The Bartlett is very conscious both of its role in environmental research and teaching and of its environmental impact as part of a major institution in central London.

The Bartlett aims to provide a better built environment for everyone and that means addressing issues of sustainability in the wider context, but also in our own buildings and amongst our own people.

What is the Bartlett Green Action Team?

The Bartlett Green Action Team (BGAT) is a network of staff and students who work together to make the Bartlett a more environmentally friendly place to work and study. Members meet once a term to discuss and organise activities to promote environmental awareness within the faculty and generally act as ambassadors for green issues across the Bartlett.

What does the Bartlett Green Action Team do?

The Bartlett's Green Action Team coordinates efforts to minimise the faculty's environmental impact. BGAT is committed to:

• Analysing the faculty's environmental impact
• Identifying policies, targets and innovative actions to continuously reduce the impact of faculty activities on the environment.
• Engaging staff and students in the search for and implementation of innovative solutions.
• Promoting environmental awareness amongst staff and students in their everyday tasks.
• Continually reviewing environmental practices and contributing to the diffusion of best practice.
• Interacting with other environmental initiatives at UCL including Green Champions, the UCL Environmental Sustainability Group and the UCL Green Impact Scheme.

Current and past activities that the BGAT have been involved in include:

• Imagining a sustainable future competition
• Bartlett Green Film Nights
• UCL Green Impact Programme
• Quarterly BGAT newsletters
• UCL Green Video Competition

Who are the Bartlett Green Action Team?

BGAT is chaired by Helen Fisher, Faculty Manager. The Secretary is Louise Raynham, Facilities Officer at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies and other members include support staff as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students. All members of the Bartlett are invited to join!

How can I become a member?

If you would like to become a member of BGAT, simply send an email to bartlett.greenteam@ucl.ac.uk requesting to be added to the mailing list.

How can I find out more?

You can find out more about the Bartlett Green Action Team and upcoming activities the BGAT quarterly newsletter. Alternatively you can contact the team by email at bartlett.greenteam@ucl.ac.uk

What activities are BGAT involved in?

• Imagining a sustainable future competition

The Bartlett's Green Action Team invited competition entries, in any media, that communicate the sustainability agenda in new and exciting ways.  And that makes people, especially Bartlett people, feel that they too can make a difference.

The winning entry will be awarded £200, with two runner-up prizes of £100.  Entries will be displayed in the lobby of Wates House in April 2013.  The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 27 March 2013 and entries should be delivered to Helen Fisher, Bartlett Faculty Office, 6th Floor Central House.

For more details about the competition, read on.

• Entries are invited from students and staff within The Bartlett or from teams involving others from UCL or elsewhere, where the team leader is a Bartlett student or staff member.
• Any media may be used but entries must be no larger than 1m³.
• Monitors will be available to display video entries.  Other equipment will not normally be available.  You can however contact Helen Fisher if you would like to discuss a specific need.
  
• No funding will be available for materials. 
• We are particularly keen for entries to have a relevance to UCL, and in particular The Bartlett.  Having said this entries with for a more general audience are also welcomed. 

• Bartlett Green Film Nights

The idea of the Bartlett Green Film Nights is to inspire further discussion and debate among BGAT members. Staff and students look for new approaches and practical implementations of environmental principles. It is also a fun way to engage with other people from the faculty with similar interests.

After the screening an informal debate is usually held around the main theme of the film, fostering a reflexive understanding of the multi-layered connections between environmental problems and human action. Films such as Fed Up! And The Age of Stupid have been screened as part of our Green Film Nights.

• UCL Green Impact programme

Green Impact empowers individuals and departments to reduce their environmental impact by encouraging, rewarding and celebrating practical environmental improvements. It works by challenging departments to implement a number of easy practical actions that will help the environment.

The Bartlett Green Action Team will take a lead in setting up teams within the Bartlett to join the Green Impact programme which will run between October 2011 and April 2012. Green Impact is a light-hearted competition between teams in a university, but with an important message. Teams are given a new and exciting online workbook which lists different environmental actions that departments are encouraged to carry out. Bronze and Silver awards are given out according to the number of actions successfully completed and the Gold award will be won by the top scoring team in UCL.

For more information visit the Green UCL website. To register a team from the Bartlett please contact the Bartlett Green Action Team at bartlett.greenteam@ucl.ac.uk

• BGAT Newsletters

Our quarterly newsletters are a short digest of practical actions we can take to reduce the impact of climate change.

• UCL Green Video Competition

UCL Communication's 'My Green Idea' video competition, for which BGAT was on the judging panel, was won by Zoe Powell for her exciting short film on greenwash consumerism. Prizes also went to Rita Issa and Thomas Leith for their films on how to reduce your carbon footprint by 10% in 2010.

A screening and prize giving evening was held in the presence of Andrew Grainger, Director of Estates and Facilities at UCL, where competition entrants and judges were invited to watch the twelve best short film entries. In keeping with the Green theme of the evening, guests were treated to canapés sourced exclusively in the UK and selected wines from within Western Europe.

To view all entries visit the Go Green Week Youtube channel.