Nottingham Trent University extends JUMP behaviour change initiative to 30,000 students

Since the JUMP scheme was enrolled at NTU

In February this year, NTU became the 11th University to sign up to the JUMP employee engagement initiative. The previous iteration of the programme enrolled 3,500 staff members to develop habits that boost sustainability and wellbeing. For the start of this academic year, the programme has been expanded and rolled out to its 30,000 students.

The Jump scheme, run by sustainable programmes supplier Green Rewards, encourages employees to engage in energy saving, sustainable travel, waste reduction and other green actions.

NTU’s sustainable development manager Charmaine Morrell said: “We are delighted with the success of the scheme. Our staff have taken positive steps to increase sustainability and wellbeing for themselves as well as making NTU a better place to be. We are looking forward to seeing our students get involved in Green Rewards as we move into the new academic year.”

Since the JUMP scheme was enrolled at NTU, more than 23,000 positive actions, relating to sustainability and wellbeing, have been taken and recorded.

The JUMP scheme enables NTU to encourage activities that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nottingham City Council’s target of becoming a net-zero-carbon city by 2028. The aim builds on the local authority’s pledge to ensure that at least one-fifth of energy procured across the area is sourced from low-carbon facilities by 2020 – a goal it claims it is “on track” to achieve.

Green Rewards

Last year, Green Rewards revealed to edie that a record 216,348 positive actions were recorded at universities in the last academic year as part of the programme.

Actions aimed at reducing plastic waste were the most popular under the scheme, with 82,540 positive actions taken collectively. For example, the University of Strathclyde diverted 2,939 disposable coffee cups from entering landfill by using reusable alternatives – the equivalent of 30kg of waste – during a five-month trial of the scheme.

The scheme has also seen Bournemouth University achieve an 11-tonne reduction in its Scope 3 emissions, after staff travelled 26,000 miles to and from campus sustainably. Elsewhere, Bournemouth University reduced paper use by 2% and the University of Reading achieved a 7% improvement in energy efficiency.

Matt Mace