SOS-UK Digital Badge guide for earners

Badges are an excellent way to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability and volunteering with SOS-UK throughout the course of a program, project, or academic year. We want to celebrate your volunteering with tangible proof of this commitment whether you're a Drug and Alcohol Auditor, Green Campus Revolution Ambassador, Green Impact Ambassador, Farming for Carbon and Nature Surveyor, or a Teach the Future/Teach the Teacher volunteer. Read the guide below for information on badges, their role for your environmental and career development, and how to claim them!

Whether you're a Drug and Alcohol Auditor, Green Campus Revolution Ambassador, Green Impact Ambassador, Farming for Carbon and Nature Surveyor, or a Teach the Future/Teach the Teacher volunteer, we want to reward and celebrate your assistance this year.  

SOS-UK is happy to provide badges that you can share online and/or on your CV. Check out the guides below to learn more:

What is a digital badge?

SOS-UK badges are issued through the Open Badge Factory and are a digital representation of a learning outcome, experience, or competency. You can share your badges with anyone you’d like, wherever you’d like, including LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, email, or embedded in a website.  

Sharing my badge

Save or print screen your badge that will be issued via the email account you provided. Be sure to share the email you check the most often, whether this is a school or personal email. Feel free to tag SOS-UK's socials when you post! You can also add your badge to your email signature.  

🛟 Drug and Alcohol Impact

Drug and Alcohol Impact Auditors have participated in an "Introduction to Auditing" training course that covers what responsible drinking and drug harm reduction looks like, institutional change, and understanding skills and knowledge needed to conduct and audit. Auditors learn how to use the Drug and Alcohol Impact framework to assess their university and student union can and have changed cultures around responsible drink and drug harm reduction. An auditor will undertake a minimum of one institutional audit that incorporate responsible drink and drug harm reduction and interview staff teams. Earner has undertaken at least one audit of an institution developing their professional auditing, analytical, and relationship-building skills. The audits require earners to assess documentary evidence teams have uploaded to support their responsible drinking and drug harm reduction work, as well as interview staff teams.

Alcohol Impact Auditors have participated in an "Introduction to auditing and evaluating responsible alcohol consumption" training course that covers responsible drinking, institutional change, and auditing skills. Participants learn how to use the Alcohol Impact framework to assess how their university and student unions have changed drinking and drug cultures at their institution. Participants will undertake at least one audit of their institution and require the documentation of evidence to support their responsible drinking work.

🚜 Farming for Carbon and Nature

Farming for Carbon and Nature Surveyors have monitored farmland farmland birds, mammals, earthworms, pollinators, or a combination of these on tenant farms at participating universities.

In order to receive a badge, students must register their participation through the Biodiversity Lead at their university, complete one baseline survey, and one follow up survey. All digital surveys will be emailed directly to Surveyors. Surveyors also must participate in training to be delivered the day of their biodiversity monitoring and at least one on site survey using the appropriate data collection software (e.g., iRecord, PoMS). Badges will be delivered to the Surveyor's email inbox following the session.

🍃 Green Campus Revolution

As a GCR Ambassador, you will have opportunities throughout the year to earn your bronze, silver, gold, or platinum badge! Follow the steps below and keep up with the Green Campus Revolution team. We'll be tracking your progress and will calculate your score at the end of the academic year.  

Bronze badge:

  • Attended the 2024 Green Campus Volunteer Training or watched a recording and completed the masterclass.
  • Take part in one online activity such as the Pledge or Quiz or action week competition - view current activities in the 'act' section.
  • Reviewed your halls sustainability.

Silver badge

  • All Bronze actions
  • Taken part in an additional online activity such as the Pledge, Quiz or Action Week competition.
  • Completed 2 additional actions (examples below).

Gold badge

  • All Bronze and Silver actions
  • Taken part in an additional online activity such as the Pledge, Quiz or Action Week competition.
  • Completed 2 additional actions (examples below)

Platinum badge

Volunteer Actions:

You can repeat the same activity – e.g., completing multiple different masterclasses or implementing multiple different improvements in your residence  

  • Promoted one online activity (pledge, quiz, competition) to friends or flatmates in halls (this could be via social media, WhatsApp, poster etc.). 
  • Support a campus engagement visit – such as a stall, recycling audit or kitchen visit.
  • Support 10 friends to take an online activity such as the pledge, quiz or action week competition.

♻️ Green Impact

Green Impact Project Assistants, or GIPAs, are students who volunteer their time to work with staff teams at their university. They join a department's Green Impact team and help them to complete positive sustainability actions throughout the project cycle, including being audited at the end of the cycle and helping the team to achieve awards. They learn key skills such as leadership, organisation, and find creative solutions.

To earn a badge, a GIPA must volunteer with Green Impact. The Green Impact team will check in on your regularly to assess your progress.

Green Impact Auditors are students who undertake a half-day IEMA-approved training course in sustainability auditing, and they then conduct at least one real-life audit of a Green Impact team. They use key skills such as attention to detail, creative problem solving, time management and organisation.

To earn a badge, auditors must complete training where a register will be taken and conduct at least one audit.

🦔 Hedgehog Friendly Campus

Hedgehog Friendly Campus Student Auditors have volunteered their time to participate in an auditor training course. They have explored issues relating to the nature and biodiversity crises that will contribute to how universities can reduce their impacts on nature and how to use the Hedgehog Friendly Campus framework to assess how their post-secondary institution has embedded nature into their actionable work.

Hedgehog Ambassadors have helped their institution to work towards a Hedgehog Friendly Campus accreditation by planning and implementing wildlife-friendly actions from within the accreditation framework. Ambassadors will undertake professional development opportunities around nature and biodiversity through a variety of learning opportunities and practical activities. This includes communication, campaigning, fundraising, stakeholder engagement, practical conservation and ecology.

🏫 Teach the Future x Hope for the Future

Youth Political and Climate Development Programme Graduates have attended three webinars and developed their knowledge and understanding of politics, government, and their Member of Parliament.

👩‍🏫 Teach the Teacher

Teach the Teacher Student Volunteers have attended a student-led training and introductory session to the program, climate communication, and how to effectively engage their teachers. Volunteers run a one-hour lesson with their teachers to explore climate change, climate justice, climate anxiety, and the role of climate education. They support teachers to understand the importance of integrating climate into all disciplines and subject material.