At the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges Conference, the Fairtrade Foundation and NUS ran a workshop on their plans to redevelop and relaunch the Fairtrade University and College Standard. 

The shared objective is to make the existing standard more impactful, inspiring universities to take a broader approach to ethical procurement, and adding in a student auditor element. See the presentation and notes from the workshop for more information. 

The Fairtrade Foundation and NUS are now looking for eight pilot institutions to help co-develop and test the new standard over the 2017/18 academic year, with work starting this summer. They are looking for three UK FE colleges and five UK universities. 

Institutions need not have done much on Fairtrade already, but all must have a desire and willingness to invest time into the pilot programme. As with the current standard, and as with Responsible Futures, it will be the partnership of the institution with the students' union that will be assessed. As such, the Fairtrade Foundation and NUS are looking for eight partnerships of institutions and their students' unions to work with on the pilot. The partnerships selected will likely be diverse and have representation across the nations. 

This project is not being delivered through an external grant. As such, the five HE partnerships on the pilot will need to contribute £1,250 +VAT to covering costs associated with the programme. There will no cost to the three participating FE partnerships. 

All participating partnerships will benefit from the equivalent of 6-8 days consultancy as part of the programme, including two or more visits by NUS and/or the Fairtrade Foundation, as well as having the chance to reshape a national, popular and successful scheme. 

To express interest in being one of the pilot institutions, please contact Jamie Agombar, Head of Sustainability at NUS. The deadline to express your interest is Friday 12 May 2017.