On 19 March, the RED Team successfully held our first ever RED Sustainable Action Conference at the Carrington Building, where students presented posters about their sustainability related passions to a range of attendees for the ‘Articulate’ section of their award. We also had an exciting selection of both internal and external speakers who presented about a variety of topics surrounding sustainability and conservation.
During the first half hour of the conference, RED Sustainable Action award students set up their poster talks at the back of the room, offering attendees a relaxed setting to mingle and learn about their respective sustainable topics. Our students, Helen Cheung, Bea Anderson and Isabella Woor, enthusiastically presented their knowledge and findings obtained throughout their Sustainable Action award.
Helen grounded her research on the 13th Sustainable Development Goal, Climate Action, and explained how extreme weather events emphasise the need for swift climate action. Bea delivered a 7-step plan for companies implementing ESG supply chains, emphasising the need for corporations to take responsibility for practices that harm the environment. Finally, Isabella enthused about her passion for bees, by bringing awareness to the variety of risks that bees face in nature and expressing a call to action for bee conservation.
After learning about the various projects, audience members voted for their favourite poster talk for the ‘Audience Choice’ award and settled down for another round of exciting talks about sustainability.
Our first speaker was Dylan Parkes, Head of Strategic Engagement (Climate and Environmental Sustainability) at the University of Reading. He introduced a wide range of sustainable opportunities for students, such as online short courses, festivals and organisations, as well as our very own RED Sustainable Action award. We also got an exciting glimpse into new learning opportunities that will be offered for students in the 2025/26 academic year, including a new short online course that focuses on sustainability advocacy launching in September 2025, and a Sustainability Fundamentals lecture series that will become available to students throughout 2026. Dylan ended his talk by drawing attention to the upcoming Show Your Stripes Day on 21 June, where you can #showyourstripes to inspire climate conversations and action.
Our second speaker was Dan Fernbank, Energy and Sustainability Director at the University of Reading, who gave insights into the university’s continued efforts to delivering a zero carbon SportsPark. Through energy efficiency initiatives, operational changes, and the installation of solar photovoltaics and heat pumps, the University’s SportsPark is anticipated to achieve an amazing 84% CO2 reduction from 2014/15 to 2025/26. By 2035/36, this number will hopefully raise to 94%, getting the SportsPark closer to achieving zero carbon.
Our third speaker, Dr Tony Cowling, introduced various local sustainability projects he is involved in and encouraged the audience to participate in community sustainability initiatives. As Sustainability Consultant at Reading Hydro, Chair of Reading Community Energy Society, and leader of Reading DraughtBusters, Tony advocated for local communities as a driving force for sustainability. He encouraged the audience to volunteer with Reading Hydro, the Reading Repair Café, Keep Caversham Tidy and the Reading Library of Things.
Our fourth speaker was Alex O’Brien, Marine and Research Operations Manager at Operation Wallacea. Opwall for short, this organisation runs biological and conservation management research programmes through data collection expeditions. Alex gave a crash course to the audience on Opwall’s methods of underwater data collection and how the technology has evolved throughout the years. He also discussed emerging a conservation initiative where they apply technology to manage threats of invasive lionfish.
Finally, Laura Rushby, the Head of Volunteering at Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), involved students in the audience on innovating the volunteering opportunities they can offer for students. BBOWT will be providing exclusive training and volunteering opportunities to support students to achieve their RED Sustainable Action Awards in the next academic year. Our audience provided helpful ideas for BBOWT in tailoring potential experiences for students wanting to make a difference in nature and wildlife.
Before the winners of the poster talk were announced, Tracy McAuley spoke about a Fairtrade Auditor volunteering role at the university that would be eligible for the RED Sustainable Action Award and RED Award. The deadline for applications is Thursday 10th April.
To round off the event, our RED Awards Coordinator Danielle Park presented certificates to all our student participants. Isabella Woor won the Audience Choice Award and Bea Anderson won the Speakers’ Choice Award. Both were also awarded a £20 voucher each.
We would like to once again express thanks to all our student presenters, speakers and participants for making this conference a success. The RED Sustainable Action Conference will be held annually for RED Award students. Sign up to the RED Awards now for more exclusive opportunities!
Author: Erin Tsang, Projects Assistant for RED Awards and Thrive Mentoring
Photography by Alanna Shrubb