NUS HEFCE
Students’ Green Fund
Business Plan
Our proposal is that NUS runs a £5m first phase of a Students’ Green Fund, comprising a
competitive bidding process for student-led environmental sustainability projects to be run
through students’ unions in partnership with their parent institutions. The four key themes of
the Students’ Green Fund will be student participation, partnership, impact and legacy. We
plan to fund between 20-25 two-year sustainability projects at c£50k-£150k per year. We
would run a single round bidding competition in summer 2013, allocating all the funding,
which could then be drawn down by the funded projects over two full academic years
(2013/14 and 2014/15). A midpoint evaluation with clear success criteria will enable us to
determine the effectiveness of the Fund to make the case for further phases of funding to
extend the scheme and take it to scale. As well as managing the Fund, NUS will add value
by supporting students’ unions throughout the process, from application to delivery and
evaluation, as well as leading on linking projects, sharing learning and high-profile
communications celebrating successes.
Figure 1
Students’ Green Fund – a word cloud of frequently used words in this
business plan
1
1. Lead institution
The National Union of Students (NUS) is the lead institution for this application. NUS is a
confederation of 600 students’ unions representing c7m students across the UK, 2.35m of
whom are in higher education. Our work today can best be summed up as making students’
lives better, students’ voices louder and students’ futures brighter. Our central stated
objectives are to promote, defend and extend the rights of students and develop and
champion strong students’ unions. Operationally the NUS Group comprises NUS, NUS
Services and NUS Charitable Services, collectively employing 220 FTE staff with a turnover
of £17m, plus an additional £65m per year through our national purchasing consortium. NUS
has considerable experience of successfully managing major grant-funded projects for
external funders, recently including HEFCE (The Good Governance Project, via LGM Fund),
BIS, the Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council, LSIS, DEFRA (£750k
environmental project, as outlined below), Big Lottery and the Carbon Trust.
2. NUS’s sustainability work
Over the last five years NUS has become well known within the sector for its sustainability
work. We are currently delivering one or more of our three main engagement approaches
into 77 higher education institutions across the UK, with each institution paying us for
delivery (Green Impact and Student Switch Off), demonstrating the value perceived by
institutions for our work in this area.
Green Impact – Our departmental environmental accreditation scheme with an awards
element. Initially starting in students’ unions, Green Impact now reaches into over 1,000
institutional administrative and academic departments, collectively comprising over 50,000
staff across 54 institutions. Green Impact in 2011/12 enabled participating teams and
departments to complete 51,234 pro-environmental actions, 25,185 as a result of our
scheme. We also trained up over 800 student auditors, helping them become more
employable, and increasing their understanding of sustainability. Our DEFRA-funded work
has shown that Green Impact can deliver measurable behaviour change on proenvironmental behaviours with swings of up to 15%. www.nus.org.uk/greenimpact
Student Switch Off – Our inter-dormitory energy-saving competition that is run through
Facebook. Now seven years old, the scheme has reached over half a million freshers and
saved over £1m in energy for participating institutions, equal to 7,127 tonnes of carbon. In
2012 Student Switch Off won the prestigious Ashden Award for best behaviour change
campaign in the UK. This year Student Switch Off is being delivered into 130,000 student
bedrooms and has already directly engaged 19,000 students as energy-saving advocates in
their halls of residence. www.nus.org.uk/studentswitchoff
Student Eats (Edible and Tasty Spaces) – Our Lottery-funded food growing scheme that is
establishing on-campus edible gardens and allotments for students and community groups
at eighteen institutions. www.nus.org.uk/studenteats
In addition to the above, we also run:

Snap it Off – BIS-funded engagement campaign aimed at getting unnecessary lights
switched off. www.nus.org.uk/snapitoff

Sustainable Behaviours Assistants – Recent graduates that we place into institutions
to provide extra resource around sustainability engagement and communications,
supporting
the
delivery
of
Green
Impact
and
Student
Switch
Off.
www.changeagents.org.uk/SBAs

Environmental Research Programme – Alongside providing monitoring and evaluation
support to our three main engagement approaches, our Environmental Research
2
our environ
Prog
gramme inccludes Gree
en Gauge, o
nmental rese
earch packkage for insttitutions,
and
d our influen
ntial HEA-fu
unded NUS
S survey of first year sttudents on attitudes to
owards /
expectations off sustainabiility. www.n us.org.uk/g
greenerresearch
The lan
nding page for
f all our sustainabilityy-related wo
ork is www.nus.org.uk//greener.
3. Demand forr sustaina
ability
Over th
hree years of
o the HEA--funded NU S survey off first year students,
s
coonsistently c85% of
studentts surveyed
d think that universitiess should ac
ctively prom
mote sustainnable development,
and c60
0% want to learn more about susttainability (b
base c11,10
00; see figurre 2).
Figure 2
Respon
nses from th
he annual NUS
N
HEA su
urvey on firsst year attitudes
towards
s, and expe
ectations of, sustainability, showingg a clear student
demand
d for variouss aspects of
o sustainab
bility
In addittion, almostt half of firs
st year resp
pondents in
ndicated tha
at they wouuld be likely
y to take
part in a
an ‘environmentally frie
endly schem
me’ at unive
ersity, which forms a ggood base for
f wider
sustaina
ability activvities, in parrt explaining
g why our volunteering
v
g opportuni ties through
h Green
Impact, Student Sw
witch Off an
nd Student E
Eats are co
onsistently popular
p
withh students.
The su
urveys also
o collected thousandss of comments from students oon what else their
institutio
on could do
o on sustain
nability, man
ny of which suggested further enggagement, such
s
as:
“No
ot only conccentrate on the educattional bit off the 'sustainable deveelopment', but also
provvide studen
nts with faciilities, activiities (extra curriculum)
c
of this lifesstyle. E.g. providing
p
space for ediblle campuse
es - local prroduction of
o food, whic
ch studentss might take
e part in
etc etc” – 3rd year,
y
2012
“Ma
ake the inforrmation mo
ore attainab
ble - it shoulld be includ
ded in moduules. It does
sn't take
two seconds to
o mention it!!” -1st year,, 2012
This en
nthusiasm fo
orms a sound basis fo
or further wo
ork, and ha
as been notted by Gove
ernment
in the la
atest HEFCE grant lette
er. The lette
er states:
3
“We thank the Council for its activity which has contributed to the HE sector’s good
progress on sustainable development. In particular, by developing strategies and using
the Revolving Green Fund to provide recoverable grants to help HEIs in England reduce
emissions the Council has supported the sector to reduce carbon emissions. We look
forward to the development of a new sustainable development framework that should
seek to build on the achievements of universities and colleges and the enthusiasm of
students and continue to support institutions in their efforts to improve their
sustainability”.
4. Vision for our sustainability work
We have been aware of increasing student interest in sustainability over a number of years,
and are now able to demonstrate this through the three HEA-funded NUS surveys. This
demand, coupled with the success of our three main engagement approaches, and the
changing landscape of the sector, led us to develop the following bold vision for our
sustainability work.
Attitudes, behaviours and habits: The majority of students entering higher education are
going through a major moment of change in their lives as they make the transition to
independent living, and there is therefore a significant opportunity for us to collectively help
them maintain or adopt pro-environmental attitudes, behaviours and habits. To do this we
need to create a social norm of sustainably in institutions – in dormitories (Student Switch
Off), across campus (Green Impact and Student Eats) and through learning (our fledgling
work on greening the curriculum, www.nus.org.uk/esd) – encouraging students to pick up
green behaviours and habits that will persist beyond their time in higher education. If we get
it right, the legacy will be cohort after cohort of students leaving higher education able to be
part of the solution to environmental challenges, rather than part of the problem.
Students’ unions as green hubs: As well as our focus on pro-environmental behaviours,
we are working to form our 150 main affiliate students’ unions into a network of green hubs
in society, enabling them to take our sustainability work out into their local communities,
potentially reaching out into most major towns and cities across the country. We plan to do
this through Green Impact, first helping students to green their students’ union through the
model, then their institutions, and finally taking it off-campus into public and private sector
organisations, and student homes, through voluntary and learning activities. We also plan to
pilot Student Switch Off in schools and prisons, building on established links through the
outreach work of students’ unions.
5. Progress towards vision
A total of 84 English students’ unions have achieved accreditation in Green Impact Students’
Unions, with a further 20 working towards accreditation, meaning they have taken action to
get their own house in order in terms of sustainability. Of these, 68 are working with us to
green their institutions through one or more of our sustainability engagement projects (more
than half of the 130 English HEIs). Additionally we are now delivering our projects into two
hospitals and four local authorities in England, plus a selection of pilot organisations in a
total of 15 towns and cities across the UK. www.green-impact.org.uk/green-impact-in-thecommunity
Through our sustainability engagement projects, six students’ unions now retain their own
full time sustainability staff (there were none three years ago), with some of these roles
being split with estates, affording a new and exciting route for cross-organisational
engagement work. Additionally we have placed 44 recent graduates as Sustainable
Behaviours Assistants in institutions, about half of which have been made permanent by the
institution at the end of their fixed-term contracts.
4
NUS has grown its internal sustainability team significantly too, from a single role five years
ago to nineteen full-time staff in dedicated sustainability roles1, making NUS a new but
influential player in the wider not-for-profit sustainability field.
6. Rationale for this proposal
Whilst our sustainability work continues to grow, it is on a self-funded basis, predominantly
on reputation and word of mouth, which takes time. In 2009/10 NUS received £530k catalyst
funding from DEFRA’s Greener Living Fund which allowed us to scale up Green Impact and
Student Switch Off from a handful of institutions to twenty over two years. The HEFCE
Catalyst Fund offers a further opportunity to do the same for us now - by funding local
collaborative sustainability initiatives through students’ unions, putting students in the driving
seat for sustainability engagement initiatives, as well as supporting them in their role as
agents for change. The students’ union movement is ready to do this - over 100 students’
unions have demonstrated their commitment to the sustainability agenda through Green
Impact Students’ Unions, which has developed good levels of knowledge and commitment
within student officers and staff, as well as a collective movement-wide enthusiasm to further
embrace the sustainability agenda. Institutionally it is a good time too - with the student voice
being increasingly influential post-fee changes, many institutions have developed new, more
collaborative relationships with their students’ unions, something we can harness through
this Fund.
7. Students’ Green Fund
Our proposal is that NUS runs a £5m first phase of a Students’ Green Fund comprising a
competitive bidding process for student-led environmental sustainability projects to be run
through students’ unions in partnership with their parent institutions. The four key themes of
the Fund will be student participation, partnership, impact and legacy. The Fund would
be similar in concept to the Innovation and Transformation Fund, which is funded jointly by
HEFCE and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, but managed by the
Leadership Foundation. We plan to fund between 20-25 two-year projects at c£50k-£150k
per year2. We would run a single round bidding competition in summer 2013, allocating all
the funding, which could then be drawn down by the funded projects over two full academic
years (2013/14 and 2014/15). A midpoint evaluation with clear success criteria will enable us
to determine the effectiveness of the Fund in April 2014 and to make the case for further
phases of funding to extend the scheme and take it to scale. As well as managing the Fund,
NUS will add value by supporting students’ unions throughout the process, from application
to delivery to evaluation, as well as leading on linking projects, sharing learning, and highprofile communications celebrating successes within and beyond the sector.
7.1
Invitation, application and assessment
Following two high-profile launch events, we will encourage and support individual students’
unions to develop and submit high quality project proposals. Students’ unions will be
encouraged to approach various stakeholders in their institutions (academic and
administrative) to develop partnership applications to the Fund, although all projects should
1
For biogs, see www.nus.org.uk/en/campaigns/greener-projects/greener-nus/e--e-team/
For reference, over the last three years the Climate Challenge Fund in Scotland has funded six
students’ association / university partnerships with a total of £1.7m, averaging £283k each for typically
two-year funded projects, so c£141k per year. Additionally the University of Maastricht’s student-led
Green Office scheme is run with c150k Euro (c£125k) per year. To take account of the differing size
and capacity of English students’ unions, we anticipate making awards on a range from £50k to £150k
per year. For example, we might fund 24 applications with 6 at c£50k per year, 10 at c£100k per year
and 8 at c£150k per year which, across two years, would total the £5m.
2
5
be led by students’ organisations in partnership with their institutions, rather than vice-versa.
The Fund will be open to all 130 higher education students’ unions, guilds and associations
in England, including the three non-NUS affiliates.
In terms of encouragement, we are well connected with the key stakeholders relevant to the
Fund; through Green Impact Students’ Unions we have Green Impact teams in nearly all
English higher education students’ unions; we know the students that run many of the main
environmental initiatives through student societies; through delivery of Green Impact
Universities and Student Switch Off, we have excellent relationships with many of the
sustainability professionals in English higher education institutions; our internal NUS-wide
First Point of Contacts system means we have personal relationships with the key people at
every higher education students’ union in England.
We will work hard to ensure that we meet the target of at least 50 good quality applications
submitted by the close the application deadline in July, using formative feedback to ensure
we receive fundable applications from a diverse range of students’ unions, representing
institutions of different type, location and size. We will encourage HEFCE to send out a
circular letter to all vice chancellors alerting them to the invitation, which would hopefully
secure some welcome senior leadership interest in, and endorsement of, prospective
applications.
There will be a single stage application process, with formative feedback being available
over a 12 week period before submission from key members of the NUS sustainability team
(see section 7.6). The invitation will make clear that proposed projects must have a clear
sustainability focus and impact that can be quantified through the project, together with
strong legacy potential post-funding. All successful projects should deliver their sustainability
benefits predominantly through student and staff engagement, rather than predominantly
capital investment or infrastructural changes, the likes of which are covered by the Revolving
Green Fund.
To encourage student-led innovation, the invitation and fund documentation will not be
prescriptive about the sustainability issues, institutional issues or engagement themes we
will fund.
However, through our individual engagements with students’ unions, and on a case by case
basis, we will suggest they might consider projects that address some of the following issues
and themes, all of which are especially relevant to action by students, complement our work
to date, and support the headline behaviour goals in DEFRA’s pro-environmental behaviours
framework3 (the list also serves to illustrate the type of projects the Fund might support):

Sustainability issues: Using less energy; recycling more; using cars and planes less;
more sustainable local food; less food waste; more sustainable and ethical procurement;
more cradle to cradle products in the student supply chain.

Institutional issues: Engaging student governors and course reps in sustainability;
engaging institutional leaders in sustainability; engaging academics in sustainability;
engaging slow-to-respond institutions in sustainability; bring different departments and/or
stakeholders together through sustainability.

Engagement themes: Change personal behaviours; engage those not yet engaged in
sustainability; green the curriculum and learning; green student homes / home energy
conservation in the private rented sector; community learning and development on
sustainability.
3
www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb13574-behaviours-report-080110.pdf
6
Through the invitation we will make clear that projects that support the following will be
deemed to demonstrate added value: Enhancing academic achievement; enhancing student
employability; supporting social enterprise and student entrepreneurship; building community
bridges and strategic community partnerships; engaging hard-to-reach students (such as
student parents, mature students, BME groups, etc.); helping to widen participation. We will
also encourage collaborative projects that span more than one institution, have a regional
focus, potential for national reach, or an international dimension. We will discourage
proposals that set out to reinvent or duplicate established successful projects, although we
will encourage applicants to scale-up and roll-out existing projects, including delivery into
new types of organisation.
To ensure the application process is not a barrier, we will keep it as straightforward and
applicant-friendly as possible, whilst ensuring we obtain everything we need to adequately
assess applications. In addition to the project objectives, reach, outcomes and impacts, and
the delivery plan, we will ask about project management, key milestones, monitoring and
evaluation, communications plans, legacy, accountability, governance, and budget, including
value for money. We will ask for evidence of institutional support, including the involvement
and/or endorsement of academics and/or higher management. We will ask how equality is
relevant to the project, thereby ensuring that consideration of equality is built into the
development phase. We will also ask about the union’s previous activity on sustainability
agenda as evidence of their pre-existing commitment.
A student-led funding panel will review the applications. It will be chaired by the NUS Vice
President Society and Citizenship, and will include the NUS Vice President Higher
Education, two volunteer students from our Society and Citizenship Zone Committee, a
volunteer student from our Ethical and Environmental Advisory Group, and a volunteer
student from the People & Planet Management Committee. The students will be joined by
three HEFCE assessors, plus the Programme Manager. The funding panel will work to an
assessment framework decided by the steering group (see section 7.7), and present their
recommendations to the steering group for validation, along with a sample of unsuccessful
proposals. Successful projects will be notified in the last week of July or first week of August
2013 so that projects could start in September in time for welcome weeks.
7.2
Delivery of funded projects
Once the steering group has approved the chosen projects, and subject to any projectspecific conditions, or changes to the various plans submitted, we will issue delivery
contracts to students’ unions. The contracts will comprise a range of operational obligations4
and project management assurances, including clear payment milestones, such as the
timely delivery of monthly update reports and quarterly full reports, which students’ unions
must meet to receive their funding. We will also issue a series of guidance notes and
procedures relating to financial approvals, reporting, monitoring and evaluation and
communications.
In addition to these formal assurance processes, the Programme Manager will maintain
regular personal contact with all funded projects, including two visits to each project per
academic year, instigating a central mentoring role for lead staff and student officers
involved in delivery. Ensuring the Fund is successful will be an institutional priority for NUS,
and as such, NUS has made the skills and experience of 15 existing specialist staff available
to the project (see section 7.6).
4
To include VAT liabilities, public liability and volunteer insurance, collation of evidence for our
independent evaluators, financial audit procedures, etc.
7
Where appropriate, and in keeping with our own commitments to the sustainability agenda,
NUS will also play a role in adding value to projects through central initiatives. For example,
if several funded projects plan to run student governor training, NUS may be able to facilitate
aspects of it through our existing student officer training programme, or encouraging other
unions to follow-suit through Green Impact Students’ Unions. In this way we will be able to
ensure that many more students’ unions are involved in the outcomes of the Fund.
7.3
Monitoring and evaluation
Demonstrating impact is one of the key themes of the Fund, as it is imperative that we can
show the first phase has been a success. To reflect this, we have dedicated 0.5 FTE of our
Environmental Researcher’s time (Rachel Drayson) to the Fund. Rachel currently leads on
our Environmental Research Programme, as well as reporting our impact from our latest
DEFRA funding through their Reward and Recognition Fund, so is well versed in impact
evaluation for sustainability projects. Additionally, Rachel is managed by Elizabeth Bone, our
Head of Group Research, who initially joined NUS as the lead on our DEFRA-funded action
based research project, so is very familiar with monitoring and evaluation requirements for
sustainability engagement projects.
Rachel will lead on ensuring that all funded projects develop, submit and deliver thorough
monitoring and evaluation plans that collectively allow us to demonstrate the impact of the
Fund. As we are likely to fund a diverse range of projects, with varying objectives and
stakeholders, and different types of quantitative and qualitative data, the framework for local
monitoring and evaluation plans will comprise two strands:


A national set of key performance indicators to allow for national comparison of every
funded project. This will include standardised evaluation processes and metrics for
objectives, reach, outcomes and impacts relating to energy savings (tCO2/year),
individual levels of awareness, participation and pro-environmental behaviours (sample
pre- and post-intervention surveys of target audiences) and engagement (total
participation, attendance at events, social media likes, pledges, etc.), and will form our
success criteria.
A local dataset, populated by a cache of questions designed by NUS, where only a
proportion of these are applicable to a specific scheme or combination of schemes.
This dual approach will allow for a national data set reporting the impact of the Fund. It will
additionally provide information on impact at a local level, or grouped according to type of
scheme. It will allow NUS to provide tailored feedback to funded students’ unions throughout
their projects where appropriate. For example, it can provide early warning of unions who
need more support through delivery, or where unions are performing particularly well and
can perhaps increase their expectations to demonstrate added value to HEFCE, or be used
as a good practice case study for others.
As part of the application process, students’ unions will be provided with:





A monitoring and evaluation briefing document;
Core monitoring and evaluation key performance indicators / success criteria;
A cache of questions for variable elements (by activity and project type);
A reporting template;
Worked examples / case studies.
As part of the application process, students’ unions will provide us with:


A monitoring and evaluation resourcing plan;
A monitoring and evaluation delivery plan;
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
A list of monitoring and evaluation deliverables, including equality and diversity data for
HEFCE’s impact assessment (see section 15.1).
From project initiation, funded students’ unions will:



Design and deliver baseline surveys as applicable, alongside other techniques where
appropriate;
Provide regular updates through the monthly and quarterly scheduled reports;
React to monitoring and evaluation information based on advice and guidance from
NUS.
In keeping with standard practice for externally-funded projects, we will advise students’
unions to allocate c10% of their project budgets to monitoring and evaluation. This will
ensure that we get quality, robust and standardised data back from each project. Rachel will
provide a day to day point of contact for monitoring and evaluation, on-going support and
mentoring to monitoring and evaluation staff in students’ unions, and monitoring and
evaluation expertise to the steering group.
We will appoint independent evaluators for the Fund through a public procurement process.
The evaluators will provide external input and scrutiny to our plans prior to launch of the
application process, as well as on-going advice and support to Rachel and Elizabeth. Their
main role will be to produce two impact reports for the Fund, one due in April 2014 and the
second in July 2015, both independently quantifying and qualifying the outputs and impacts
of the funded projects overall.
7.4
Communications and dissemination
Through the Fund, we plan to ensure that there is regular positive publicity locally, regionally
and nationally on the funded projects, celebrating individual and collective achievements and
putting English higher education on the map for its sustainability efforts. Simon Rayner, our
Director of Marketing and Communications, will ensure that key staff in his team use their
communication contacts and channels to support this work as an on-going priority.
We have dedicated 0.5 FTE our Sustainability Communications Officer’s time (Russell
Warfield) to the Fund. Russell currently manages communications for our Ethical and
Environmental Department from within our Marketing and Communications team, and is well
connected within the students’ union movement and the sector. Russell will oversee creation
of the Fund website, which will become a high-profile hub for sharing and learning about the
funded activities, with blogs from the projects, videos and social media feeds. The site will
have a name gatherer, which will generate us a contacts list, and we will develop a monthly
e-newsletter celebrating successes and linking people to the projects. Russell will also
manage central social media on the Fund, using NUS’s popular Facebook and Twitter
accounts to raise the profile of both the Fund and funded projects.
We plan to launch the Fund through a high-profile fringe event at NUS Annual Conference
(8-10 April 2013), led by a personal endorsement by Liam Burns, National President, and
Dannie Grufferty, Vice President Society and Citizenship. This will be followed by a targeted
series of communications about the Fund to students’ unions:




Twitter storm about the launch;
A series of emails on the Ethical and Environmental mailbase, which has Green Impact
leads from over 120 students’ unions;
Homepage article on www.nusconnect.org.uk for two weeks after the launch, with
refresher headlines three times before the application deadline;
Double-page article in May Spotlight magazine (out 15 April 2013), including forward
from Liam Burns on the Fund, personally encouraging participation;
9

Personal communication with key contacts via our First Point of Contact system, where
individual staff at NUS are responsible for managing contact with member students’
unions.
We will run a second launch at EAUC Annual Conference (17-19 April 2013), led by Jamie
Agombar, Ethical and Environmental Manager at NUS, Andrew Smith, Head of Sustainable
Development at HEFCE, and Iain Patton, Chief Executive of the EAUC. This launch will be
aimed at environmental staff from institutions, and the message will be tweaked for the
audience, encouraging them to support their students’ unions in the development of winning
partnership applications. Following this second launch we will work with EAUC to ensure the
Fund
is
publicised
though
the
EAUC
jiscmail,
www.eauc.org.uk,
www.sustainabilityexchange.co.uk, the Sustainability in Higher Education Developers
(SHED) Group jiscmail, Earth magazine and EAUC’s social media accounts.
Prior to the launches, our Press Officer will work with our contacts at key publications (e.g.
Times Higher; University Business; Guardian Online; 3rd Sector, etc.) to develop embargoed
news stories on the launch of the Fund. We would hope to work with these and other
publishers to run follow-up news stories on the progress and impact of the Fund throughout
the two project years. To do this we will work closely with the funded projects to create
monthly media themes, where possible linking them into national events such as student
volunteering week, Go Green week, Fairtrade Fortnight, etc., and creating news stories and
media releases for each. We will ensure that key people at NUS, including our National
President and Chief Executive, visit some of the projects throughout the year, so they see
the projects first-hand and become ambassadors for the Fund. Jamie Agombar, who is well
known in sustainability circles within the sector, will also assume this role, representing the
Fund at key sector events, including the NUS, EAUC and HEA annual conferences.
As well as our central communications efforts, we will ensure that all applicants submit a
detailed marketing, communications and media plan, with associated key performance
indicators, to ensure that their project successes reach a wide audience and get local and
regional recognition. We will ensure each project produces at least one short video that can
be shared through our central Fund website, and we plan to run a competition based on the
numbers of likes each video receives, which will encourage the projects to promote their
efforts far and wide. Towards the end of each project year, we will produce a short film
documenting the impact that the Fund has delivered, using snippets of some of the project
films to give a flavour of the breadth of work and scale of achievement.
We will ensure we engage all 130 higher education students’ unions, guilds and associations
in England in the work of the Fund, profiling the work of funded projects through our
communications and national events, and ensuring that they are eager and ready with ideas
for any second phase of the Fund.
7.5
Legacy
Legacy is one of the four key themes for the Fund. We will strive to ensure that all funded
projects have legacy after funding ceases. We were successful in doing this with our DEFRA
funding. By encouraging institutions to put in an element of match funding they became used
to paying for Green Impact and Student Switch Off. When the funding came to an end, we
increased the institutional fees and all 20 universities continued to pay us to deliver the
approaches. We want all the projects we fund to come up with similar credible legacy plans
as part of their applications. The legacy plans will vary depending on the projects – a local
food project like Student Eats may sell produce to generate the revenue it needs to continue;
a sustainability engagement post in a students’ union may need to ultimately be funded by
the students’ union and the institution in partnership, as happens at Liverpool Guild of
10
Students and the University of Sheffield Students’ Union. We will support students’ unions in
developing credible legacy plans based on our experience.
In terms of the future of the Students’ Green Fund beyond the first phase, assuming the first
phase is demonstrably successful on the stated objectives, reach, outcomes and impacts
(see section 8.0 and 9.0), and that further funding can be found, the Fund could ultimately sit
alongside the Revolving Green Fund as an annual bidding competition, complementing
infrastructural greening by engaging new students in sustainability at institutions across the
country.
7.6
Project team
Jamie Agombar, our Ethical and Environmental Manager, who led our successful work with
DEFRA, will be accountable for the successful delivery of the project, as well as being the
lead contact with HEFCE officers. We will appoint two new FTE dedicated posts to manage
the Fund:


Programme Manager, who will be responsible for managing all day-to-day aspects of
delivery of the Fund. This post will be managed by Jamie Agombar;
Programme Administrator, who will provide administrative and financial support for the
Fund, from within NUS’s finance team.
Additionally, fourteen existing members of staff at NUS will be significantly involved in
ensuring the Fund is delivered successfully:















National President – Personal endorsement of fund at launch event, and visits to funded
projects as part of media strategy.
Vice President Society and Citizenship – Chairing the steering group and funding panel,
and ambassador for the Fund at key students’ unions events.
Sustainability Communications Officer - 0.5 FTE dedicated to the Fund - Lead on day to
day communications for the Fund, including managing digital and social media. Deliver
the marketing, communications and media plan for the Fund.
Environmental Researcher - 0.5 FTE dedicated to the Fund – Lead on monitoring and
evaluation for the Fund. Deliver the monitoring and evaluation plan for the Fund,
including managing independent evaluators.
Programme Manager, Student Switch Off - Support unions in developing applications;
support for funded Student Switch Off projects.
Programme Manager, Green Impact - Support unions in developing applications; support
funded Green Impact projects.
Programme Officer, Student Eats - Support unions in developing applications; support
funded projects on local food.
Ethical Supply Chain Coordinator - Support unions in developing applications; support
funded projects on sustainable procurement.
Group Finance Director - Oversee fund finances and independent financial audit.
Director of Marketing and Communications - Oversee the development and delivery of
the marketing, communications and media plan for the Fund.
Head of People - Support with recruitment and HR requirements for two new posts.
Head of Group Research - Oversee the development and delivery of the monitoring and
evaluation plan.
Communications Engagement Manager – Raising profile of the Fund through existing
communications channels.
Press Officer – Lead on external media activity.
IT Support Analyst - Provide IT support for the two new posts, including support with
development of the microsite for the Fund.
11
7.7
Accountability
External accountability will come through a steering group, the funding panel, the
independent evaluator and an independent financial auditor.
The steering group will comprise a representative from AHUA, AUDE, CUC, EAUC,
GuildHE, HEA, HEFCE and UUK and will again be chaired by the NUS Vice President
Society and Citizenship. All of these organisations have confirmed that they willing to
undertake this role.
The NUS Chief Executive will act as the accounting officer for public investment, and NUS
will receive funding on a payment profile to be agreed with HEFCE as the need arises.
8. Objectives of the Fund


Initiate a step change in student engagement in sustainability issues;
Enable students to become meaningful agents for change on sustainability issues in
higher education;
Ensure sustainability remains an institutional priority within the sector;
Put English higher education on the map for its sustainability efforts.


9. Reach, outcomes and impacts
9.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
9.2
Reach statements
125,000 unique page views across the funded projects over the two years;
50,000 students engaged across the funded projects over the two years;
20,000 social media followers of funded projects over the two years;
5,000 staff engaged across the funded projects over the two years;
100% of English higher education students’ unions engage with the Fund.
Outcome statements
1.
2.
3.
4.
An institutional increase in student participation in pro-environmental actions;
An institutional increase in student awareness of sustainability initiatives;
An increase of between 10-15% adoption of pro-environmental behaviours;
Students leave higher education feeling they have the understanding and skills to take
positive actions on sustainability;
5. Students are more employable.
9.3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
5
6
Impact statements
4,000 tCO2/year saved across the funded projects;
An increase in the LiFE5 and Green League6 scores at institutions with funded projects;
Students adopt green attitudes, behaviours and habits that persist beyond their time in
higher education;
Institutional leaders become more engaged in sustainability, resulting in a more holistic
and mainstream approach to sustainability across the institution;
Student governors, course reps, and academics become more engaged in
sustainability, resulting in more courses with embedded sustainability content;
Institutions become more receptive and collaborative to student opinion and demand on
sustainability issues, and act accordingly;
Institutions integrate sustainability into their graduate attributes and core purpose.
www.thelifeindex.org.uk
http://peopleandplanet.org/greenleague
12
10.
Key milestones
Key
milestone
Key risks
Actions to mitigate the key risks
Capable, experienced and dedicated
Programme Manager appointed
Acceptance
of contract of
employment
Programme Manager
does not deliver /
leaves
Fund is successfully launched on
time
Two public
launches
Launches are delayed
due to Catalyst Fund
approval process
Rigorous seven-step selection process;
competitive salary; close involvement by
Jamie Agombar, who would act as an
interim Programme Manager if required
Submit proposal on time; prioritise any
amendments wanted by HEFCE; facilitate
quick turn-around of contract
50 good quality applications
submitted by students' unions
Application
deadline
90% of funded projects successfully
meet or exceed their project-specific
targets on reach, outcomes and
impacts
Two external
evaluations
Students' unions do
not see potential of
the Fund; are not
organised enough to
submit quality
applications
Some students'
unions fail to deliver
on their applications
Our targets on reach, outcomes and
impacts are met
End of fund
report
Applications do not
focus or deliver on our
targets
Students' unions deliver quarterly
reports, monitoring and evaluation
data and end of fund reports as
required
Quarterly
reports and
data set
submissions
Unions fail to submit
reports or data on
time, delaying fundwide reporting
The funded projects continue to
deliver impact after funding ceases
Evidence
provided in
end of fund
reports from
unions
Unions do not
prioritise project
legacy and successful
projects close postfunding
Target
13
Considerable proactive marketing efforts,
including via sustainability managers;
formative feedback, support and
mentoring for unions developing ideas
and completing application over a 12
week period
Pro-actively support and mentor staff
working on projects; regular contact and
contracted monthly reports to spot issues
early; payments will be linked to delivery
of key milestones
Ensure application process requires
unions to focus on our targets on reach,
outcomes and impacts; support and
mentor unions in developing ideas,
completing applications and delivery; ongoing monitoring of project data
Payments will be linked to delivery of
reports and monitoring and evaluation
data
Legacy plans are a key part of the
application process. Only projects that
can convincingly demonstrate legacy will
be funded
Anticipated
completion
date
30-Apr-13
10-Apr-13
and
18-Apr-13
10-Jul-13
Apr-14 and
Jul-15
01-Aug-15
Monthly and
annually and
Jul-15
01-Jul-15
Anticipated
outcomes
Fund meets
stated objectives,
reach, outcomes
and impacts
Good quality
applications and
positive media
coverage
Applications
target is met
Project-specific
targets on reach,
outcomes and
impacts met or
exceeded
Fund-wide
targets on reach,
outcomes and
impacts are met
or exceeded
Reports to
HEFCE are
delivered
complete and
without delay
Projects continue
to deliver impact
post-funding
11.
Fund Gantt chart
Appoint independent evaluator through public tender
Fund launched through two launch events (NUS and EAUC)
Fund microsite launched
HEFCE letter to vice chancellors
Communications activity to promote fund
Monitoring and evaluation plan finalised
Full application pack launched
Programme Manager and Administrator appointed
Support for unions developing applications, formulate feedback
Steering group meets
Applications deadline
Funding panel meets
Contract negotiations / issued, guidance and procedures released
Successful projects initiate delivery
Project delivery
Monthly media themes and publicity
Monthly reports from funded projects
Quarterly reports from funded projects
Quarterly reports for HEFCE
Short film on Fund achievements launched
Independent evaluation delivered to HEFCE
Proposal for further rounds of funding submitted to HEFCE
Independent financial audit delivered to HEFCE
End of Fund report for HEFCE
3
10&18
18
19
22
24
22
29
10
22
14
Aug-15
Jul-15
Jun-15
May-15
Apr-15
Mar-15
Feb-15
Jan-15
Dec-14
Nov-14
Oct-14
Sep-14
Aug-14
Jul-14
Jun-14
May-14
Apr-14
Mar-14
Feb-14
Jan-14
Dec-13
Nov-13
Oct-13
Sep-13
Aug-13
Jul-13
Jun-13
May-13
Apr-13
Mar-12
Numbers refer to date of the month. Red indicates the application deadline.
12.
Finances
Working days on SGF
2014/15
Cost to project 2014/15
Total cost to project (over
2 years of project)
NUS funds
HEFCE funds
Vice President Society and
Citizenship
Day rate 2014/15 - based on
217 working days - inc. NI
and 6% pension, and 2.5%
inflationary increase
Cost to project 2013/14
3
384
1
131
515
515
0
7
896
3
394
1,290
1,290
0
Working days on SGF
2013/14 (plus backdate 3
months 2012/13)
Salaries:
National President
Day rate 2013/14 - based on
217 working days - inc. NI
and 6% pension
The total amount of funding available through the Students’ Green Fund will be £5m. The costs of managing the Fund will be £364,726, of
which NUS will fund £39,693 and HEFCE £325,033. The total cost of this proposal is £5,364,726. The budget is show below, with values in £’s.
Ethical and Environmental
Manager
40
9,800
20
5,023
14,823
14,823
0
Programme Manager Students' Green Fund
271
60,433
217
49,601
110,034
0
110,034
Administrator - Students' Green
Fund
271
26,829
217
22,020
48,849
0
48,849
Sustainability Communications
Officer
135.5
17,886
108.5
14,680
32,566
0
32,566
Environmental Researcher
135.5
19,919
108.5
16,348
36,267
0
36,267
14
2,884
10
2,112
4,996
4,996
0
14
2,534
10
1,855
4,389
4,389
0
Programme Manager - Student
Switch Off
Programme Manager - Green
Impact
15
Notes
Launch event and project visits
Launch event, project visits, steering
group and funding panel
Manage relationship with the funder,
project visits, promotion of SGF at
external events, line manage
Programme Manager
NEW POST 1 of 2: Lead on all aspects
of SGF delivery (1.0 FTE). £37.5k +
£3k NUS London weighting. 27
months
NEW POST 2 of 2: Provides
administrative and financial support to
the Programme Manager (1.0 FTE).
£18k, based at NUS Services in
Macclesfield. 27 months
Lead on day to day communications
for SGF, including managing digital
and social media (0.5 FTE). 27 months
Deliver monitoring and evaluation plan,
including managing independent
evaluators (0.5 FTE). 27 months
Support funded students' unions on
Student Switch Off projects
Support funded students' unions on
Green Impact projects
Programme Officer - Student
Eats
Ethical Supply Chain
Coordinator
Support funded students' unions on
Student Eats projects
Support funded students' unions on
sustainable procurement projects
7
1,050
5
769
1,819
1,819
0
7
1,008
5
738
1,746
1,746
0
Group Finance Director
3
1,233
3
1,264
2,497
2,497
0
Director of Marketing and
Communications
3
978
3
1,002
1,980
1,980
0
Oversee SGF finances and financial
audits for the funder
Oversee SGF marketing,
communications and media plan
1.5
387
0.5
132
519
519
0
Support with recruitment and HR
requirements for two new posts
3
654
3
670
1,324
1,324
0
3
606
3
621
1,227
1,227
0
Line manage Environmental
Researcher
Line manage Sustainability
Communications Officer
7
2
1,134
298
5
2
830
305
1,964
603
1,964
603
0
0
Lead on external media activity
Provide IT support for two new posts
£1k per post, or back-filling if internal
appointments made
Head of People
Head of Group Research
Communications Engagement
Manager
Press Officer
IT Support Analyst
Other revenue costs:
Recruitment costs Programme Manager and
Administrator
Training - Programme Manager
and Administrator
External evaluator
-
-
2,000
-
-
0
2,000
0
2,000
-
-
1,000
-
-
1,000
2,000
0
2,000
-
-
15,000
-
-
10,000
25,000
0
25,000
External financial audit at end
of project
-
-
0
-
-
5,000
5,000
0
5,000
Infrastructure and
accommodation (Programme
Manager and Administrator)
-
-
10,644
-
-
10,644
21,288
0
21,288
Blackberry contract / calls for
Programme Manager
-
-
450
-
-
450
900
0
900
Mobile phone contract / calls
for Administrator
-
-
200
-
-
200
400
0
400
3G dongle for Programme
Manager
-
-
215
-
-
215
430
0
430
Travel and subsistence for
Programme Manager
-
-
3,700
-
-
2,300
16
6,000
0
6,000
Assumes £500 per post per year, in
keeping with staff development policy
For c30 days, includes support, and
writing final evaluation report (x2, one
per year)
For 3 days, plus writing final evaluation
report (x1, end of project)
15% of salary costs for Programme
Manager and Administrator - includes
building costs, utilities, insurance,
office consumables, etc.
In lieu of landline
In lieu of landline
To enable remote working
Assumes two visits to each project per
year, plus 10 additional journeys each
year - all at £100 per visit, including
occasional accommodation and all out
4,500
of office allowances
Project visits and external meetings
over two years - all at £100 per visit,
including occasional accommodation
and all out of office allowances:
National President (x3), Vice President
- Society and Citizenship (x6), Ethical
and Environmental Manager (x30),
Administrator - Students' Green Fund
(x3), Sustainability Communications
Officer (x20), Environmental
Researcher (x20), Press Officer (x6)
Assumes six meetings in London with
eight external representatives, plus
one project visit towards end of year
two for steering group - at £100 each,
including any subsistence
Venue and catering for launch (x1)
and celebration events (x2)
0
3,500
Design only, including purchase of
domain
0
9,000
Based on three minute video shot at
five locations (x2)
Travel and subsistence for
other NUS roles
-
-
5,600
-
-
3,200
8,800
0
8,800
Travel and subsistence for
steering group and funding
panel
-
-
3,200
-
-
2,400
5,600
0
5,600
Events
-
-
1,500
-
-
3,000
4,500
Externally-designed microsite
for SGF
-
-
3,500
-
-
0
3,500
Video production for end of
year achievements (x2)
-
-
4,500
-
-
4,500
9,000
Capital costs:
£1.5k each, inclusive of docking
station, rucksack, software (including
Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Pro) and service
packages
One off payment
Laptops for Programme
Manager and Administrator (x2)
-
-
2,500
-
-
0
2,500
0
2,500
Blackberry handset for
Programme Manager
-
-
200
-
-
0
200
0
200
-
-
200
-
-
0
200
0
200
One off payment, includes case, 4GB
SD card and spare battery
Based on c20-25 two-year projects at
c£50k-£150k per year. Some funding
kept back to ensure final reports are
delivered.
Digital camera for Programme
Manager
Students’ Green Fund grants
to students' unions:
Grants awarded to English
students' unions, guilds and
associations through
competitive awards process
-
-
2,300,000
-
-
2,503,321
17
2,700,000
5,000,000
0
5,000,000
2,861,404
5,364,726
39,693
5,325,033
13.
Value for money
We think this proposal offers good value for money, with the overall costs equalling 7.3% of
the money we will distribute (or 6.5% when taking into account NUS’s financial contribution),
for what is an original and progressive fund with good levels of support and communications
activity.
We will provide assurance that students’ unions spend their funding responsibly through the
assessment process, contracts and financial approvals procedures. This will including using
the application processes to make clear to applicant students’ unions that they must be able
to demonstrate value for money in their funded projects, especially for procurement spend.
We will also instigate safeguards such as obtaining multiple quotes for our authorisation on
items over £2,000, and a procedure for varying from the budgets submitted with applications.
Likewise, NUS will ensure that it obtains the best value for money when we tender for the
external evaluator and external auditor, as well as the services and capital items in the
budget.
14.
Risk assessment
The following risks have been identified in addition to the seven key risks outlined in the key
milestones table (see section 10).
Risk: Funded projects are not meeting evaluation targets for engagement or monitoring
response rates, reducing the ability to categorically demonstrate impact.
Mitigation: Students’ unions will be encouraged to plan to spend c10% of their project
budgets on monitoring and evaluation, which will ensure it gets prioritised through dedicated
staff time. Being able to demonstrate impact as one of the four key themes of the Fund, and
all applicant projects will be rigorously assessed on the achievability of their plans by the
funding panel and steering group. As part of our management of the Fund, we will develop
draft contingency plans for project recovery including monitoring and evaluation
considerations.
Risk: Funded students’ unions mismanage projects or project finances.
Mitigation: All funded projects will have to demonstrate proper management and sound
financial processes as part of the application process, and report on these through the
monthly and quarterly reporting, and this will be linked into the payment schedule. This will
include a detailed financial approvals procedure, managed by our dedicated Programme
Administrator. Our Student Eats project is a £350k Lottery-funded project that is distributing
£240k to eighteen students’ unions for local food projects, so we have recent experience of
working with students’ unions on effective project management of funded projects.
Risk: A funded students’ union enters a period of poor relations with their partner institution,
jeopardising their partnership Students’ Green Fund project.
Mitigation: This would be dealt with on a case by case basis. We would seek to work with the
students’ union and the institution to ensure that the project continued on an operational
level, below any other conflicts.
Risk: Staff or volunteers act inappropriately whilst working on funded projects.
Mitigation: In our contracts with funded students’ unions, we will ensure they are responsible
for protecting the reputation of their project, the Fund and the funders. Students’ unions are
typically very good at processes and procedures relating to their staff and volunteers, often
led by their volunteering units. We would expect that aspects of this, such as safeguarding,
would be covered in the risk assessments produced locally in advance of activities.
18
15.
Impact assessment
15.1 Equality groups
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, we will ensure that all funded projects show due
regard to the effect of their policies and practices on all aspects of equality and diversity.
This will be made clear as part of the applications process, and also written into contracts. In
terms of NUS showing due regard, equality is one of our three core values7 and we have
rigorous equality policies and procedures that will be upheld through delivery of the Fund.
15.2 Sustainable development
All parts of the NUS Group take part in our own version of Green Impact8, ensuring that staff
in our six buildings work together to green their workplaces bottom-up, incentivised by some
friendly inter-site rivalry. Additionally we have overarching ethical and environmental
statements that guide the day to day decisions of our staff9, and have embedded
sustainability in to many of our Group policies – for example, within our travel policy there
are commitments not to use domestic air travel and to use train travel in preference to motor
vehicles. We have also invested in greening our buildings - we have 20kW of solar
installations in Macclesfield, and our new HQ will have 30m2 of green walls, 8kW Solar PV,
solar hot water, will only be lit by LED lights on a cradle-to-cradle contract, air source heat
pumps and rainwater harvesting. As the Students’ Green Fund is an environmental
sustainability project, and given our existing commitments to this agenda, we will ensure that
we minimise our negative impacts in every way through management of the Fund.
7
www.nus.org.uk/en/about-nus/mission-vision-values
www.green-impact.org.uk/2012/01/24/green-impact-nus-group-launches
9
www.nus.org.uk/Global/NUS%20Services/Greener/Ethical_Statement.pdf and
www.nus.org.uk/Global/NUS%20Services/Greener/Environmental_Statement.pdf
8
19