From June 20 to July 8, FHSS ran a three-week Summer Summit featuring a team of academics from all three faculties of the university. The United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlines a global vision for mutual benefit, with the 17 goals a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future,” according to the official UN website (read more about the SDGs here). The SDGs call for global partnership on issues such as ending poverty, addressing inequality, improving health and education, and ensuring environmental sustainability. They are part of the UN’s global agenda, and a core goal of the University of Nottingham is to materialise the 17 SDGs.

In response to both international and institutional aims, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science held, and successfully completed, its first Sustainability Student Summer Summit. The Summit consisted of a one-week taught component and two- week project component. From June 20, students attended lectures delivered by Dr Maria Julia Trombetta (introduction to SDGs) and Dr Joseph Askew (history of sustainability) from the School of International Studies; Professor Jing Dai (green supply chain management) from NUBS; Chenxi Wang (carbon neutrality) from FOSE; Dr Jumoke Oladejo (circular economy) from CELE; Dr Stuart McDonald from the School of Economics, FHSS and Professor Vladimir Brusic from FOSE (sustainable smart cities). The students then attended the taught week with a screening of the 2015 film Tomorrow, which encouraged them to think about sustainable practices in their everyday lives.

The students then spent the next two weeks developing ideas for projects in response to issues discussed in the taught week. Under the supervision of Dr McDonald and Professor Brusic, the students produced four project ideas in the areas of smart health and sustainable farming.

In total 20 FHSS students from years 2 and 3 participated in the Summit, all of whom responded that they enjoyed their exposure to issues and disciplines outside of their study areas. FHSS will continue running the Summit with plans to expand the number of student participants, teachers, and variety of projects.