and students to
travel 'green' |
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100% of colleges have recycling facilities of some sort |
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58% of colleges have an environmental energy policy
and a further 36% intend to adopt one |
Cornwall College's green features include:
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Growing 45 acres of the biomass Miscanthus (elephant
grass) to heat teaching accommodation at the Duchy College
Rosewarne campus. This campus is also planning to put
more land into conversion for organic status. |
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New green student accommodation to be built at Camborne,
which will incorporate a rainwater collection system to
cut the amount of water used in laundry rooms and solar
panels will pre-heat the water. |
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Cornwall College is the only Further Education college
in the UK offering a Foundation Degree in Renewable Energies
Technologies. The students learn about energy from wind,
waves, sunshine, and crops as well as sustainable construction,
environmental economics, project management, and law. |
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Falmouth Marine School, part of Cornwall College, is
offering the Foundation Degree in Marine Environmental
Management directed at students wishing to pursue a career
in the environmental or conservational industries. |
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Cornwall College students are working with local communities
to help reduce carbon footprints, including working with
some dairy farmers on the North Coast. |
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Cornwall College is the only Further Education college
with a dedicated Environmental Officer, rather than just
a 'champion', based at the St Austell campus. |
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Duchy College Stoke Climsland is saving an estimated
£400 a week after switching the majority of its
transport fleet to reconstituted vegetable oil or 'chip
fat'. The College buys about 10,000 litres of biofuel
each week, and will save more money by growing oil-seed
rape within the next 12 months. |
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Cornwall College Newquay specialises in animal conservation
courses and both Newquay and Cornwall College Saltash
have seen additional green developments on their campuses
as a result of investment from the Combined Universities
in Cornwall Initiative (CUC). Students at these campuses
are enjoying new state-of-the-art sustainable buildings
for teaching and learning. |
Cornwall College Principal, John Latham, says environmental
sustainability is being embedded in the curriculum. Students
who are aware of important issues such as greenhouse gases
and climate change are putting pressure on the College to
increase recycling activity. "Our students are increasingly
motivated because they see what's happening around them,"
he says. "The students believe that we should be
doing more and that's what we intend to do, with an annual
energy bill of £900,000 our desire to become even greener
makes economic sense too."
Over 150 colleges completed the new survey.
Tim Smit, Eden Project co-founder, applauds Cornwall College
and is backing the Green Colleges initiative. He said:
"Our centres of learning have for many years been quietly
going about the business of academia, but now is the time
for them to become activist in turning statements of optimistic
vision into action, so that we, the new battalions in the
war on the careless destruction of our only home planet, can
get behind them."
Dr John Brennan, Association of Colleges Chief Executive,
said: "Colleges are playing a critical role in developing
environmental curricula to equip young people and adults with
specialist skills and knowledge. Many others are already delivering
on the environmental agenda by, for example, incorporating
innovative sustainable features in new buildings, introducing
recycling stations or implementing greener transport policies."
For further information please contact Ruth Sparkes by email
at ruth.sparkes@cornwall.ac.uk.
The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the
Isles of Scilly has invested in the Combined Universities
in Cornwall (CUC) project, both Phase 1 and Phase 2, through
the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European
Social Fund (ESF). Cornwall College is a partner of the CUC.
Editor's notes:
Cornwall College is the UK's largest college with 45,000
students and a turnover in excess of £70m.
Every year local colleges train over four million people.
The 387 colleges of FE in England, have an estate valued
at £5.85bn representing an estimated 7 million square
metres of space.
120,000 14-16 year olds choose to study vocational courses
at college.
711,000 16-18 year olds choose to study in colleges, compared
with only 447,000 in all schools.
Colleges provide 44% of entrants to higher education and
deliver 11% of HE provision.
Half of all vocational qualifications – nearly 800,000
in 2004/05 - are awarded via colleges, and between 1997/98
and 2004/05 4.1 million vocational qualifications were awarded
through colleges, compared with 389,000 through employers.
Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439
cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk
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