The Global Students Forum has embarked on a mission to survey student unions worldwide to understand both the barriers they encounter, and the lessons learned from their sustainability initiatives. These preliminary results shed light on the pressing challenges reported by student unions in their pursuit of sustainable practices.
Key Findings
- Financial and Resource Constraints: A significant 76% of student unions identified a lack of funding or resources as the primary barrier to implementing sustainable practices.
- Measurement Challenges: 56% of the unions expressed difficulty in accurately measuring and tracking the progress and impact of their sustainability initiatives.
- Competing Priorities: 44% of respondents reported facing challenges in balancing sustainability goals with other pressing demands and resource allocation.
- Organizational Resistance: Only 12% of the unions felt that there was internal resistance to change, suggesting that most student unions are generally aligned in their sustainability goals.
- Sustainable Travel Alternatives: 32% are actively seeking sustainable alternatives to air travel, a known contributor to carbon emissions.
Conclusion
The preliminary findings of this survey highlight a keen interest in sustainability among student unions. However, there are clear challenges, predominantly financial and resource-related, that need to be addressed. Enhancing public awareness, providing educational resources, and seeking external funding sources could be potential avenues to address these challenges and support student unions in their sustainability endeavors.
Note:
These findings are exclusively from the responses given in the English language version of the survey and does not account for the types of challenges that have been have reported in the “other challenges” section. These results will be included in an upcoming report on the findings.
