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People & Planet
People & Planet is the largest student network in the UK campaigning for social and environmental justice. We envision a future in which spiralling inequality, instability, climate crisis and resource depletion are reversed, and a world in which the balance of power in society has fundamentally shifted to an equal world that benefits all of us.Our mission is to build an empowered generation…
Description

People & Planet is looking for volunteers to assist with compiling its 2025/26 People & Planet University League; the only higher education ranking that classifies based on ethics and climate justice criteria. 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) 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. 

Duties

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. 

Who will the volunteers be working with?
People & Planet Team.
Training
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.

June 30th-July 11th Ethical Investment and Banking, Ethical Careers and Recruitment, Education for Sustainable Development. Training and induction w/c 23rd June.
July 21st-1st August Sustainable Food, Staff & HR, Environmental Policy and Strategy. Training and induction w/c 14th July.
August 11th-August 22nd Managing Carbon, Workers’ Rights, Staff and Student
Engagement, Environmental Management and Auditing. Training and induction w/c August 4th.

Time commitment

● 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.
● One half day of remote training and induction the week prior to your 2 week engagement.
● Attending a brief meeting in the morning or afternoon each day and one individual check-in meeting in week 1.
Application deadline

This organisation is one of our community partner organisations.

Like all volunteer recruiters we work with, they have signed up to our service standards, agreeing to abide by our policy on partnership working to keep you safe and supported whilst you volunteer.

You’ll never be out of pocket for volunteering through us – with in-London travel expenses to and from your volunteering guaranteed.

In addition, the team here at Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service is here to support you throughout your volunteering journey – you can get in touch with us at any time.