Sustainable Living coordinator

Job description

The Sustainable Living department co-ordinates the smooth running of Sunseed’s low-impact lifestyle. The department works closely with others to ensure integration, and all visitors contribute through shared cooking and household duties. The department is central to educating all volunteers in everyday low-impact, sustainable living, and may run courses.

The SL co-ordinator implements the Sunseed Food Policy to ensure an ethical, healthy, low-cost semi-vegan diet, including solar cooking and other appropriate technology in food preparation; oversees shared cooking duties, and is responsible for preserving excess produce from the gardens. S/he also organises accommodation and communal living spaces; oversees health and safety; and plays a key role in communications with Sunseed’s wider community.

Moreover the SL coordinator supervises volunteers that choose to do their projects on the department, and develops new ones. Please have a read in the volunteer project pack to get a better understanding of the broad scope of the department.

Central to all of the work that we do is the importance of an integrated, safe and environmentally-aware community – the SL co-ordinator oversees this.

Key responsibilities

- Overseeing the smooth running of Sunseed’s low-impact household in many and varied ways, including responsibility for rotas, notices, routines and standards; allocating areas of responsibility; overseeing shared (rota) household duties; and organising household supplies together with the Administrator

- Ensuring an integrated, sustainable household and community through working closely with other departments; and being the first point of contact for Sunseed’s constantly changing community of up to 30 people, to ensure a smooth stay for all

- Orientating all volunteers with a comprehensive introductory guided tour of Sunseed, shared with the Education, Publicity and Fundraising department

- Educating all volunteers in low-impact living, for example waste management; energy reduction; domestic water use, etc. This may be via spoken (talks, demonstrations) or written (leaflets, display boards) information. Opportunities for running courses

- Supervising both short-term volunteers and those doing long term projects– e.g. preserving; research projects; creative projects

- Organisation of accommodation and communal living spaces: Allocating and preparing bedrooms; working with Construction and Maintenance Co-ordinator to ensure a comfortable and attractive environment for all; overseeing and encouraging general cleanliness and tidiness. Opportunities for creativity

- Overseeing the implementation of the Sunseed Food Policy and promoting it to volunteers

- Overseeing the smooth running of the kitchen including waste management and recycling, and ensuring standards of hygiene are maintained

- Overseeing food storage by maintaining order and hygiene in the food storeroom

- Economising by minimising energy consumption; encouraging minimum waste; working with Administrator to minimise use of costly ingredients, etc.

- Co-ordinating solar cooking – working with the Appropriate Technology Co-ordinator to ensure that volunteers understand and use solar cookers

- Promoting use of hayboxes – ensuring that volunteers understand and use the energy-saving haybox

- Overseeing shared (rota) cooking duties – ensuring healthy, nutritionally-balanced meals are produced on time; supporting cooks (especially first-time cooks) where necessary; ensuring that bread is always available and overseeing bread making

- Preserving excess produce from the gardens (in co-operation with the Gardens Co-ordinator) and wild produce, in a variety of ways, including making full use of the solar dryer

- Overseeing health and safety – doing a tri-monthly health and safety check with the Construction and Maintenance Co-ordinator, responsibility for procedures (e.g. fire procedure) and encouraging health and safety awareness throughout the project

- Sharing weekly shopping duties if over 25 and with a full driving licence valid for driving in Spain

- Playing an active part in orientating Sunseed in its wider environment – for example making links with local organic suppliers; doing the weekly local shop together with the Administrator; writing articles for the local press on Sunseed’s low impact lifestyle; etc.

- Documenting and evaluating work undertaken, including in monthly and quarterly reports to the board of trustees

Skills, abbilities and knowledge – Essential

• Commitment to and a personal interest in promoting low-impact living
• Excellent organisational abilities, including ability to set own workload and to delegate responsibility
• Excellent communication skills, including ability to work as part of a closely-integrated team; and the confidence, sensitivity, patience and open mindedness to work with all members of the Sunseed community
• Ability to supervise volunteers
• Ability to contribute to the education of Sunseed volunteers in varied ways – for example running guided tours; giving short talks; written information; etc.
• Awareness of need for economy, including in resource use – e.g. energy consumption and waste management
• Awareness of need for hygiene, health and safety, and general cleanliness and tidiness
• Experience of vegetarian cooking
• Understanding of / interest in food issues – e.g. nutrition; vegetarianism; horticulture; solar cooking etc.
• Ability to make a comfortable living environment for all with limited resources
• Ability to document and evaluate work undertaken
• The initiative and imagination to play a central role in the Sunseed community

Desirable

• Good spoken Spanish is especially desirable for the SL position, owing to the central role the department plays in communications
• Experience of bread making and preserving
• Experience of catering for groups