How to reduce resource consumption and improve waste sorting at the faculty? Students from the Faculty of Business and Management designed communication campaigns.
Reducing energy and water consumption and promoting responsible waste management were the main themes of an assignment given to students of the Faculty of Business and Management. The BUT Sustainability Office, in cooperation with instructors of the Marketing course, challenged students with a real-world task: to design a comprehensive communication campaign that would encourage members of a selected faculty to change their everyday behavior. From the outset, the intention was not only to produce ideas on paper, but also to create proposals that could be implemented in practice.
The collaboration was led by Lucie Kaňovská and Jan Krist and involved full-time students. The campaign was given the umbrella title “Responsible BUT – Saving Resources” and aimed to reach employees, visitors, and above all students, including international Erasmus students, while taking into account different cultural and communication habits.
A Real-World Assignment with Real-World Outcomes
Students were asked to design a campaign that would not only inform but, more importantly, motivate people to act. The requirements included developing specific communication materials (social media posts, infographics, slogans), a basic organizational framework including an estimated budget, and methods for measuring impact. All proposals had to comply with the unified visual identity of Brno University of Technology (BUT) and be feasible to implement.
An essential part of the project was testing the proposed concepts. Students were required to validate each idea with people outside their own team and refine it based on the feedback received.
What the Student Teams Proposed
The results demonstrated that students approached the assignment with a clear understanding of both the faculty’s real-world context and the everyday behavior of its users. Each team adopted a different approach, theme, and communication strategy. Among the submitted proposals were the following solutions.
Waste Sorting and Bin Infrastructure
One team developed the “Top Ten Waste-Sorting Rules at FBM”—a concise and easy-to-understand guide to proper waste sorting directly at the Faculty of Business and Management. The material included practical advice and reminders, such as the fact that coffee cups do not belong in paper recycling bins.
The team also identified shortcomings in the existing infrastructure, including the absence of waste-sorting stations in classrooms and the lack of liquid disposal stations. They proposed an implementation plan involving color-coded bin lids, educational posters, and an Instagram campaign.
Disposable Cups and Their Alternatives
Another team focused on the issue of disposable paper cups, which are lined with a plastic layer on the inside and are therefore non-recyclable. They prepared an analysis that included a life-cycle assessment.
Based on their findings, they proposed three complementary measures:
- Motivational prompts directly on coffee vending machines (some machines already support the “Bring Your Own Cup” option);
- A deposit-return system for reusable cups and food containers;
- An educational infographic.
The students drew inspiration from approaches used by other universities both in the Czech Republic and abroad.
PureAct – A Behavioral Campaign Using Nudging
The team behind the PureAct campaign conducted field research at the faculty and identified five key areas of wastefulness:
- Incorrect recycling caused by poorly placed bins;
- Empty classrooms with lights left on unnecessarily;
- Heat waste resulting from simultaneous heating and ventilation;
- A lack of preventive tools and interventions;
- High consumption of aluminum cans.
The central premise of their project was:
“The main problem is not a lack of knowledge—it is the absence of prompts that encourage behavioral change in everyday situations.”
The PureAct campaign combines several practical tools:
- Fun facts – emotionally engaging comparisons placed near light switches and faucets (e.g., “One hour of heating a room while the heat escapes outdoors wastes enough energy for a Formula 1 car to complete two flying laps.”);
- Transparent recycling bins that reduce the anonymity of waste sorting;
- Floor graphics guiding people toward recycling stations;
- QR-code-based gamification with rewards for reporting or fixing identified issues.
Waste Less, Think Less – Stickers at the Point of Decision
Another team based its campaign on the principle of point-of-decision marketing, meaning communication delivered exactly where people make choices.
They designed a set of stickers to be placed near light switches, sinks, and waste bins, complemented by a series of Instagram posts depicting a typical student day and contrasting less sustainable and more sustainable choices.
The campaign also explicitly targeted Erasmus students as a distinct audience segment.
A Collaboration with Future Potential
The student presentations confirmed that connecting education with the university’s real needs can generate meaningful outcomes for both sides. Students gained experience working on a project for a real client, including field research, data analysis, and testing directly with the target audience.
The BUT Sustainability Office received more than fifteen concrete and validated proposals, including communication materials and estimated budgets.
“I see student involvement as highly beneficial. Their perspective is authentic while also being supported by analysis and testing. We would like to continue working with selected proposals and prepare them for implementation as a pilot project at the Faculty of Business and Management. If successful, they could later be offered to other faculties as well.”
Tereza Kučerová, BUT Sustainability Office
The projects represent a broad spectrum of approaches—from behavioral psychology and infrastructure improvements to life-cycle data analysis. What they all have in common is an emphasis on practicality, measurability, and the ability to change specific behaviors rather than merely provide information.
