The Fair Trade Status and Procurement subgroup, led by Niccolo Capanni, aims to collaborate with academic and support departments, other subgroups of the Environmental and Sustainability Workgroup, the Student Union and suppliers to achieve Fairtrade University status for Robert Gordon University.

Membership of the group comprises:

• Convenor: Dr. Niccolo Capanni (Course Leader, School of Computing, Faculty of Design and Technology)
• Dr Joanneke Kruijsen (Research Fellow, Centre for Understanding Sustainable Practice (CUSP))
• Dr. Jeanette Robertson (Lecturer, Pharmacy & Life Sciences)
• Rod Strachan (Procurement Adviser, Procurement)
• Tina Pringle (Deputy Director - Estates & Property Services)
• Andrada Cladovan (Student Representative)
• Sharon MacPherson (Centre Co-Ordinator, Centre for Understanding Sustainable Practice (CUSP) as EWSG liaison)

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, sustainable development and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. It guarantees producer organisations a fair and stable price for their products through the FAIRTRADE Mark, an independent consumer label which appears on a range of retail and catering products assuring that disadvantaged farmers and workers in the developing world are getting a better deal.

• Fairtrade Foundation

This objective will apply for the procurement of all products excepting those that can be competitively purchased locally or regionally, where the environmental impact of production, packaging and delivery to RGU can be purposefully kept to an absolute minimum.

To obtain Fairtrade status the University and the Student Union must meet 5 goals:

• Set up a Fairtrade Steering Group
• Write and adopt a Fairtrade policy
• Commit to selling Fairtrade in all catering outlets
• Commit to using Fairtrade at internal meetings and events
• Commit to campaigning for increased Fairtrade consumption on campus

In order to successfully achieve the goals above and to make the principles behind Fairtrade an integral part of the University's policies, the first task of the group is to define the objectives, targets and tactics that will be used to achieve Fairtrade status for RGU.

The Fairtrade Policy has now been finalised and can be found at:

•  Fair Trade Policy