Green Impact 2025-26

Green Impact is back, with more teams and more options. Join us and start (or continue) your sustainability journey at Oxford University. 

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together” - Vincent van Gogh.  

Did you know? 

Since its initiation in 2013 there have been over 300 team years (teams active over a period of a year, a team that worked for five years will be counted as five) and over 2,700 registered volunteer years. Over the years, Green Impact delivered over 11,000 actions, which is more than 1,000 actions each year.    

As always, we’ll release an updated Green Impact toolkit, featuring a diverse list of actions for you and your team to work on. Actions are impactful changes that you can apply as a team of volunteers and that relate to the priorities in the Environmental Sustainability Strategy.   

The updated workbook will be available on the Green Impact platform in the week commencing 15 September.  

To learn more about the scheme and how it works, please visit Green Impact.   

Mark your calendars   

Freshers’ Fair    

We will be at the Freshers’ Fair on 8-9 October in the Examinations School. Please stop by to say hello. 

Green Impact welcome sessions  

Join our welcome sessions to get an overview and instructions on how to join or create a Green Impact team in your department or college 

Initiating a buddy system and Green Impact working groups 

Following your suggestions from the working group discussions in June, at the end-of-year-event, we are initiating two schemes:  

  • Buddy system – do you want to support another team, receive support from a more experienced team, or both? This system is set to enable more experienced teams (such as those achieving Beyond Gold) to mentor newer teams. However, it can also be set up around a specific issue, challenge, or any other basis for cooperation. If you wish to take part, please complete this form
  • Working groups – some issues are challenging for many teams to address alone. By coming together, we can learn from each other’s experiences and tackle barriers collectively. Suggested themes for 2025-26 are addressing sustainable procurement and sustainable food. If you would like to propose a theme for a working group and/or represent your team in one, please complete this form.  

For students - Green Impact Project Assistant (GIPA) and project management training  

During Michaelmas term we will host a project management training session for Green Impact Project Assistants (GIPAs). This is a fantastic opportunity for students to become a project coordinator, lead environmental change in a “real life” setting, identify and address challenges and gain valuable employable skills.   

After completing the training, students are assigned to an existing Green Impact team or receive support to start their own project.   

The training will take place on Wednesday, 12 November, 3:30-5:00pm on Teams. Participants will require access to a computer and the internet. If needed, please ask for support by emailing Vered Balan

You can find out more and register here.   

Existing teams – start the year with a student assistant for your Green Impact projects   

Green Impact teams that would like to be assigned a student assistant to support their planned work, please email Vered Balan. In your email, please share the topic or project you want the students to work on for optimal matching.

In case you’ve missed it, please join our Teams Group chat to keep up with news and opportunities and consult with other teams. You can also sign up for our newsletter.