Sustainability Week: 17 to 21 October

10-11am Biodiversity walks - Mile End Campus 

• A set of two biodiversity walks aimed at engaging the public and students in citizen science! Groups will be led on three separate occasions around campus, observing birds, plants and other animals. They will have access to experts to ask questions, survey packs to track what they find and binoculars to see birds up close! 
• Meeting point: Outside Ground Café 
  Meeting time: From 9:50am
• Please register here

12pm to 1pm: Presentation on Plastics in the Environment: Where are we at? 

• Investigating the fate and impacts of plastics in the environment is critical for reaching a sustainable world, and yet the role that plastics play in the environment are not well understood. There are many questions surrounding plastic pollution, for example: How do plastic products degrade when they escape the recycling loop? How do they affect organisms at different levels of biological organisation? Can we replace plastics with viable green alternatives? If this sounds interesting to you and you are keen to learn how you can reduce your plastic footprint, then come and listen to the Queen Mary plastic research group and hear all about the different challenges associated with plastic pollution. 

  Speakers: Ana Martinez Rodriguez, Nan Wu, Pauline de Bigault de Cazanove & Danielle Marchant  

• Please see link to register here

12:00 - 1:30pm Canal Clean-up 

• This will be the first canal clean-up of the year. Students and the public can get involved with helping to keep the canal by campus looking it's best, removing litter and other debris. All equipment will be provided. 
• Time: 12 - 1:30pm 
  Place: SU Hub - Meet for 11:50am
• Light refreshments (popcorn and hot chocolate) will be provided at 1pm to those taking part!
• Please see further information here

12 - 3pm - Bywaters - Talk rubbish in a fun and engaging way. 

Location: Library Square

• Talk rubbish in a fun and engaging way

  What will happen: 
  -    A rolling presentation in the background focusing on the streams you currently have on site.  
  -    Two VR headsets to showcase the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) at Bromley by Bow.
  -    Display informative signage indicating where the waste goes and what happens to it. The following partners’ products will be on display: Bio Bean – Coffee Logs, Stroodles - Pasta Straws. 
  -    Interactive waste sorting game of what stream to use with difficult waste items such as coffee cups and crisp packets. 
  -    Offer out complimentary recycled tote bags, recycled notebooks and pens.

• 1 – 2pm - Virtual - Environment & Health MDT – Monthly Seminar Series 

• The Environment & Health Multidisciplinary Research Theme (MDT) is one of four cross-cutting MDTs set up by the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The them focuses on the following key areas within Environment & Health:
  • Natural Environment (e.g., land, water, air, energy)
  • Microbial Environment (e.g., infectious diseases, commensal pathogens)
  • Built Environment (e.g., urban, housing, transport)
  • Psychosocial Environment (e.g., mental health, stress, poverty)
• For more information about the theme and ongoing work, please visit the Environment & Health webpages. For additional information, you can contact Pauline Whitelaw, Research Project Manager for the theme at enh-mdt@qmul.ac.uk.
• October Seminar: Air Pollution and Health
• The theme hosts a monthly seminar series from topics ranging from the breathed environment through to the psychosocial and microbial environments. The October seminar will be focusing on the topic of Air Pollution and Health.
• When: Tuesday, 18 October, 13:00 – 14:00 (UK Time)
  Venue: Online (via MS Teams)
  Registration: Click here to register 
• This seminar will focus on the topic of air pollution and health, with a talk from guest speaker Professor Stephen Holgate (University of Southampton) titled: “The time has come for health professionals to rise to the challenges of air pollution.”

5:30 - 6:30pm: Decarbonising the NHS estate

Location: Neuronpod

• Founder of Greener Edge, a consultancy specialising in working with the public sector on decarbonisation, Stu Meades is a former NHS estates professional with decades experience. Stu will outline the sector level challenges facing NHS estate management and the opportunities for NHS Trusts embarking on their decarbonisation journeys.
• Please see link to register here

10-11am - Biodiversity walk - Mile End Campus 

• A set of two biodiversity walks aimed at engaging the public and students in citizen science! Groups will be led on three separate occasions around campus, observing birds, plants and other animals. They will have access to experts to ask questions, survey packs to track what they find and binoculars to see birds up close! 
• Meeting point: Outside Ground Café 
  Meeting time: From 9:50am

12-1pm -Litter picking - Student Led 

• Lunch time litter picking - run by Amelie, our Student Sustainability Coordinator from 12-1pm
  Students will be led across campus and through Mile End Park, to get outside collect as much rubbish as possible
• Meeting Point - SU Hub
  Meeting time: 11:50am

2pm - Food Measure & Tasting Competition -  Zero Waste Shop

• The activity involves participants to use as less ingredients as they can and spend to create an edible meal.
  • When buying the foods please note the weight per ingredient and total spend
  • The top 3 winners get prizes
  • There will be a panel of three judges who will score the food
  • Students, staff and external members can get involved in the competition
• To enter the competition please email zerowasteshop@qmul.ac.uk with your full name and contact number

5 - 6:30pm - Model UN style debate - Bancroft 1.02.6

• Joanne Yao, a lecturer of environmental politics at SPIR will speak and help chair the event with MUN in the sustainability group. 
• Date: Wednesday 19th 
  Time: 5pm 
  Location: Bancroft room 1.02.6
  Theme: "Governance in the Anthropocene: Managing Sustainable Development on a Global Level"

Energy Management and Carbon reduction at QMUL - Carbon numbers

• Given the cost of living and energy crisis, energy management is at its most crucial point! We will be having a tech talk where we would be providing an overview of the technology and approach for Building Energy Management across Queen Mary's estates and our response to the current energy crisis!
• Please see link to register here 

Energy Hub - All day - Carbon numbers 

• Energy Hub for all energy related questions in our library square in Mile end with energy and smoothie bike competitions! 

12-1pm -Litter picking - Student Led

• Lunch time litter picking - run by Amelie, our Student Sustainability Coordinator from 12-1pm
  Students will be led across campus and through Mile End Park, to get outside collect as much rubbish as possible
• Meeting Point - SU Hub
  Meeting time: 11:50am

10am to 1pm (1h slots) - From Biomass-waste to Energy Materials: Use of Electrospinning to Process Biomass into Electrodes for Batteries

• Location: Lab 143 School of Engineering and Materials Science
• This activity will show you how we convert biomass-waste (lignin, waste from paper industry) into electrode materials that we use to make batteries. We will show you the different stages the biomass goes through, the processing steps from biomass to electrodes and their use in a redox flow battery and in a supercapacitor. We will charge and discharge both devices using our electrodes prepared from biomass-waste.

3 to 7pm - SCR - Communicating the Climate Emergency: From Knowledge to Action

• The climate emergency we are living in represents the ultimate threat to humanity, a phenomenon that would clearly require immediate and resolute action. Yet, while the scientific knowledge on climate change has made huge advances and the scientific community has reached a consensus on the actions needed, measures taken so far by governments are not considered sufficient to preserve the environment and our very existence.
• What's the role for climate scientists, practitioners and advocacy groups in communicating the problem and urgency of climate action?
• IHSS Climate Emergency Working Group and Centre for Globalisation Research (School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London) welcome you to join an exciting event where some of the leading experts on the topic will shed light on the fundamental obstacles, but also the promises, to communicating the climate emergency to policy makers, the wide public and local communities.
• The goal of the discussion will be to identify viable and effective routes from climate knowledge to action.
• The speakers:
  • Professor Sam Fankhauser (Smith School and the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford) and Research Director of "Oxford Net Zero".
  • Dr Candice Howarth (Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Sciences) and Head of Local Climate Action.
  • Dr Alyssa Gilbert (The Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London), Director of Policy and Translation.
  • Leo Hickman, Director and Editor of "Carbon Brief".
  • Dr Tibisay Morgandi (Lecturer in International Energy and Natural Resources Law, Queen Mary University of London) and the Chair of IHSS Climate Emergency Working Group.
• The Chair:
  • Dr Caterina Gennaioli(Senior Lecturer in Economics, Queen Mary University of London) and Director of the Centre for Globalisation Research.
• Agenda
  • 3:00 – 3:05 pm Introduction by Dr Tibisay Morgandi (Chair of the Climate Emergency Working Group)
  • 3:05 – 3:10 pm Introduction by Dr Caterina Gennaioli (Chair of the Event)
  • 3:15 – 3:35 pm Professor Sam Fankhauser
  • 3:35 – 3:55 pm Dr Candice Howarth
  • 3:55 – 4:15 pm Dr Alyssa Gilbert
  • 4:15 – 4:30 pm Coffee Break
  • 4:30 – 4:50 pm Speaker TBC
  • 4:50– 5:10 pm Leo Hickman
  • 5:15 – 6:00 pm Roundtable and Q&A
  • 6:00 – 7:00 pm Reception

• Everyone is welcome but required to register to join the event. Please register here

*The event will be photographed and recorded. These photographs and the recording will be used for internal and external promotional purposes only by Queen Mary University of London. If you object to appearing in the photographs and the recording, please let our photographer/videographer know on the day.

• The Role of Women in Managing Climate Change
  • The Energy & Climate Change Institute, Queen Mary, University of London and Clifford Chance are delighted to invite you to the Annual Lecture on Climate Change. We will hear from our keynote speaker, Emma Howard Boyd, Chair, Environment Agency, with a follow-up discussion with Claire Perry O’Neill, Managing Director for Climate and Energy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, as we discuss the key themes and developments shaping the area, with a special focus on the role of women as instigators of change, and the disproportionate impact of climate change on women. With COP26 around the corner, now is the perfect opportunity to help shape the conversation. The session will be introduced by Clare Burgess, Partner and ESG Board Member at Clifford Chance, and will finish with the opportunity to pose your questions to the panel.
  • 5:30–7:30pm – Clifford Chance, Canary Wharf and streaming online
  • Registration

11:30-3pm - Bike taxi 

• Location: Library Square 
  Time: 11:30 - 3pm 

  Activity: Students will be able to interact with and learn about the BikeWorks Bike Taxi, a sustainable and accessible form of transport! The bike will also be available to take students on short journeys around campus where possible e.g. to the shops, your lectures, to get some food or to the SU hub. 

• Please see link here

2pm - London Transport Society 

• We at the London Transport Society love to celebrate the great effect transport has in making people's lives more sustainable. Our idea for an event is for a group walk along the Parkland Walk. Formally a railway line, which closed in the 70s, it was converted to a linear park in the 80s and provides a place for Londoners to take in nature and makes great use of the space given with the closure of the line. The site was designated a nature reserve in 1990. I hope that our suggestion for an event will provide a welcomed break from hectic life in Mile End as well as providing a great example of a local nature reserve for the community of North London.
• People will get themselves to Finsbury Park where the committee will meet them, they will then do a walking route, discussing sustainable transport along the way.
• Please see further information here

2-4pm Virtual - ‘What is the Point of COP 27?’ hosted by the Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice, QMUL

• Some of the world’s leading voices in the struggle for climate justice come together in advance of the COP 27 international meeting to discuss whether this forum can overcome the challenges necessary to  deal with the climate crisis.
• Chair:       David Whyte, QMUL
• Speakers:
  • Vandana Shiva (environmental activist and author)
  • Walden Bello (academic, environmentalist, and Director, Focus on the Global South)
  • Hilal Elver (United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, 2014-2020)
  • Asad Rehman (Director, War on Want)
• Please see link to register here

5:30- 7:30pm Screening - "Eating Our way to Extinction"

• "Watch along" of the documentary "Eating our way to extinction" - run by Sustainability Officer Amelie
• Date: Friday 21st October 
  Time: 5:30-7:30pm 
  Location - Blomeley room 1

2:30pm Free Bee Keepers & Houseplant talk 

• Location: The zero waste shopTime: 2:30pmActivity: We are inviting an expert bee keeper from Lancashire who would be taking us into the world of bees, bee keeping, honey etc. We would also be having a talk on houseplants for all our current and future plant dads and moms! This talk will introduce Dr Giulia Carabelli’s research about humans who make home with houseplants. Together, we will reflect on how establishing affective relationships with plants at home can change the ways we interact with plants and the world.
• Please book your free ticket now by emailing zerowasteshop@qmul.ac.uk