Vote and submit ideas!

The Ideas System is simple way for students to submit ideas and vote on ideas from other students.  When an idea is submitted it will be reviewed by the Student Voice Team together with an Executive Officer, who will usually approve the idea but may decide not to publish/approve an idea when it may potentially:-

  • be illegal
  • impact on our ability to fulfill our charitable objectives/obligations,
  • include the names or identities of individuals this includes University or Union Staff
  • include material/words that could be seen as defamatory

In this situation. we will get in touch with you to explain the reasoning for the decision and work with you to, where possible, edit the idea to resolve the issue/s and then publish the idea. We will also within this communication outline how you are able to appeal this decision.

All other ideas will be published on this page and students will be able to indicate whether they think it is a good idea (thumbs up) or not (thumbs down) for 10 working days, students can also comment on the idea. When:-

  • Ideas receive <50 likes are sent to the relevant Council for consideration. If the Council think the idea is worth doing, they can lead with implementation or policy development.
  • Ideas receive  >50 likes but less than 100 likes it must be discussed by a Council, but they’re not obliged to act on the idea, if they do then they will either develop a plan of action or create a policy for presentation to the Leicester 100.
  • Ideas recieve 100+ likes within 10 working days allows a proposer to take the idea to Leicester 100 if they have a full policy. Otherwise, the idea will be presented to the relevant Council, who must create either a policy for presentation to the Leicester 100 or plan of action to implement the idea.

When an idea is presented to a Council you will be invited to attend the meeting, you can be as involved as you would like in the discussion, implementation, or development of a policy. If it is decided that it will go forward as a Policy to the Leicester 100 to vote on, then the Council will help you put this together, we have also put together a useful guide to help with putting together a policy.   The process through which a  published idea is either implemented or becomes a policy is summarised in this flow chart

To rate an idea that has already been submitted, simply select thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate whether you like the idea or not. That's how simple our system is! You can also add comments to ideas and start a discussion with your fellow students.

If you have any queries regarding the ideas system, please email su-council@le.ac.uk

Please note: Once an idea is submitted, it has 2 weeks to reach the 50 positive votes needed to move to the next stage in the policymaking process. Ideas will automatically be removed after 6 months.

Ideas

Back to list
  • 63 score
    89 voters

    More plant based food on campus

    Rejected

      Campaign Outline

      To encourge the University of Leicester to adopt more plant based food options. Recommending a minimum of 75% wholly plant-based options in all catering outlets whilst ensuring that students who need meat for cultural, dietary, textural, and any other reasons are not disadvantaged. With the view of increasing the amount of plant-based food that the university offers by around 5% each year as well as encouraging 100% plant-based options at university events where food and drink are provided.

      Transitioning to plant-based catering will have a number of benefits; individually, socially, environmentally and sustainably.

      Reasons for Transitioning to Plant-Based Catering

      • Plant-based foods on average release up to 84% less greenhouse gas emissions (CO2eq), use up to 18 times less land, and ~69% less water than the equivalent meat-based foods, making plant-based foods far more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
      • Plant-based foods were found to be up to ~30% cheaper on average than meat options, a study found from The University of Oxford, this saving will be negotiated to be passed on to students/staff. Plant-Based foods are the most accessible food options available for virtually all, including dietary and religious observances.
      • Plant-based foods have been found to be associated with lower risks of health issues such as coronary heart disease, diabetes (type 2), obesity, various cancers (inc bowel cancer, stroke, and can result in lower blood pressure and cholesterol).

      Transitioning to Plant-Based Foods for the Animals Also

      • Every year ~80 billion land animals are slaughtered, up to 2.8 trillion when you include marine life, with a 1/5th (53 million tonnes) being wasted and ending up in the bin.

      The Plant-Based Campaign Supported by Plant-Based Universities

      • Plant Based Universities is a student lead international campaign that started in 2021 and has successfully transitioned 12 universities* to 75-100% plant-based options, with over 80 campaigns currently active.
      • Plant-based foods are the most accessible food options available, being suitable for virtually all dietary requirements, religious observances (e.g. Halal and Kosher), and can be maximally accessible if majority vegan plant-based.

      Summary

      Universities not only educate future academics, they are at the forefront of much of the climate and environmental research, as a such have a responsibility to act on the research and data. More than 650 academics have signed an open letter calling for UK universities to transition to and adopt plant-based catering across universities campuses to act as leaders in tackling climate breakdown, environmental and ecological destruction, and to achieve sustainability goals. At the University of Leicester, students, staff, and academics have the opportunity to make a significant positive difference and reduce our global impact, simply by transitioning over to plant-based foods.

      * Universities that have transitioned so far since 2021 are: Bristol, Cambridge, UCL, Warwick, Stirling, London Metropolitan, Kent, Lancaster, Newcastle, Falmouth, Queen Mary, and Graz (in Hungary).

      Together, we can all make a significant and positive difference to the environment, ecosystem, and climate by simply going plant-based

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