You hear about it everywhere: sustainability is the buzzword of the moment. As more people are informed for the need of a shift in our policies and consumption habits, they may look for ways to get involved and help to spread awareness. If you are one of these people, keep on reading: KTH has many clubs focused on sustainability so you may find one that fits your specific interests.
Indeed, many students come to KTH because not only is it a world-class university, it is also located in one of the most advanced countries in the world in terms of climate change mitigation action.
There are many student and non-student lead groups at KTH, aimed directly or not at improving sustainability of KTH campus or of the different school organisations. What’s cool is that since sustainability includes environmental, social and economic aspects, it can be integrated in any organisation, event or platform. Here are the student-lead ones that are already active at KTH:
- KTH Students for Sustainability is composed of an elected board, but it has open-to-everyone meetings every month. Their goal is to give students a platform and resources to start their own groups aimed at tackling specific sustainability issues while also working on their own projects to raise awareness and participate in climate action.
- Foodsharing Stockholm is a new group aimed at reducing food waste from restaurant and grocery stores using a sharing and voluntary ecosystem, by collecting food waste from restaurants and grocery stores and re-distributing it using pick-up points around the city, including on campus.
- Eco-enhance KTH is a group aimed at reducing waste and packaging created by organisations on campus, like cafés and restaurants.
- THS equality week is an event taking place for a full week at the end of march aimed at connecting students with companies that contribute to equality with workshops, conferences and debates.
- THS is the KTH student union. It works hard to include sustainability in their events, for example in THS International Reception by using reusable cups at parties.
- Klimatstudenternat KTH is the KTH chapter of Klimat studentternat, a Swedish association aimed at tackling the objectives of the Paris Agreement. For example, they were the ones that helped organise the KTH climate strike on September 27th.
- Engineers Without Borders KTH is the local chapter of the world-wide organisation focused on achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on a more international level, like participation in a humanitarian-aid projects.
The previous list student-led organisations but the KTH sustainability office works in the same line of action, but at the KTH administration level. It offers paid position to some students to act as a liaison between the school’s administration and the different student clubs in order to be more efficient in tackling sustainability issues.
Finally, most student chapters have their own sustainability club, or might just be waiting for someone like you to start one! These are mostly focused on making the chapter events more sustainable, or organizing events that promote sustainability in an industry linked to the chapter. If you have an idea, don’t hesitate to contact any of those organisations and get involved!