Real change starts with you. With students who are passionate about making a difference, young adults who want to take control over their futures and the next generation of leaders who want to make positive impacts in their careers.  

Real change starts with the development of you. The development of your critical thinking skills, your ability to empower yourselves and others and your drive for change. 

University prioritises your development and gives you opportunities to create change, from connecting you with like-minded individuals and organisations to supporting low-impact lifestyles. By championing students to take climate action, universities have the potential to lift young people in climate conversations and empower them in green careers and academia.  

With 90% of students saying that climate change impacts their mental well-being and over 60% wanting to learn more about sustainability, climate action is an essential part of university life and learning and can help students reduce their environmental footprint and their climate anxiety.  

By taking part in climate action at university, whether that be through societies, volunteering, career development or low-impact lifestyles, you can show employers that you are passionate about sustainability and can actively respond to climate change in ways that transcends protesting. Young people are changing the definition of climate action and continue to be at the forefront of the movement and opportunities at university significantly contribute to this mobilisation of students.  

Here are some ways you can take action at UEA, in Norwich and Norfolk: 

Societies: 

At UEA we have lots of incredible environmentally focused societies that are giving students the opportunity to take action. You can become a member of these societies and take part in their range of activities and events, and, if you want to be directly involved in the running of a society, you can become a committee member! Some societies are focused on environmental conservation and others look more at campaigning. 

Sustainability Society is centred around sustainability but with a focus on plants and animals and they run weekly allotment sessions allowing students to grow their own fresh produce!  

CAWS or Conservation and Wildlife Society host a variation of indoor and outdoor activities, on UEA campus and around Norfolk. From day trips to see seals at Horsey Beach to campus wildlife walks, conservation work in Buxton Heath to film nights, CAWS covers all aspects of conservation and wildlife and helps students directly contribute to improving wildlife in Norfolk.  

BCAN or the Student Biodiversity and Climate Action Network is a community of students and staff who are passionate about making UEA a global sustainability leader. Their work focuses on the improvement of UEA as an organisation and they’re currently working on two key projects a Fossil Fuel Free Careers Campaign and a Curriculum Reform Project. 

Plant-based Universities UEA is part of the national Plant-based Universities campaign that takes part in student-led campaigns pursuing plant-based university catering. They have regular socials, events and trips educating on and campaigning for the benefits of plant-based diets for us and the planet.  

Volunteering: 

There are lots of environmentally focused volunteering opportunities in and around Norwich and you can use the UEA Career Central site to find a host of incredible opportunities advertised by organisations. The site is super easy to use, and you can filter to find volunteering opportunities and search for keywords like environment.  

The Conservation Volunteers (TVC) have a Norfolk chapter and their Norwich-based project, the Norfolk Environmental Action Team, is based close to UEA at the Norwich Research Park. They host conservation activities for anyone to take part in, 5 days a week, all year round.  

Voluntary Norfolk is the place to go to find any other volunteering opportunities in Norfolk as most Norfolk-based organisations advertise their volunteering opportunities through it.  

Remember all volunteering activities can contribute to achieving the Silver and Gold UEA Award, which provides employer-friendly recognition of your extra-curriculars.  

Careers: 

UEA hosts a variety of career fairs over the academic year to get students excited about their next steps. There is a wide range of organisations that attend and whilst not many are specifically environmental organisations, most will be working towards sustainability goals so don’t forget to ask about it! 

As well as career events, UEA have the year abroad, year in industry and year in enterprise schemes as part of your degree, as well as internship, fellowship, and further education opportunities where you can specialise in the environment.  

Towards the end of the first semester, the UEA Student Enterprise hosts the Change Makers Competition which is an accelerator programme with some grant funding to help students start up social enterprises that help people and the planet.  

Plant-based food: 

There is a lot of plant-based food on campus — from the hot vegan meals in Campus Kitchen to the vegan salads, sandwiches, sushi, and brownies at Ziggy’s, UNIO, the Sports Park and the Enterprise Centre. You can even build your own vegan salad or sandwich at Café 57! 

There are tons of vegan eats off campus too, from completely vegan or veggie restaurants like The Tipsy Vegan, Namaste Village and Nourish Falafel bar, to places with lots of vegan options like bao buns at Bun Box in Norwich Market or a vegan fry-up at The Street Café on Magdalen Street. 

Restaurants across wider Norfolk such as The William and Florence, The Parson Woodforde, The Honingham Buck and SugarBeat all offer vegan options. You can even get vegan fish and chips at Mary Jane’s Fish Bar in Cromer!  

Sustainable shopping: 

 Just a 5-minute bus ride from campus, ‘The Green Grocers’ sells locally sourced, eco-conscious and refillable products, and they have a restaurant that does pizza nights too! In Norwich city centre, shops like Rainbow Wholefoods, Grape Tree and Earnie’s Zero Waste Shop offer refillable products as well as vegan and whole foods. 

There are also lots of charity and second-hand shops across the whole of Norfolk for a more sustainable alternative to clothes shopping.  

There are similar stores across Norfolk from The Green Shop and Hawthorn and Bee in Dereham, to Green Dreaming in Great Yarmouth and Groveland Farm Shop in Roughton.  

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