Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 83.12
Liaison Richard Manton
Submission Date Sept. 12, 2024

STARS v2.2

Ollscoil na Gaillimhe - University of Galway
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Michelle O'Dowd
Community and Sustainability Officer
Office of Deputy President and Registrar
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at students and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Yes

Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at employees and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Yes

1st campaign 

Name of the campaign:
SDG Week (students and staff)

A brief description of the campaign:

University of Galway students and staff hosted ‘SDG Week’ from 16 to 21 September 2024. The week of events was dedicated to increasing awareness, engagement and action to help achieve the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG Week included a mix of student- and staff-led events, including guided walks along the University’s biodiversity and SDG trails, seminars, roundtable discussions, poster presentations and a quiz night. 

https://www.universityofgalway.ie/sdgweek/ 


A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:

30 events organised by student and staff groups

100s of attendees 

293 responses to student engagement survey

Three radio interviews during SDG Week

One regional newspaper article after SDG Week


if reporting an additional campaign, provide:

2nd campaign

Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Outreach on reusable cups (students and staff)

A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):

Single-use coffee cups were eliminated from the University of Galway campus in September 2024. This was the result of extensive engagement with catering outlets on campus and an outreach campaign to promote reusable cups. Reusable cups were distributed to all first year students (4,000) along with communications on their environmental benefits. Posters were erected at all catering outlets. Emails were sent to all staff and all students encouraging the use of reusable cups. 


A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):

As of November 2024, single-use coffee cups have not been reintroduced on campus due to the success of the outreach campaign with students, staff and catering outlets.

In the student engagement survey during SDG Week 2024, students were asked what they would do to make the university more sustainable. The second most common response was to eliminate more single-use catering items.


Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.