Student Spotlight: Sustainability
Student Spotlights pass the mic to our student doctors, to hear their take on their School experience and shine the light on a particular role, team or pathway through the School of Medicine.
This November, COP26 brought together world leaders and topic experts to address the climate crisis. A new working group and student society will play a key role in accelerating actions here at Liverpool School of Medicine to building a more sustainable learning environment.
Student Doctors Selina Aziz and Sinead McSorley are founders of Students for Global Health Liverpool and part of the staff-student working group on sustainability. Here they share their passion, hopes and ambitions for a more sustainable 2022.
Channelling public consciousness
The past year we believe has seen an increased awareness of the finite resources and the fragile situation our planet is in. It is difficult to ignore and not address the responsibility we have to ensure that what remains is not lost, but instead nurtured, shared and protected for the next generation.
It is particularly frustrating learning and identifying areas that require change but not knowing how to accomplish these changes and how to direct one’s passion for sustainable communities.
Finding and creating communities of like-minded people breathes life into our passions and creates a sense that we're making a real difference in an ongoing and indeed sustainable way.
Though there are setbacks, a community that cares and is willing makes all the difference.
Sustainability breaks down barriers with communities and countries, and creates an avenue to explore other important topics, such as planetary health (how climate change directly effects your health, in the UK and abroad), climate change, and social issues.
Opportunities large and small
Learn, listen, educate, make a difference! The biggest opportunity lies in big organisational efforts, but this stems from small actions such as identifying areas of vulnerability and improvement, such as policies or practises within healthcare, which can then be researched and translated into a wide-scale integration to create the most significant impact.
To be part of this requires accountability alongside responsibility, of organisations and individuals.
Of course, small-scale efforts keep sustainability fresh, present and connected to core sustainability values in a way that organisational change sometimes does not. All of us have a responsibility to look for these opportunities, and act on them, and this starts by understanding why.
The Working Group takes shape
The Sustainability Working Group is a brilliant new opportunity that creates a direct connection between student and staff who are passionate about sustainability. Following a successful introductory meeting, as a collective we have started to identify key areas that we hope to target. These included actions to increase outreach and the participation of students and staff groups toward the ongoing discussion on how to improve campus sustainability, everyday solutions, and the need for us all to be educated.
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Setting up a Students for Global Health branch
Our society is a branch of the national Students for Global Health charity. We have big plans for the new year, many of which will contribute to the sustainability agenda.
These include completing a Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) to identify areas in which the School advocates sustainability and setting up a Sustainability and Planetary Health (PH) workshop to educate, advocate and improve outreach. This will also inform students of opportunities that they can get involved in within Liverpool hospitals regarding planetary health and sustainability.
We will run a lecture series in collaboration with Manchester Eco Society and University of Leeds Healthcare students for climate action and put together a document with suggestions on how to become a more sustainable student doctor.
Committing to living more sustainably
Taking the time to educate oneself is important. Sustainability could be considered a laborious topic. However, being informed provides the opportunity to have a real-world effect and is the key steppingstone that inspires action. There are loads of really useful free resources, such as the UN CC E-Learn courses (you get a certificate as well!), and Lancet Countdown articles. Also, it doesn’t hurt to become part of Global Health Networks to keep updated and inspired.
Sustainability in 2022
Our biggest ambition for Students for Global Health Liverpool is that our society will continue to raise awareness and build a community of like-minded staff and students, who will continue to drive actions for sustainability! As a collective we have the power to improve sustainability and sustainable practises, which will have a direct effect on the people all around us, within Liverpool, the UK and the world.
Dr James Young, School Sustainability Lead
Dr James Young is School Lead for Sustainability and is keen to capitalise on the increased exposure due to heightened media attention.
“From COP26 and beyond, there is an accepted need to adapt how we live our lives but also how we practise medicine in order to sustain our planet and ultimately our health."
Sustainability is ingrained within nearly all aspects of our lives; from what you eat and how you get from A to B, to how you prescribe and use digital storage.
"It can be an equally challenging topic to navigate, which can often leave people with questions such as; what can I do as an individual? What is going to make the biggest impact? Why does this matter to me as a doctor?
We face both an individual and collective responsibility to take action as a medical profession. The new working group was born from passion, with a shared student and staff determination to begin making these changes within the School and the wider University. I believe if we can all make small changes this can create greater impact.
A shared understanding of its importance and what we can do as individuals and doctors is essential. We hope to inspire and guide our student doctors to help drive this change as a collective. I am looking forward to what we can all do together in 2022.”
Dr Viktoria Goddard, Vice Dean of Learning and Scholarship has been working with Dr James Young, Selina, Sinead and others in the sustainability working group. "Global health and sustainability are key themes within the University of Liverpool."
The pandemic has brought into focus for all of us how the decisions and actions of individuals impact upon communities, societies and global health.
"Many staff at the School of Medicine have a keen personal interest in this area and we wanted to work more closely with our students to think about how we can make a difference together - individually, in our curriculum, and collectively as a School. The formation of the staff-student working group is a really important first step in sharing ideas and thinking about setting our priorities in this area for the next few years"
Discover more
- Keen to get involved? Join Students for Global Health Liverpool via the Guild (link) and follow the society on Instagram (link) and Facebook (link).
- Interested in becoming part of the School of Medicine Sustainability Working Group? Contact Dr Viktoria Goddard at viktoria.goddard@liverpool.ac.uk.
- Explore climate change resources including the UN CC: e-learn course on the UN website (link).