| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.44 |
| Liaison | William Van Ausdal |
| Submission Date | July 9, 2024 |
Flinders University
EN-1: Outreach and Communications
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.25 / 5.00 |
Does the institution have a central sustainability website that consolidates information about its sustainability efforts?:
Website URL of the institution’s central sustainability website:
Does the institution integrate sustainability information into the educational offerings or materials provided during new student orientation or the equivalent?:
Narrative outlining how sustainability information is integrated into new student orientation or the equivalent:
Sustainability information is integrated in general activities during orientation week (O-week).
Examples of activities:
To raise student awareness on the circular economy and the newly implemented waste management system, the Sustainability Team organised a bin education game during O-week called "In Which Bin?". This game required students to throw three randomly selected items correctly into either the10c Deposit Recycling, Organics, or General bin to win an eco-prize. After completing the game, students were provided guidance on correct bin usage and zero-waste swaps to reduce single-use items on campus. An information stall was also established alongside the game to provide information on current and upcoming sustainability initiatives.
To conclude oridentation week, students and staff of the Drama Centre welcomed new students and their families by creating a site-specific perfomance titled "One Point Five Degrees". This took the form as a guided tour of the unique features of Bedford Park campus. The performance began at Yungkurrinthi Inparrila Cultural Space, with a short play by Sarah Peters on the experience of Country Fire Service volunteers fighting bushfires. Following that, wildlife enthusiast ‘Joey Hops’ (third year student Alex Karytinos, channelling Steve Irwin from a series of comic sketches written by Alex Vickery-Howe) led audiences around the campus as first, second and third year students in the Bachelor of Performance presented pop-up performances exploring the current state of the climate crisis, before making their way back to the Drama Centre, and finally to the roof top Terrace of the Professional Services Building, for a blackly comic take on the possible future consequences. The project is a collaboration of the Drama Centre with Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Does the institution integrate sustainability information into the educational offerings or materials provided during new employee orientation or the equivalent?:
Narrative outlining how sustainability information is integrated into new employee orientation of the equivalent:
At Flinders University, all new staff are required to complete an online induction program which includes a sustainability section. This section provides a comprehensive overview of the University's Sustainability Strategy, mission, plan and initiatives, as well as successes, at the university through our "Sustainability at Flinders University" video and access to the "Sustainability at Flinders" website.
The mandatory induction also includes a training section on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion which needs to be completed. This training module is mandatory for new staff but also available for all current staff.
Does the institution have dashboards and/or signage highlighting the institution’s sustainability features or performance?:
Description of the institution’s sustainability dashboards and/or signage:
Signage has been installed at various campus locations in the student hubs & plaza, staff spaces as well as on outside pathways, to educate and highlight Flinders University's sustainability features. Signage for day-to-day usage includes bins and battery recycling stations, solar phone charging stations, water drinking fountains, or the electric vehicle charging stations. Other signage points to initiatives people can be part of e.g. the community gardens, or provides information on sustainability initiatives like the solar panel array and our solar cars. Additionally, digital signage provides sustainability-related messages for current projects, successes or educational materials in student and staff common areas. These different usages of signage bring awareness to how the university actively achieves its sustainability goals.
Does the institution manage a sustainability-focused social media account, newsletter, blog, online community, podcast, video series, or equivalent communications medium or platform?:
Description of and/or website URL for at least one sustainability-focused communication medium or platform:
Flinders University has a regular news blog. News items that relate to sustainability are tagged as such. Apart from being available on the regular news page, these sustainability related news items are also published at the bottom of the main sustainability page under the heading 'latest sustainability news'.
https://news.flinders.edu.au/
https://www.flinders.edu.au/campus/sustainability.html
A sustainability video series in collaboration with students and staff has been published on YouTube which highlights how sustainability principles are integrated throughout the University. Video topics include Sustainability Research at Flinders; Energy, Emissions and Transport; Sustainability at Flinders University; Study Environment at Flinders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjM1HkxeFPY
Has the institution coordinated one or more sustainability-focused outreach campaigns during the previous three years?:
Description of sustainability-focused outreach campaigns from the previous three years:
Grow, eat, learn
One of the key initiatives from the Flinders University 2025 Sustainability Strategy is for "Our food gardens support wellbeing and community participation". In 2023, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences Sustainability and Health Working Group, the Grow, Eat, Learn Group, the Flinders University Sustainability and Environmental Club along with the Flinders University Student Association Environment Officer have collaborated to reonvigorate the community gardens at Bedford Park campus. To raise awareness and encourage more students and staff to become involved, the groups have:
- Coordinated community Working Bees sessions
- Organised a Tea in the Garden Picnic
- Established three student placement projects
- Created awareness by showcasing grown produce in staff rooms
- Offered walking groups to staff and students to explore the community garden
- Engaged with staff and students in person and also via newsletters, emails, surveys and flyers.
Waste
As part of the 2030 Sustainability Strategy to reduce waste by 30%, the Sustainability Team in 2024 is running a campaign at our Bedford Park Campus which includes:
- Designing and installing new bin signage
- Setting up battery collection units in libraries
- Implementing additional thrree bin systems consisting of 10c deposit recycling, organics and general bins in busy student areas such as study areas, libraries and kitchens
- Providing staff and students with resource recovery education through running the "In Which Bin?" game and handing out reusable items for those who participate.
- Raising awareness on the correct bin use and upgraded waste infrastructure through social media, the university website and blog.
Points earned for indicator EN 1.1:
Does the institution collect data on the reach of its sustainability outreach and communications efforts and/or stakeholder awareness of its sustainability initiatives?:
Percentage of campus stakeholders reached through sustainability outreach and communications:
Approach used to determine the percentage of campus stakeholders reached:
Description of the methodology used to determine the reach of the institution’s sustainability outreach and communications:
Our sustainability outreach and communication efforts are primarily through Flinders In Touch (our weekly staff newsletter), Ping (our weekly student newsletter), various social media platforms and via the University's sustainability webpage.
Sustainability-related articles are published once or twice a month on Flinders in Touch (FiT). This is sent directly to all staff email inbox but can also be accessed by students and the public using the FiT sustainability link (https://blogs.flinders.edu.au/fit/category/sustainability). To track outreach on FiT, the Marketing and Communications team utilises Campaign Monitor which is a program that provides readership and analytics data for each campaign sent out. Based on the data collected within the last 2 years, these articles are typically the third most-read item of the week and on average generate 130 unique views. As there are 3484 employees (including full-time, part-time and casual employees) in 2023, it can be assumed that the percentage of stakeholders reached via this channel is 1 to 19.
According to data from Sprout Social (a social media management platform utilised by the marketing team), sustainability outreach from various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and X, have generated an average of 5,748 reach per post. As it is unclear which percentage of this is for staff and/or students, this is not used to calculate reach.
Points earned for indicator EN 1.2:
Notes about the information provided for this credit:
Additional documentation for this credit:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.