Climate for action: sustainability in everyday life | Gdańsk University of Technology

Sustainable Development Team: Beata Pronobis (BP), Tatiana Ilczyszyn (TI):  We’re in “Misiówka”, a historic building on Gdańsk Tech campus, workplace of international relations team.

BP: Good morning.

Anna Modrzejewska (AM), Justyna Sudakowska (JS): Good morning.

BP: Gdańsk University of Technology has actively implemented the sustainable development goals and has been involved in environmentally friendly and socially responsible activities for a few years now. Therefore, we are all the more pleased you decided to meet and share good green practices introduced among your team. Can you tell us more about them?

JS: There are many eco-friendly activities introduced in our office. The things we are proud of include a campaign we organized last year on Women's Day. We encouraged the employees of our office to bring used items in good condition, which they do not use anymore. We swapped clothes, books and other items with each other. We had lots of fun but, what is more important, things which did not find a new owner were donated to a charity shop in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz.

AM: Our team willingly participates in activities organized at Gdańsk Tech. We have two bicycle enthusiasts who took part in Bike to university campaign.

JS: This year, we also joined a Christmas initiative organized at Gdańsk Tech and built an eco-tree in the spirit of zero-waste. Our eco-tree was built out of old office calendars. Although we did not win, the fun we had made it all worthwhile.

Gadgets constitute an important part of international promotion. This can be a real conundrum when it comes to making them eco-friendly and well-thought-out.  I think we are not ready to give up gadgets yet, however we are moving slowly towards that direction. As we have more and more potable water dispensers at Gdańsk Tech where you can top up your own bottle, IRO gadgets include glass water bottles. There are also waste segregation bags for students who live in dormitories and timers for measuring time spent in the shower. We hope these gadgets will encourage eco-friendly behavior. Currently, we are preparing a new project in which prizes for students in planned competitions will not only include gadgets, but also voucher for city bikes MEVO.

We also encourage our staff and students to choose sustainable transport. Persons who decide to travel by green modes of transportation, i.e. train, bus or carpooling, can count on additional travel funding as part of Erasmus+ program.

As part of the Erasmus Days event organized annually by IRO, which aim is to promote Erasmus mobility, Karol Flisikowski, PhD from the Faculty of Management and Economics at Gdańsk Tech and Mikołaj Bartłomiejczyk, PhD from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Automation encouraged the participants to travel by train. The plane does not have to be the only means of transport that we take into account when planning an Erasmus+ trip and a business trip in general.  Last year, Gdańsk Tech bulletin included an article by IRO, which encouraged people to travel by rail.

During last year's ENHANCE conference dedicated to climate-neutral cities, we decided to plant a tree together with the event participants, to make a tangible and symbolic commemorative gesture, bearing testimony to our approach to sustainable development.

AM: Slightly smaller initiative introduced in our office, was removing waste bins from under our desks. We also practice bookcrossing here. We have decided to minimize the use of paper towels and use reusable shopping bags as much as possible.  In order to save energy, we try to work in daylight whenever possible.

BP: Do you remember when these initiatives started in your team?

JS: I do not remember the exact moment it started. It was rather happening gradually. Somebody suggested that if we were to segregate waste, we should remove the waste bind located under our desks, as it tempts to throw all your waste into the same bin - from paper to apple cores. Somebody else came to work by bike and another person got encouraged to also take the bike or leave their car farther away from the building and walk a bit more.

AM: I think that sometimes these little, tiny gestures can work wonders, and at the same time they don't cost us much.

Employees who work in our office are very willing to participate in all the initiatives, so it all really happened very quickly.

TI: From a time perspective, how did you benefit from the joint eco-friendly initiatives as a team?

AM: We spend a lot of time at work and, of course, the team we work in is very important. Such initiatives bring us closer together.

I have the impression that whenever we do things together, we inspire each other. This builds our team a lot.

JS: Additionally, we can get to know each other better. When engaging in such initiatives, we learn that our colleagues are involved in other activities privately. It turns out there are more ecofreaks in our team.

AM: We motivate each other.  It is hard to believe that only a year ago I was completely not interested in ecology.

TI: Your experience shows that eco-friendly activities also aid in social activities, and their joint implementation affects interpersonal relationships. ​ We are curious about your experiences in cooperation with people from different countries and cultures. Did any meeting particularly inspire you to take action?

AM: ENHANCE Alliance puts strong emphasis on ecology. In Norway, during meetings, coffee, tea are served in vacuum flasks, water in glass bottles, carafes or straight from the tap. TU Berlin serves meals in eco-friendly food containers.

JS: We tried to use some of the solutions during our ENHANCE conference at Gdańsk Tech in October 2023, e.g. by using water carafes. Every year, we participate in European Association for Higher Education conference where sustainable solutions play an important role in the program. During the conference, one of the participants presented an example from their university where students can obtain an additional funding from Erasmus+ program, which is doubled if the student uses green modes of transport to travel. As a result, 40 % students of this university participate in green Erasmus.

This year during a conference in Rotterdam, the food was vegetarian including a vegan option. Participants received city cards to use public transport. 80% of information signs used at this conference was recycled or reused during another event.

I remember my colleagues from RWTH Aachen who took part in our staff week in May last year and who were impressed by the number of waste bins we had for sorting on campus. ​ They really liked the fact that we have low-floor buses, nice trams and SKM trains in Gdańsk, because their public transport is not always so nice and accessible. Therefore, not only we can learn from others. ​ In my opinion, we also have a lot to share and be proud of.

BP: What are the future eco-friendly initiatives in your office? Can you unveil your plans?

AM: There are many [she laughs].

JS: We have an idea for encouraging the staff to engage in environmentally-friendly activities. It is related to gamification, collecting points for cool activities, however it is still at the conceptual stage.

AM: I also have my own personal goals related to cycling to work. I decided that as soon as the snow melts and the temperature rises a little, I will make it my mission to commute to work by bike. ​ It will not be every day, but I am going to set a minimum goal for the month. It is a big challenge for me as I am not a keen cyclist, but I want to give myself a chance and try.

BP: You can set yourself the goal of cycling the entire route every day, but you can also combine this commute with a trip by public transport. That's what I do. Every day in the summer I ride 4 km to the station and back by bike, and I cover the rest of the route by train. I will  keep my fingers crossed for your plan, Ania!

AM: Thank you.

JS: We also have many plants in our room. I started reading articles about how some plants can purify the air, so we can probably encourage people to green their rooms as well.

AM: I really like carbonated water, I try to drink about 3 liters a day, i.e. two large plastic bottles... Two months ago I bought a carbonator and this way I carbonate the water myself. I bring it to work every day in a reusable bottle. Let's do the math: this saves 60 disposable bottles a month, which is a huge saving.

TI: What eco-friendly activities do you undertake in your free time?

JS: I use the city application that tells me how to segregate garbage. I also try to travel by train wherever I can. Once, when I was returning from vacation from Hajnówka to Gdańsk via Warsaw, the train conductor said that I was his record holder in kilometers. I even got applause from people on the train. It was very nice. I go to work by public transport, but during the summer vacation break I walked the distance from Gdańsk Przymorze to the office every day, which meant an hour and a half walk. I will get back to it next summer.

AM: My great inspiration is my 18-year-old daughter, who has hardly bought any new clothes for 3 years. She also motivated me to take a closer look at my wardrobe and make more conscious decisions about future purchases.

TI: Coming to the end, if you were to encourage employees in other departments to take actions that are good for the environment, what would you tell them?

AM: What makes me happy is the involvement of our team in university-wide initiatives. Through our collective activity, we contribute to a greater cause that ultimately benefits us all.

BP, TI: Thank you very much. We hope your initiatives will be an inspiration to all employees and students at Gdańsk Tech.

Source of graphics: IRO, CAS, Canva