Impression

Chengyong Xiao
I am Chengyong Xiao, a PhD student at the department of operations of FEB. My commitment towards sustainable development comes from two main sources. First, I grew up in a small village in Sichuan province, in the southwestern part of China. Every morning I walked about 40 minutes from my home to school, crossing several streams and forests. At the end of the day, I always helped my parents with some farming activity such as watering vegetables and collecting fresh grasses for our pigs. During most weekends, I would spend some time in the forest, collecting dry branches, which were used as fuels of cooking. As such, it is my firm belief that people should be gracious towards nature, and we should even cultivate a proximate relationship with the nature. Second, since 2012 I have been working on a project about supply chain sustainability, and the focus of this project is about reducing the environmental impact of supply chain activities. Participating in this project has further reinforced my commitment to sustainable development. As a Green Office Ambassador at FEB, I would like to promote initiatives on the following issues: energy saving, green energy, electronic office, green office, and green transportation.

Eve Ayecock
I’m Eve, and I undertake the role of Green Office Ambassador for the Faculty of Law. I am currently in the second year of my degree in International and European Law. The combination of hailing from an island with significant potential for achieving self-sufficiency and my experiences in the ever sustainable Scandinavian nations truly ignited my interest in sustainability. I not only believe that it is my calling to promote sustainability (my ambition is to become an environmental lawyer) but the onus lies on all inhabitants of this planet to live sustainably; which is even more important in the Anthropocene. With its cycling culture and multiplicity of eco-friendly cafés, Groningen is a brilliantly green city. Nevertheless, I still believe that there is work to be done in enhancing the sustainability of all spheres of university life, from the food available at the canteen to the energy that powers our educational environment. In my time as Green Office Ambassador, I hope to be part of the snowballing sustainability movement through suggesting sustainable improvements and raising awareness of what steps we can take, however big or small, to ensure that the world and its biodiversity will be just as wonderful in the future.

John Hoeks
My name is John Hoeks, I am professor of Communication Science, and senior Green Office Ambassador at the Faculty of Arts. I think this initiative to appoint Green Office Ambassadors at every faculty is really wonderful! In my work as a researcher, I am looking at ways to make people aware of the urgency of the problems the world faces today. It is presently unclear what strategy works best. But what I am sure of, is that we need everyone on board. That's why we established a Green Office Embassy at the Faculty of Arts, where everyone is welcome who has ideas on sustainability, or wants to put their ideas into practice.

Lu Xue
Hello! I am Lu from China and South Korea, and I am currently studying Pre-Master Marketing at FEB. I have spent most of my life in China, South Korea, Japan, Mongolia and the Netherlands, and I travelled to over thirty countries across Asia, Europe and Africa. The diversity of crossing Asia and Europe, and developing and developed countries provides me with an international point of view, and it also showed me the environmental- and sustainability maintenance problems and differences among those countries. My past experience and time in the Netherlands encourages me to be environmental-friendly and sustainable, and I also see the possibility to positively influence the people around me.

On the individual level, it is easy to change and to be environmental-friendly and sustainable. But it is difficult to have an influence on the group level. Ambitiously, I want to be part of the Green Office community; and with our team, to help build up the Green Office branch in FEB, to spread its awareness, and to positively influence our faculty people to be more environmental-friendly and sustainable. A green future for everyone.

Maria Reinstrom
I am Maria Reinstrom, the student ambassador of the Green Office for the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. There I am a first year student of the English based Bachelor of Psychology. To me, awareness of sustainability and how one could make sustainability easier accessible for members of our faculty are my main focuses. Reaching out to people and gaining more knowledge about how people act in the direction of sustainability is what I want to accomplish. For that I see the voluntary position at the Green Office as a perfect possibility to make small differences with every day.

Alejandra Hernandez-Segura
My name is Alejandra Hernandez-Segura and I am a Mexican PhD student at the European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing (ERIBA), a passionate traveller and a runner. In the recent years I have become more aware of the impact that human activities, and particularly the (biomedical) research, have on the environment. I have tried to modify my lifestyle and to reduce as much as possible the unnecessary waste production at work. However, I quickly realized that collective efforts have way more impact and then decided to become a Green Office Ambassador of the University of Groningen and particularly of my lab, my institute and my school. By raising awareness in fellow colleagues, students, personnel and administrative staff, we could make an impact in which recycling, reduction of consumables usage and greener choices while buying products are part of our day-to-day.