In the run up to his campaign for Sustainability and Development Officer in this year’s SU elections, Barnaby Swonnell sat down with Forge Press to discuss his plans for the role if he were to be elected.
When asked about their motivations for running, Barnaby reflected on their 6-year-long history of climate activism, during which he helped to execute several campaigns within the university and beyond; “I have spent the last 6 years campaigning, originally organising youth strikes in school … Since being in University I have been consistently campaigning across People and Planet, across other societies, campaigning for Palestine and solidarity with migrants.”In addition to this Barnaby has contributed to SU council with policies like ‘Cops Off Campus’ and the recent vote of no confidence. He hopes that this plethora of experiences will set him up well for this role by strengthening his skills in multitasking, project management and charity work among other qualities.
The first strand of Barnaby’s manifesto aims to improve the sustainability of the university and the student experience it offers, including more plant-based food options across campus, improved public transport links and strengthened links to sustainability and decarbonisation within the contents of each course. “The city has recently announced its bus franchising, so I’d be thinking about the introduction of cheap bus tickets for students and also consultation between the SU and city councils to get the SC bus route (the free bus route announced last year that currently goes around the city centre) to also include a route around Glossop road so it links campus to the rest of the city.”
On building sustainability into the curriculum, Barnaby said “Speaking to peoplefrom different courses, there’s been a lot of work that’s been done in specific departments around getting sustainability within course content, so I’d be working to roll that out across the university, ensuring that on every course there is options for modules on sustainability, or there are sustainability elements built into modules. In most departments this is already there, but it’s just making sure that anyone who wants to access that can access that.”
In addition to this, Barnaby expressed a strong desire to tackle the recent cuts in funding, especially for those who are disproportionately affected by them. “As a student with learning disabilities, I support at university and experience that I know isn’t really universal for everyone,” he said, “There’s going to be all these cuts everywhere and it’s going to impact student services, and that’s going to disproportionately affect students with disabilities, students from international communities, students who are scholarships – they’re going to be massively detrimental! We’ve already got students who are on, for example, on foundation years for degrees that no longer exist, so are just left stranded.”
“I’m running because I want to oppose the cuts and if elected, try and force the university to at least consult with students before they carry ahead with what will be massively detrimental to people’s mental health and learning quality,” Barnaby continues, “I’m willing to stand up to SLT within the student’s union and work with them towards solving these issues.”
He described his campaign method as “relatively relaxed”, with the focus being mainly on posters and digital campaigning. “I’ll be out and about if people want to chat to me, but I think students can make up their own minds on a lot of these things and don’t necessarily want us forcing ourselves in their faces.”
