West Suffolk College

Students Operating Sustainability

Students Operating Sustainability (SOS) is a cross curricular Sustainability Market showcasing some of the work West Suffolk College learners have been doing which align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

 The primary aim of the SOS event is to educate students and the community about sustainability, allowing students to implement sustainability initiatives in a real-world context. The event also seeks to:

• Enhance student engagement with SDGs.
• Promote positive behavioural changes towards sustainability.
• Provide students with practical, hands-on experience in their fields.

Over the past three years, the event has evolved from one class of students to a cross curricula event partnering with West Suffolk Council to expand the reach of the initiative. Students take over the town centre in Bury St. Edmunds to present their projects.

Each part of the event is aligned with the SDGs to raise awareness of the broad range of concepts that contribute towards sustainable develop which expand beyond environmental challenges alone.

Top 3 Learnings

1. Plan early- this includes awareness of the event and delivery of sustainably education to make the event viable for curriculum areas to engage within.
2. Start small and allow the initiative to evolve over time as the events management element can be very labour intensive.
3. Encourage curriculum areas to each make their part of the event interactive to maximise community engagement.