It has been said that students are not often remembered for the positive mark they leave on their local communities. In Kingston, however, a partnership between the council and the university’s student union is paving the way for a cultural shift in the way students interact with, and contribute to, the towns and cities in which they live.

It all began in early 2006, with students from the union’s volunteer department attending a training programme organised by Kingston Council. The training focused on assessing different businesses’ green credentials, from energy saving measures through to recycling and, moreover, how to give advice on making the necessary improvements.

The joint venture, named Positive Environment Kingston (PEK), has since seen a pilot run of 13 student volunteers visiting nine local businesses to carry out green audits and offer advice on how companies should better their environmental policies.

Twenty-three-year-old English literature and drama graduate Hannah Smith is one such volunteer. Having completed the training, she was sent to MeWe Arts and Education; an organisation that works with five to 18-year-olds developing performing arts productions. According to Smith, MeWe was enthusiastic to find out more about environmental best practice and welcomed her suggestions. “We looked at the disposable plastic cups that MeWe used for their students, and explored the options of waste reduction. We could replace them with hard plastic reusable beakers or continue with disposables and send them to Save A Cup where they would be recycled,” says Smith. “It wasn’t that MeWe did not want to be environmentally friendly – they just didn’t know where to start.”

Werner Van Staden, Deputy Chief Executive of MeWe, echoes that as a small organisation, it found the prospect of finding information about recycling services, ecologicallyconscious contractors and best practice really daunting: “The PEK mentor came to our rescue, willingly taking on the task of advising members of staff about achievable steps that we could take towards supporting the environment.”

Carlos Queremel, Community Environment Officer at Kingston Council – who originally designed and promoted the idea of PEK – is a strong believer in this kind of partnership working: “Universities have the knowledge and capacity to work, and to influence the communities where they work. For us this was an opportunity to explore, and the university showed great interest and openness to work and learn together. It has been an exemplar partnership experience.”

Indeed, PEK’s pilot run has proved so successful that it picked up an Outstanding Project Award from the Higher Education Active Community Fund, and it has been highly commended in the Student Initiatives Section of the 2006-2007 Green Gown Awards, a competition that looks for the greenest universities and colleges in Britain.

Now in the process of review, Nicola Corrigan, Sustainability Facilitator at Kingston University, says of their preparation for round two: “We want to bring all the parties involved together, including the volunteers, the organisations and beneficiaries, sponsors and the experts. This way we can ensure that the experience of every single person involved is taken into account. We want to look at what worked and what didn’t, and this may well initiate future changes. We are aiming to develop PEK into a best practice project that other communities can learn from.”

The council is in agreement. Queremel reports that the scheme was launched as a platform project for the council in a celebratory learning and sharing event on 31 May this year. So what does it put the success down to? Queremel thinks it’s all about the students’ enthusiasm and the ongoing support they are able to offer. “It’s not just about providing information,” he says. “The students are there to boost managers’ morale and knowledge by going back to organisations to see which changes have made a big difference and which suggestions need more work. By providing a mix of encouragement and practical solutions, the council and students’ union have proven that by working together it really is possible to change attitudes and encourage the community to adopt more sustainable practices.”