Farhin Shek Ahmed is running for sustainability officer.
The sustainability officer is a role that represents the sustainable and environmental issues and their impact on the university.
Farhin Shek is an INTO student majoring in Business, finance and economics from Bangladesh.
Previous experience
Farhin, whilst chuckling, used her own campaign slogan to explain her mission: “I want to promote sustainability on campus, which means I support all things green and environmental because ‘hugging trees is cheaper than therapy'”.
“I want to promote sustainability on campus because I can only see development as harming nature in ways that will be so catastrophic for our generation in the future.
“I am from a country that is so polluted, so I know what breathing in toxic air is like. That has given me the motivation to make a change. I am trying to make positives out of bad experiences for a better future. I’m always looking to gain more experience.”
Manifesto
Farhin’s first point in the role would be to install solar panels at the university: “I want to help with the effect of fossil fuels on our beautiful campus and promote renewable energy on campus”.
She went on to detail more plans: “Long term, I’d love to work towards arranging local farmers markets at the university to encourage the students to shop more sustainably with local organic foods”.
Another point for Farhin’s manifesto would be to be more eco-friendly and use reusable energy sources.
“I want to utilize the Scottish weather and have rain barrels or an eco-friendly water collection system that would be open to students”.
“Water wastage is so prevalent an issue that I feel we can cut down on”.
Green workshops
“Some of my friends don’t even know what my main promise of working towards sustainability is. So, I would like to host green workshops to educate more students about eco-friendly usage and the little ways we can all make a difference.
“I would also like to partner with all the amazing societies we have at the university to promote less usage of plastic in everyday life. Yes, we have paper boxes and cups for food and drink but those also require cutting down trees- we should be finding new ways to reuse and recycle materials within the union’s businesses.”
Brig then asked Farhin how she felt about the existing policies for the environment: “Oh, the green and blue space, the food banks and the vintage fairs are all things I encourage, and think are great for accessibility. It also gives you the hope that we can make a difference and things can get done.”
“How you would face challenges?”
Farhin said: “Since I would be holding workshops and collaborating closely with societies such as the sustainability society we have, I feel like 100 voices are better than 1 and we would be making our voices heard.
“I want to work together and network with this position, I’m always thinking about the future and if we persevere, we can get through anything.”
“Why vote for you?“
“People should vote for me because my ideas aren’t just about the present, it’s about starting it today and making it the future. I’m thinking of ideas in the long term”.
“The time I’ve been at the university has shown me how passionate I am about the environment and making a difference.”
Find out more about the elections and read Farhin Shek Ahmed’s manifesto in full here.
Voting opens on Tuesday, February 27 at 10 am.
Featured Image Credit: Stirling Students Union
