Third year Geography student George Civil is promoting a healthier way of living – and a way to see more of Keele’s natural beauty – after completing a month-long placement as part of his course. 
 
In May and June, George worked as part of a wider group from the School of Life Sciences to map and review walking, running and cycling routes around Stoke-on-Trent with StEP (Sustainable Exercise Partnership) and Slow Ways. Students Angus Ogden, Kian Halley, Musab Bilal, James Sinfield, Tom Field, Dylan Boyd-Myers, Mahnoor Waheed and Emily Hague also took part in the placement.  
 
StEP promotes a sustainable and healthy lifestyle to encourage individuals, businesses and organisations to be more environmentally aware. To encourage local residents to choose more sustainable means of getting around, StEP has been working closely with Slow Ways to develop a greater awareness of country walks in the area by devising new walking routes. 
 
The aim of the placement was to encourage more sustainable active travel in the local area, to highlight the physical and mental health benefits of exercising in nature, and to encourage Keele staff and students to explore the local area. 
 
As well as mapping new routes and uploading them to the Slow Ways website for verification, the students also reviewed some of the routes already online to provide helpful information to users of the site, such as giving each trail a rating between 1-5 stars, writing descriptions, and adding photos or videos. Once a route receives three positive reviews, it becomes verified and is included on the website.  
 
George says, “As a team, we reviewed several routes originating from Newcastle-under-Lyme, bringing them one step closer to being fully verified. We were also able to completely create, test, walk and map a new route linking Madeley to Newcastle-under-Lyme. Known as route ‘MadNew 4’, it traverses around the south edge of Keele campus and is a leisurely walk for a summer day.” 
 
In his role of Promotion Officer, George was responsible for advertising the work the group completed while on their placement and promoting the newly created walking routes by creating content for Slow Ways social media platforms, making posters and organising a ‘walk and talk’ event. 
 
George says, “As a student who commutes to Keele daily, I wasn’t that familiar with the surrounding area beforehand, having only explored the main centre of campus, Keele Hall and the woods. Undertaking the placement allowed me to explore so much more of the local area by walking the various Slow Ways walking routes. These new areas included relaxing and pleasurable walks around campus, and paths and roads further afield in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Madeley that I had no idea existed!” 
 
Placements provide hands-on experience, allow you to get a better understanding of the industry you’re interested in, and develop key skills which help to boost your employability following your graduation. Completing a placement in the field you want to pursue can also develop important networks and connections that you can use in your future career.  
 
To help the students work effectively, stay on track and to support with their time management, Placements and Projects Manager India Ford acted as the team’s leader. Each School has a dedicated Placements and Projects Manager who can help you to find short and long-term placement opportunities. 
 
George says, “StEP and Slow Ways was an ideal placement for me because it offered the chance to contribute to something I’m passionate about and gave me experience of working in a GGE-sector role. I enjoy researching different options of sustainable transport and an opportunity to contribute to this as part of Slow Ways was something I was eager to do. The placement also offered me the chance to see how a sustainable organisation tailors its actions towards a green future and has encouraged me to walk to places more often to be more sustainable.” 
 
“Having had many lectures on climate change, I understand the dire situation the world is in and the drastic need to make change immediately or face irreversible consequences. Everyone should take their own steps to become more sustainable in ways that suit their environment. This could be as simple as opting for products in the supermarket that have less food miles, have recyclable packaging and are healthy.” 
 
For undergraduate courses starting in September 2025, every course (excluding apprenticeships and top-up degrees) will offer a placement opportunity. If you’re studying a course in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Natural Sciences, our Placements and Projects team can help. As placements within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences are typically compulsory and form part of the curriculum, these placements will be administered within the Faculty. Find out more about placements here. 
 
If you’d be interested in building upon the work that George and his peers achieved earlier in the year, this placement will also be available to students enrolled on Geography, Geology and Environment courses in the 2024/25 academic year. Please contact Placement Officer India Ford – i.j.ford@keele.ac.uk - to register your interest.