Universities impart skills and knowledge, form life-long beliefs and behaviours, act as centres of communities, employ, house and feed large numbers of people and promote the creation and sharing of knowledge. We believe this makes them uniquely placed to lead on environmental and ethical issues. For this reason the People & Planet University League has been running since 2007 and has been published by high-profile media partners such as The Guardian (2021, 2022. 2023, 2024, 2025), The BBC, and whose data is used in the Sunday Time Good University Guide.
Volunteers will research publicly available university documents and assess universities against our marking criteria, which cover a wide range of climate and social justice issues including decarbonisation, fossil fuel divestment, ethical banking, workers’ rights and environmental management among others. This work will help to incentivise the university sector towards taking immediate and appropriate action on the climate crisis and upholding the rights and wellbeing of all people internationally.
The role will develop and improve the following areas:
- Qualitative research skills
- Attention to detail
- Use of data collection software
- Time management and keeping to deadlines
- Working independently and remotely
- Communication skills
- Knowledge of environmental management processes and sustainability reporting.
You will need to commit to
- Two 25 hour weeks of remote work in July and August.
- 5 hours work per day for the two week period. Volunteers can manage their own time flexibly and will receive support from People & Planet, but must meet task deadlines on a weekly basis and attend a short daily meeting. Volunteers are free to work evenings and weekends, but please note People & Planet operates a 4 day week from 9-5.
- One induction session the week prior to your 2 week engagement.
- Completion of a self-access standardisation activity prior to the start of your engagement.
- Attending a brief meeting in the morning or afternoon each day and one individual check-in meeting in week 1.
- Checking the work chat function regularly.
Summer timetable
- June 22nd-July 3rd Ethical Investment and Banking, Ethical Careers and Recruitment, Education for Sustainable Development. Induction
- 18th June 10am July 13th-July 24th Sustainable Food, Staff & HR, Environmental Policy and Strategy Induction 9th July 10am
- August 3rd-August 14th Managing Carbon, Workers’ Rights, Staff and Student Engagement. Induction 30th July 10am
Training is provided for the role. We believe the skills and experience gained could be valuable for a number of career paths, including working in NGOs, corporate sustainability, estates management, higher education policy making, research and campaigning among many others.
People & Planet would like to support volunteers in their future careers, so will give all volunteers an official reference letter on successful completion of their placement and will act as a referee for future positions for which you may apply. From last year’s cohort, 100% said they would recommend this position to someone who wanted to add experience to their CV.
Feedback from previous volunteers
‘I think as someone looking for relevant experience to bolster a CV, this is a helpful and not-too-time-consuming position. It had exactly the kind of flexibility that I required at this point in time.’ ‘It's a really great opportunity to hone one's research skills, learn more about what our universities can do to improve their impact on the planet, and make a small but real difference.’
Qualitative Research Skill
- Analyse policy documents, sustainability reports, and university strategies
- Extract relevant information efficiently
Practical Understanding of Sustainability & Ethics
Attention to detail
Person Specification
The following are essential:
- Access to a computer or laptop and internet connection.
- Familiarity with desk-based research.
- Ability to work accurately and efficiently to agreed standards.
- Reliability and commitment to completing work to deadlines.
- Able to communicate needs with staff at People & Planet and if needed, ask for appropriate support to complete tasks in time.
- Ability to search policy documents for specific information in English.
- Ability to assess information against standardised frameworks.
- Ability to work remotely and independently
The following are desirable:
- Awareness of current issues in sustainability and ethics.
- Experience of research and data collection.
- An interest in higher education policy.
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