The glasgow caledonian university
Introduction
Glasgow Caledonian University is one of the largest universities in Scotland with about 17,000 pupils. This establishment was established in 1993, as a consequence of the amalgamation of Queens College Glasgow with the Glasgow engineering school ( GCU website ) .The establishment is situated right in the bosom of Glasgow metropolis Centre. There exist progressively, a batch of activities traveling on within this university doing a turning instance for the importance of pull offing the environmental impacts associated with its activities, merchandises and services. Recognizing this concern that university decided to move responsibly by doing serious committednesss towards a sustainable topographic point to work and analyze. The committedness paid off with the recent bronze award awarded to the university by Eco campus after an off-site audit. Despite this accomplishment, there is still a general deficiency of consciousness about the procedure and there have been no seeable betterment in environmental public presentation.
Therefore, this study seeks to ; place the university ‘s chief activities with important impact to the environment, explain the relationship between Environmental Management System ( EMS ) and Eco campus, examine the function of eco campus in accomplishing the ISO14001 enfranchisement and eventually propose stairss needed to be taken by the University to achieve the following phase-silver awards presented by Eco campus.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY WITH SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.
“Universities are now regarded as “small cities” due to their big size, population and the assorted complex activities taking topographic point in them” ( Abubakar et al, 2008 ) . Glasgow Caledonian university being one of the universities in Scotland, has traveling in it a complex figure of activities ( facets ) which could hold direct or indirect impact on the environment which will ensue in environmental sustainability or could take to the debasement of the environment. Such environmental facets includes: fresh H2O and energy use- including electricity and heat ingestion ( Noeke, 2000 ) , ingestion of stuffs ( e.g. nutrient, paper, equipment, etc. ) , procurance, coevals and disposal of all sorts of waste, building ( including renovation ) and destruction activities, conveyance to and fro the university ( Edith Cowan University, 2009 ) , workshop and research lab usage, talks, research and sporting activities, community support services ( Abubakar et al, 2008 ) and eventually the proviso of pupil and staff adjustment.
WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ( EMS )
Environmental direction system is a direction system used by an administration to develop and implement its ain environmental policy and pull off its environmental facets ( International criterions administration, 2005 ) . It involves ; the development of environmental policy statement, execution of that policy ( through appropriate objectives/targets, clear duties, organized construction, action programs and established processs ) , making consciousness and preparation, public presentation monitoring and audit and in conclusion uninterrupted betterment on old policy.
Denning Cycle
The Environmental direction system attack to the direction of environmental impacts was based on the Plan-Do-Check-ACT ( PDCA ) rhythm normally known as the Denning rhythm shown above. The “Plan” facet involves, environmental baseline reappraisal, puting of aims, delegating of duties and the readying of programs, programmes and processs. The “Do” facet involves execution of these criterions, processs and action programs. The “Check” facet involves environmental monitoring and auditing of the enforced processs, action programs and aims. Then the “Act” involves the reappraisal by direction and the uninterrupted betterment of the environmental policy.
Though ISO14001 criterion produced by the International Standard Organisation ( ISO ) in 1995 is by and large accepted as the planetary criterion for attesting environmental direction systems, there still exists other criterions such as ; Eco Management and Audit Scheme- which is an European criterion established by European ordinance 1836/93 as a voluntary enterprise to better companies public presentation ( Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, 2009 ) and the British standard-BSI 8555, which is a national environmental direction system intended towards a phased attack to execution. Several such national environmental direction systems exist across the Earth
WHAT IS ECO CAMPUS
Eco campus is a national environmental direction system development plan and award strategy developed by the higher instruction sector for the higher instruction to better environmental public presentation utilizing a stages and modular attack ( Eco campus, 2009 ) . The undertaking is funded by the higher instruction support council for England ( HEFCE ) and is a collaborative undertaking between Nottingham Trent University ( NTU ) , Loreus Ltd, Environment Association for Universities and Colleges ( EAUC ) AND Environment Campaign- ENCAMS ( EAUC, 2009 ) . Eco campus achieves improved environmental public presentation through the issue of four awards which are normally done in stages. The awards include ; Bronze, Silver, Gold and Pt. With each being a merchandise of a peculiar stage. The bronzy award is the lowest of the awards while the Pt award is the highest and is tantamount to the ISO14001 criterions.
Based on the released Eco campus audit standards published in 2008, the Bronze award is given to establishments that have ; shown senior direction committedness to environmental direction, carried out environmental baseline reappraisal of environmental facets, developed a bill of exchange of environmental policy and are involved in making consciousness of the procedure. The Silver awards ( being the 2nd stage award ) is given to higher establishments that have ; identified the important environmental facets of the university ‘s operations, identified the legal and other demands related to its environmental facets, developed environmental aims and marks and have produced a finalised environmental policy papers. Furthermore, the accomplishment of the Eco campus Gold awards is tied to the completion of the undermentioned procedures, delegating functions and duties towards run intoing environmental aims and marks, guaranting that the forces involved in the execution of the environmental policy are competent and adequately trained, developing and implementing standard operational control processs, guaranting proper certification and communicating of procedures involved and seting in topographic point systems that will place exigencies and respond to them. Finally, the Pt award is given merely to establishments who have shown attachment to ; monitoring and measurings of environmental facets of the university, executing internal audits on university ‘s environmental public presentation and on a regular basis reappraisal of environmental public presentation by direction.
THE BENEFITS AND LIMITATION OF IMPLEMENTING ECOCAMPUS IN GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY
The eco campus being an environmental direction system has a figure of restrictions to its operation. But the benefits of implementing the eco campus environmental direction system far outweigh the restrictions ( Eco campus, 200 ) . These benefits may include the undermentioned:
- Eco campus will assist the university to efficaciously better its environmental public presentation in stages, therefore assisting the establishment to bit by bit set up a standard environmental direction pattern. This will in the long tally, ease its enfranchisement to standard environmental patterns such as ISO14001 ( Caledonian Environmental Centre, 2009 ) and will cut down the overall cumulative impact on fiscal every bit good as human resources associated in the initial constitution of such criterions.
- Eco campus will better cooperation and environmental consciousness among staff, pupil and other relevant stakeholders ( Melnyk et al, 2003 ) . This will every bit reported by Abubakar et Al ( 2008 ) convey a alteration in the manner the university ; exploits its resources and develops its engineering. Therefore taking to ; reduced operational cost ( profitableness ) , increased efficiency and finally environmental sustainability.
- Eco campus will heighten the university ‘s conformity to ordinances and codifications of good pattern. Thereby advancing improved relationship with both the regulators and the general populace. This will assist cut down enforcement or civil actions and other direct or concealed legal cost associated with non conformity to ordinances ( GCU sustainability web site, 2009 )
- Eco campus will assist the University to efficaciously pull off the impacts of its activities on the environment and better its environmental public presentation. Enviro campus ( 2007 ) pointed out that, this will heighten the repute of the university therefore encouraging high pupil enlisting, better public perceptual experience and more community support.
- Eco campus will hold important consequence on cost economy through, decrease of cost associated with waste disposal, efficient usage of resources ( e.g. energy, H2O etc. ) , turning away of cost associated with non conformity to statute laws and decrease in insurance cost ( Wikipedia, 2009 )
Though benefits abound at that place still be a figure of restrictions associated with the execution of the Eco campus Environment Management system. The Glasgow Caledonian university web site ( 2009 ) suggested some to include ; it takes a long clip to implement and supervise and it requires proper certification, equal preparation and good communicating for it to be successful. In my ain sentiment other restrictions will include the fact that it requires high degree of committedness by the direction for it to be successful and that it still requires human and fiscal resources though small compared to the full execution of a standard Environmental Management system like ISO14001.
CURRENT GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY ‘S ECO CAMPUS STATUS AND IMPLICATIONS TO ATTAINING ISO14001 CERTIFCATION.
Glasgow Caledonian University was presented the bronze award by the Eco campus manager in Bournemouth University on the 1st of July 2009 ( Glasgow Caledonian university web site, 2009 ) as an award for run intoing up with the minimal standards of the Eco campus undertaking for the bronze stage. The studies found on the University ‘s web site indicated the undermentioned accomplishments of the school to hold warranted it the eco campus bronze awards.
- The university showed senior direction committedness to the Eco campus strategy by set uping an Eco campus squad ( consisting of ; the Caledonian Environmental Centre, School of built and natural environment, installations direction arm of the university, pupil association and the Caledonian environmental society pupils group ) headed by Therese Fraser, to supervise the execution of the Eco campus environmental direction system. This squad went in front to bring forth the bill of exchange of the University ‘s environmental policy
- The University carried out the environmental baseline reappraisal of more than five basic direction countries transcending by far the minimal demand set out for the bronze stage. The direction country include ; waste direction, environmental direction systems, sustainable procurance, conveyance, wellness public assistance and safety, environmental policy, energy and H2O, emanations and discharges, biodiversity and community engagement.
- The university provided and is still appropriate environmental preparation for staff involved in the Eco campus programme.
The deduction of this current position to achieving its mark of ISO14001 enfranchisement is that the establishment is still at the planning stage. It will hold to travel from that stage to the execution stage which involves ; designation of environmental facets and legal demands, puting aims and mark, set uping standard processs towards accomplishing this targets/objectives, formalizing the environmental policy and its execution. And so continuously reappraisal and better on policies and patterns. But since the university is utilizing a phased approach-Eco campus, it therefore means that, it will hold to go through through the Ag, gold and Pt stages before thought of acquiring the ISO14001 enfranchisement. The Pt award is an equivalent for ISO14001 criterion. So making that Pt position will ease the easy acquisition of the ISO14001 enfranchisement.
Practical STEPS IN MOVING GLASGOW CALEDONIAN TO THE SILVER AWARDS
Traveling from the bronze stage to the silver stage involves run intoing the standard for the Ag phases. The Eco campus audit standards published in 2008 listed the standards to include ; designation of its important environmental facets, designation of legal and other demands associated with these facets, puting aims and marks, bring forthing a concluding transcript of the environmental policy and pass oning this policy to all relevant interest holders. So for the university to accomplish the Ag position the undermentioned practical stairss have to be taken.
- The university has to first exhaustively place and document all the activities of the university that has important impact on the environment
- The 2nd measure is to place and document all legal and other demand associated with the above environmental facets
- The following measure is to put up and document aims and marks in relation to pull offing the environmental facets
- Using the information above, the university should bring forth a formal transcript of its environmental policy which will be signed by the top direction bespeaking the direction committedness to the procedure
- Last, the environmental policy should be adequately communicated to the staff, pupils and all other relevant stakeholders in the university community.
