By Noby Leong

In late 2009, the University of Adelaide launched Ecoversity, an initiative to secure its ongoing pursuit of environmental sustainability.

Ecoversity began as Sustainable Adelaide in 2007 as a way to formally reduce the University’s impact on Climate Change and promote the uni- versity as a sustainable institution. Libby Dowl- ing, Environment Projects Assistant for Ecover- sity, explains ‘the University made a commitment to reduce the University’s environmental footprint and risk through collective contribution and best practice systems and processes’. This culminated in the formation of Sustainable Adelaide, as well as a Sustainable Working Party and reference groups for Electricity, Water and Paper.
But this begs the question, is the university just jumping on the bandwagon or can we really call ourselves an Ecoversity? It’s no doubt that most organisations are gearing towards an era of adaptation to climate change, with the State government recently rolling out its Adaptation Framework. Further to the point, in October of last year, all the universities in South Australia entered sector agreements with the Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change, Mike Rann. While not legally binding, these sector agreements strongly urge all universities to reduce greenhouse gases and demonstrate progress in mitigation and adaptation.

As a brief rundown, the university’s current targets are slated as reducing electricity, water and paper consumption by 20% by 2012, and being carbon neutral by 2030. To put this into perspective, in the 2008/09 financial year, the university spent $6 million on electricity, used 339ML of water and consumed 50 million sheets of paper. this equated to 59,706 tonnes of Co2, equivalent to 15,255 cars travelling on the road for a year.

In comparison to the Federal government’s 5% greenhouse gas reduction by 2020, the university is doing well. In terms of reading its own targets though, the method of doing so has yet to be decided, with various proposals to ensure the targets are reached being considered. Among other things, these include the implementation of green It, organic and electronic recycling, sustainable transport and communication mate- rials, purchase of green energy, and the standar- disation of air conditioning.

The uni is also keen on trialling some of its own home-grown research. As a point of interest though, the university will not be installing any kind of solar cells or power generation of its own, due to restrictions made by the Electricity trust of South Australia (ETSA) on cogeneration within the CBD.

So how does this all relate to the cohort? In a recent survey, 29% of students deemed the tar- gets as weak, with 37% not knowing what goes on around campus, clearly highlighting the barriers that exist in establishing a solid relationship be- tween the university and its students. It’s disen- franchising when we’re told not to turn off com- puters, not to recycle on campus and to have only a single flush as a toilet option in some buildings. Even in conservation courses, we’re told to care about our environment while flipping through pages of notes on pristine, titanium white sheets. (It should be noted that the university does pay a higher premium to recycle all their on-site waste – 892 tonnes annually.)

However, it is encouraging to know that Ecov- ersity is collaborating with student organisations such as the Environmental Collective of Students (ECOS) on decision making. It’s an opportunity for students to be engaged and actively decide on their future, rather than leaving it solely in the hands of policy makers. While this is no doubt a positive step, implementing proposed targets and encouraging behavioural change is another issue.

Dominic Mugavin, ECoS member and student representative on the Ecoversity Energy Reference Group, says “for Ecoversity to really suc- ceed, it needs every student and staff member to play an active role… the main challenge of many of these projects is empowering students.” One potential solution that Ecoversity is offering is solidarity through good old fashioned competition. the proposal is for buildings and faculties to have Energy Challenges. The building/faculty to reduce their consumption of energy the most, wins a prize. But as Mugavin notes, “With students often using many different areas, there is not a lot of ‘space ownership’ so students [won’t] feel like they can contribute”. The success of these competitions would no doubt be heavily influenced by effective advertising and a suitable prize for both staff and students.

Aside from student and staff cooperation for on-campus mitigation, there are still many more factors to be considered before claiming ‘Ecoversity’ status. Transportation for students and staff commuting between home and campus is an issue that remains difficult to claim, cost and count. ‘Food Miles’ and ‘Eating Local’ are also fast becoming in vogue. However, monitoring the food sourcing offered on campus is difficult.

There are clear obstacles ahead that require open debate and effective policy, but the establishment of Ecoversity as a non-traditional, student-friendly alternative to tackling climate change is an opportunity in itself. While it’s easy to blame ‘the Man’ for all this, we can’t forget to scrutinise our own behaviour, especially now that we have a chance to actively offer remedies for ourselves and the university. Whether the University of Adelaide is really an Ecoversity depends largely on the continual cooperation of students, staff and management in ensuring effective strategies are embraced.