Now in their 11th year, the Green Gown Awards, recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the UK. With sustainability moving up the agenda, the Awards have become established as the most prestigious recognition of best practice within the tertiary education sector.
We are delighted to present this year’s 85 finalists representing 51 institutions, with 16 Winners and 22 Highly Commended. Here they share their inspirational examples of sustainability best practice, together with some words of advice and encouragement on lessons learnt along the way when implementing their projects. We hope many will be inspired and motivated by these sustainability projects.
The winners were announced on 26 November at Brunel’s Old Station – The Passenger Shed – Bristol.
Green Guild started in October 2013 encompassing a wide range of initiatives for embedding sustainability across the University community. Three interrelated themes of...
Edinburgh College has built up two thriving community gardens at opposite ends of the city of Edinburgh, and is also in the process of developing four community orchards
Learn Act Engage Create is the journey through which students are engaged in sustainability during their time at University of Bristol
London College of Fashion partnered with Cordwainers Community Garden and artist Zoe Burt to grow and manufacture an item of clothing entirely within London.
Since 2012, the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge has been developing LED lighting capable of growing a wide range of plants under controlled...
Creative Energy Homes: Low-Energy and Zero-Carbon Housing – a living test-site for energy efficient technologies A long-term development of seven “Creative Energy...
The £9.8M Centre for Global Eco-Innovation unites the expertise, resources and global contacts of Lancaster University, the University of Liverpool, and Inventya Limited, to...
An Inspired Education The Institute of Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness (INSPIRE) is a virtual institute, which provides a focus for sustainable...
In line with EfSD goals, the newly developed course Interactions with the Environment encouraged students to advocate for the world in light of the Anthropocen
The ‘Raising the Baseline’ project has taken a systematic, consultative and target-led approach to deliver a coherent and comprehensive offer of ESD across the...
Ten, cross disciplinary Discovery Themes have been developed to ensure all students from across the University have access to core knowledge and skills which underpin the Leeds...
South West Energy Centre (SWEC) is an award winning, unique facility providing advice, guidance and training to industry and consumers in all matters relating to the Low Carbon...
The Futures Initiative (FI) mission is to enhance academic staff knowledge, skills and experience in sustainability education to breed leadership in curriculum change
Through Professor Jeremy Sanders’ inspirational leadership, the University of Cambridge’s approach to embedding sustainability into the institution’s thinking,...
Dr Jane Davidson established INSPIRE in 2012 to lead a system-based approach throughout UWTSD to deliver educational pathways promoting learning, environmental and social...
Frances Corner has been Head of London College of Fashion since 2005. Throughout this time she has worked to embed the importance of using education to transform lives across...
Through the development of a sustainable framework, which supports both education and learning, the University has undertaken a number of pieces of work towards this,...
UAL is the first University to achieve Gold accreditation for the Soil Association’s ‘Food for Life’ certification scheme. This has challenged the University...
The University of Reading’s Making Beer Green Initiative is specifically focussed on improving the sustainability of its seven bar operations spread across seven sites.
Over the past academic year, the University of Brighton has focused its efforts on tackling food waste in campus restaurants.
Lancaster University leads the HE sector in respect of its integrated, cutting edge sustainable food projects such as ‘Edible Campus’. Together, Lancaster...
Aberystwyth University is one of only a handful of universities in the UK where 30 40% of food spend in the University’s cafes and outlets is either sourced locally or...
At UWTSD enabling people to connect with one another is central to our institutional mission to reinvent productivity and help staff and students make the most of every moment...
University of Reading was getting more and more waste toiletries from the guest bedrooms with no way of being able to recycle or give them away and this was known to be a...
Through implementing a comprehensive water management plan the University has reduced its water consumption by 20%; enough water to fully hydrate (8 glasses a day) our 30,000...
Laboratories are places where innovative research takes place and where global challenges are solved. But laboratories have a big environmental impact in terms of energy, water...
In the past decade, The University of Dundee has seen a lot of redevelopment taking place on campus. Green space has been created right at its heart with the new Campus Green, a...
With a 10 year construction programme about to start, UCL took a new approach to managing deliveries on its heavily constrained Bloomsbury campus
Helium is a non-renewable resource and is essential for the operation of MRI scanners and magnets supporting research into drug discovery to cure such diseases as...
The WaterHub on Emory University’s campus in Atlanta, Georgia is an on-site water recycling system, utilising ecological systems to reclaim wastewater for heating and...
Edinburgh College’s fleet of electric pool cars provide staff with a sustainable, low-carbon, low-cost transport option for intra-campus and other corporate travel.
The University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform supports a thriving green sector in Sussex through a menu of 1-2-1 business support, innovation and R&D support,...
Enactus Nottingham is an initiative within The University of Nottingham where students are given a platform to create social enterprises focused around solving large economic,...
Actually bananas are not that bad when you consider their carbon footprint!
This project was designed to support students seeking careers with a sustainable focus. A series of events were run throughout the year to provide information about career options
CU Social Enterprise CIC is a social enterprise set up by Coventry University to help staff and students of Coventry University set up social enterprises of their own.
Sustainability is one of London College of Fashion’s core values and staff and students across the college, as well as external partners, have been inspired by...
Since 2008, the University’s holistic approach to environmental management has enabled staff and students to come together and deliver significant and quantifiable...
Since 2007 the university has been addressing sustainability across the whole institution; sustainability is cited in the Strategic Plan as a core value of the University.
Sustainability is about making changes and inspiring a new approach to the way we live in the world, use its resources and interact with the rest of the ecosystem.
In order to bring all of Durham University’s environmental initiatives and activities together, the name and concept of ‘Greenspace’ was devised in 2010....
DESIGN+MAKE was a collaborative pilot project with the charity Art Against Knives. It engaged hard to reach young people (18-24) that were potential victims or perpetrators of...
The University of Leeds is responsive to the needs of its stakeholders and wider community. They asked the University to make a more positive impact on society
The sensitive and beautiful restoration of historic Drake’s Place Gardens and Reservoir, and development of related activities, has been undertaken with - rather than for...
This is a campaign that encourages students at the end of the year to donate their unwanted items - promoting a reuse ethos and creating lasting partnerships across...
The project undertook demonstrations of off-grid options using solar PV-based mini/ micro grid systems at four locations in India.
The University opened a new energy centre hosting two ultra-efficient CHP engines to nearly double its self-generated electricity and heat
In 2014/15 investments of £2.1m have covered a range of technologies and buildings, including plant replacement (boilers and chillers), lighting upgrades including main campus...
Keeping Oxford Brookes University moving is a daily challenge. With 2,800 staff and 18,500 students, Brookes needs a clean, green and sustainable means of getting people between...
A 43% reduction in carbon emissions was achieved since 2009/10. This has resulted in a cost saving of £1,513,250 and carbon savings of 5,771 tonnes.