Fairtrade Fortnight 2022
As an award-winning fairtrade university, St Andrews will host its annual Fairtrade Fortnight next week, Monday 21st February- Sunday 6th March. The University has supported the Fairtrade Fortnight each year through its many student societies, engaging with the local Food Cooperative to spread information about Fairtrade relating to sustainability, and serving Fairtrade tea, coffee and juices at its cafes.
In November 2021, the University was awarded the Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s Fairtrade and Sustainability Award, the only higher education institution to have been recognised for this award in Scotland.
This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight will focus on the climate crisis and, in particular, providing support for farmers and workers in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Honduras, who have contributed least to climate change but are often most affected by it.
A number of events around the theme have been organised for the two weeks, including Climate Justice and Trade Justice: A Conversation, which will feature guest speakers MSP Wendy Chamberlain and the Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s CEO Martin Rhodes in a webinar to explore the position of Fair Trade and its relevance within the climate crisis.
A TED-style series of talks will form the basis of a Climate Justice Conference to share work and projects ongoing around environmentalism. The conference aims to bring together a wide range of environmentally conscious organisations and individuals across St Andrews for the benefit of connecting and uniting our environmental efforts, particularly surrounding the topic of climate justice.
The School of International Relations (IR) Sustainability Reps invite you to COP26 & Coffee where you can discuss climate change in relation to the summit in Glasgow while enjoying some coffee and nibbles. The evening will be a mixture of relaxed mingling as well as a couple of presentations by speakers with a personal experience of COP26. The speakers will include the University’s COP26 Project Manager, Louise Soutar, and PhD Candidate in IR, Bennett Collins.
Fairtrade Fortnight, is a collaboration between the Fairtrade Steering Committee; the Student Associations’ Environment Subcommittee; the Green Film Festival; School Sustainability Representatives; The Tree; Transition St Andrews; and St Andrews Fair Trade Community Group. Follow the Fairtrade in St Andrews Facebook page for details on all the events as they become available.
Get Involved
If you would like to get involved in the University of St Andrews’ Fairtrade Steering Committee or are interested in learning more about Fair Trade, please contact our Sustainability Coordinator Hannah Bowey, [email protected].