Nadya Ghani is a candidate for Sustainability and Development Officer in this year’s SU elections.
Forge asked why she thinks her role is important. She said: “Given the current climate crisis and everything, universities are huge hubs.”
She said: “The two universities in Sheffield mean there’s almost 60,000 students that are here. I think it’s important to acknowledge everything that comes with that.
“It would be irresponsible if universities and SUs didn’t take ownership to ensure that these things, like emissions, weren’t mitigated in some way.”
In the past, there was just a development officer, and sustainability fell under their remit. About five years ago, there was a democratic restructuring meaning welfare and sustainability went together.
She said: “We’ve gone back to how it was before the restructure, and it just makes so much sense.
“A sustainable development officer can look at everything holistically, and be like yes we need to develop financially, but are we making sure that it’s in a sustainable way?”
She said: “I think one person having eyes on both of those things is important.”
Forge asked what Nadya Ghani’s motivation is for being a candidate again.
She said: “I think my spark of being like okay I can do this for a second year, specifically for sustainability and development, as I think a lot of work can be done in the SU, but a lot of it is international facing.
“In the last couple of years, the sustainability focus has been entirely on the uni, which I’m aware is needed.
“But none of the work has been done inside our own walls.”
She said: “My motivation for running is that I think a lot of the work that could be done requires a big educational piece around it.
“For example, lots of students aren’t aware that we don’t sell red meat. We do good things but we don’t talk about them and why they’re necessary.”
She continued: “I’ve heard from outlet managers that people are upset when they find out we don’t sell red meat or have a stilled water bottle.”
She shared that there’s so much potential for new things, and for things that have already been done, to be shouted about more.
Forge asked what Nadya Ghani’s manifesto and ideas are. She said: “Over the past year, I’ve been working closely with the uni to work on a sustainability strategy. They’re now working on the one from 2026 to 2030.”
She said: “One of the things I want to work on is mirroring that and having an SU sustainability strategy that’s focused on food waste and energy. I wanted a big part of that to be educational.”
She continued: “These three years minimum that people are at uni is such an important time, you’re in this weird limbo between moving out and becoming a full adult.
“I think now’s an amazing time for people to be more aware of their habits and what small changes they can make.”
She said: “It doesn’t have to be mind blowing stuff, just small changes which can have a huge impact.”
Her Eco Eats campaign in January focused on this. She said: “I talked about how emissions generated from the breakdown of the amount of food waste in the world would make it the 10th most emission releasing country, if it were a country.”
She said: “Things like if you make big batches of food, then freeze it, the probability that you’re going to waste it is so much lower. You have the welfare aspect of taking care of yourself but also not wasting food.”
She wants to: “Mirror the liberation hub page on the SU website, and make a sustainability hub. So having a page that highlights the societies we’ve got, other ways you can get involved and having it all in one place.”
She told us about some of her developmental aims: “There’s an SU app that not a lot of people know about. We’ve done this work designing and making the app,
“And it isn’t being used properly. I would love to make students more aware of it, and expand it somehow.”
She said: “If we’ve got any deals, have notifications that come up.”
Developmentally, she spoke about: “Partnering with local businesses that make Sheffield what it is, like having a market on the Plaza with Food Works.
“Sheffield is called an enterprise city because there’s so much happening.”
She said: “You’ve got Food Works who take surplus food which would otherwise be thrown out and they sell it at the market or make meals that we sell in the SU as frozen food.
“I think it would enhance the Sheffield student experience by being like I’m a student in Sheffield, this is so cool and you can only find this here.”
