Now in their 12th year, the Green Gown Awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland. 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're delighted to announce the 21 Winners and 26 Highly Commended entries from 115 finalists representing 1.5 million students and 240,000 staff. 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.
Aix Marseille University was the winner for its competition « DD in trans ». Jury’s Prize : Telecom Ecole de Management
INP ENSAT was the winner for its sustainable strategy, certified ISO 14001.
Burgundy School of Business was the Winner for its Citizen Action Program to commit into local communities.
Taking a SIP: students learn the real-world taste of sustainability The SIP (Sustainability Internships Programme) offers students a taste of professional life that...
Samphire – what a pickle In the South West there is an abundance of fresh fish and Samphire (or Sea Asparagus) which makes for the ultimate complement to...
Regeneration for the Future: collaborative academic innovation for the next generation of design change-makers The designers of the future will help to remake the world and...
The Trojan mouse of sustainability: ‘Dropping’ sustainability into education Enabling students to learn through a sustainability ‘lens’ equips...
Gail Houghton, Student Engagement Co-ordinator - Walsall College Students’ Union Walsall College is located in an area ranked amongst the 10% most deprived in the...
Dr Petra Molthan-Hill, Principal Lecturer in Business Sustainability - Nottingham Trent University Dr Molthan-Hill led the HEA Green Academy change programme 2013/2014...
Ian Lane, Head of Sustainability - University of the Arts London Ian’s single largest positive contribution has been to renew the institution’s confidence to...
Trina Innes, Chief Sustainability Officer - University of Alberta Trina Innes joined the University of Alberta (UAlberta) in 2009 as the inaugural chief sustainability...
Martin Howes, Energy Co-ordinator - University of Cambridge When it comes to anything energy or environment related at the Department of Plant Sciences, Martin is the...
Richard Groves, Associate Director (Energy & Engineering) - Goldsmiths, University of London Since 2009, Richard has measurably reduced our CO2 emissions by 1,532t,...
Paulo Cruz, Sustainability Officer - Glasgow Caledonian University Paulo inspires, encourages and supports students and staff to reduce their environmental impacts and...
Nan Taplin, Environment and Energy Coordinator - University of Cambridge As a proactive Environment and Energy Coordinator at the University of Cambridge, Nan Taplin has...
David Emley - Keele University Throughout his career at Keele University, David’s passion for Keele’s natural history and commitment to sustaining its...
Dave Dougan - Ayrshire College Dave Dougan has been a wonderful ambassador for Ayrshire College for many years. This richly deserved award has acknowledged that he has...
Kevin Casey, Head of Procurement - The University of Manchester Head of Procurement Kevin Casey has demonstrated commitment and leadership to sustainability both within...
Richard Brett - Goldsmiths, University of London There’s no explicit requirement to embrace or teach the principles of sustainability within Richard’s job...
Andy Stride FRSA - University of Nottingham Andy has developed over 14 different social enterprises tackling both local and global issues linking to the 2030 Sustainable...
Brittany Pummell - Coventry University On entering her final year of undergraduate studies, Brittany decided to go completely waste-free! Since September 2015 she has...
Ulrich Pohanka, Keele University Ulrich set up the Keele Food Co-op during his time at Keele, providing the campus with more than 6 tonnes of organic produce over two...
Tianqi Li - Newcastle University Tianqi’s PhD project is focussed on designing a systematic and holistic sustainability assessment method for evaluating sustainability...
Karen Elliott - University of Chester Karen Elliott has been involved in all things environmental and sustainable since beginning her Geography degree at the University of...
Dr Einir Young, Director of Sustainability - Bangor University Einir’s passion, drive and an emphasis on benefit-led realism over idealism has enabled her to drive...
Jim Longhurst, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Environment and Sustainability - University of the West of England, Bristol Jim Longhurst has transformed...
Vice-Chancellor Julia King, The Baroness Brown of Cambridge - Aston University Julia plays a leading role within the University and nationally in communicating and...
Tim Burt - Dean for Environmental Sustainability, Durham University As a professor in the Geography department and Master of Hatfield College, Tim did not have any...
This is the seventh Sustainability Report for the University of Worcester. It describes the institution’s most significant environmental aspects and how these are managed...
INSPIRE – at the University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD), is a virtual institute overseeing the systematic and systemic introduction and embedding of sustainability...
The University of London Sustainability Report has been designed to be engaging, easy to read, navigate and very quickly and effectively get the key elements of the...
The University of the Arts London (UAL) has achieved its first carbon target and can set realistic broader sustainability targets based on the monitoring and reporting systems...
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Environmental Sustainability Report 2014/15 presents LSE’s sustainability developments and achievements from the...
This is our third Sustainability Report, but the first to look at what sustainability means to Queen Mary University London (QMUL) and how the three pillars of sustainability...
This is Plymouth University’s fourth Sustainability Report, and our first report using the Global Reporting Initiative framework. The report is aimed at stakeholders who...
Telling our stakeholders about the journey we take to achieve our sustainability goals is incredibly important to us! It helps us articulate our performance, vision and...
The University has always taken ‘a real world’ approach to developing sustainability and this extends to its sustainability reporting. The sustainability reporting...
Saving the dough: Food waste at Warwick The overarching aim of this project was to work across the SU and University community to instigate both institutional change and a...
International Green Gown Award Winner Green Capital: Student Capital - Unleashing the power of Bristol’s Students Student Capital is a huge and unique collaborative...
Educating Global Citizens: The UK’s first international student sustainability research symposium The UK’s first international student sustainability symposium...
c-change: creating a sea change at the University of Brighton ‘c-change’ is our bespoke carbon reduction campaign, especially designed to engage, inspire and...
The Green Team - #ThinkGreenBeGreat Dream big, inspire change. The Green Team are a group of University of West of England, Bristol (UWE) students that have a shared interest...
The Student SWell How will the students of today tackle the biggest global challenges facing us now and in the future? At Swansea University, through a comprehensive...
A Student Hub for Sustainability & Employability The Greenwich Sustainability Hub (Hub) is a student-led and staff-supported project based in the Students’ Union in...
The R A D I A L Project RADIAL is a collective of creative thinkers from the university community across Glasgow. Students and staff are connected through a shared need to...
Beer, Bread and Honey: Connecting people and place with food and heritage Our small urban campus, is on the site of the Outer Precincts of St Augustine’s Abbey, which...
ARU Green Student Societies Fund Our ARU Green Student Societies Fund promotes sustainability awareness and action amongst our students in return for grant funding. Clubs and...
Alex Lerczak MSc, University of Chester Two years ago the University embarked on a journey to create an enabling environment in which sustainability can thrive within...
Danielle Butler, University of Salford Based in the Sustainable Housing & Urban Studies Unit, at the University of Salford, Danielle is currently undertaking a...
Will Barber, Coventry University Completed by Will Barber in the final year of a BSc in Geography, the project was pioneering in using fishers’ knowledge to help...
Changing food waste behaviours Food waste is one of the most significant environmental and social problems facing society. This landmark study field-tested the influence of a...
My star fish have fins! The StarFin project is an example of how innovation driven by sustainability can be achieved in a university environment. Universities have at their...
The “Toon Monsoon’s” silver lining - Climate change adaptation at Newcastle University Climate change predictions suggest that severe weather events...
Our Green City: Global challenges, Bristol solutions Our Green City celebrated and showcased UWE academics and Bristol based sustainability organisations to develop public...
The Beauty’s Inside “The Beauty’s Inside” is a collaborative magazine, co-produced by HM Prison women offenders, London College of Fashion (LCF)...
Our changing world – Addressing global challenges through academic research ‘Our Changing World’ an annual high-profile public lecture series which...
Students share and shape their campus showcasing sustainability Bringing together academics across all University of Liverpool faculties as well as representatives from the...
Sustainability-e-training A bespoke sustainability training package, equipping London School of Economics (LSE) Estates Division staff to continually improve the School's...
A sustainable education for future business leaders Sheffield Business School (SBS) has succeeded in embedding sustainability into every postgraduate and undergraduate course...
The Futures Initiative: Building capacity for long term curriculum change Our mission is to enhance academic staff, knowledge, skills and experience in sustainability...
E-Learning for E-veryone Blackpool and The Fylde College’s (B&FC) engaging eLearning course encapsulates sustainability for all levels and abilities, effectively...
Greenwich’s recipe for success Our initiative uses the collaborative potential of all those with a relationship with food to ensure Greenwich can deliver the most...
Encouraging sustainability through hospitality: the Chester way How to engage staff, students and visitors with environmental and sustainability agendas through hospitality?...
Cambridge, cups, compost: Vegware’s compostable disposables enabling zero waste catering Conventional takeaway packaging is challenging to recycle, with most going to...
University of Sheffield brings ‘superfresh’ milk to its campus A first of its kind collaboration between the University of Sheffield and Our Cow Molly to provide...
You are what you eat Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is one of the largest and most popular universities in the UK. Nearly 27,000 students study with us across three...
SEEDS Sustainability Program Over the past 16 years, UBC’s SEEDS (Social Ecological Economic Development Studies) Sustainability Program engaged over 6,000...
Catalyzing a culture of sustainability at McGill University with the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) The Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) is a crown jewel of McGill...
Finalist USIL, Shaping entrepreneurs through sustainability In Peru, people from the outskirts of Lima have limited access to high quality education due to...
WINNER Social and Environmental Innovation Projects for Ecuador (PISA) Proyecto de Innovación Socio-Ambiental (PISA) pursues social-environmental innovation...
Ecocampus Uninorte Program: between the knowledge and action to obtain the knowhow Highly Commended Ecocampus Uninorte program is a strategy created at Universidad...
Finalist “Mi Patita Ideal” The group “CAMBIEN”, from the Faculty of Architecture of the National University of the Center of Peru, related to...
National advocacy and management of environmental indicators in the Costa Rican Network of Sustainable Educational Institutions - REDIES By joining REDIES, each...
Challenge Lab In the Challenge Lab students learn to explore, define and act upon global challenges that will transform the way we live together on this planet. The...
Using art to promote sustainability: the “Dancing Solar Flowers” project Many of the projects implemented by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice are to make...
Manduyog Biodiversity Conservation Program The Aklan State University nestles at the foot of the majestic Manduyog Hill which is naturally blessed with a cool and green...
Solid Waste Management: The ATENEO Way As a Jesuit university, Xavier participates in the Jesuit mission of reconciliation with God, reconciliation with others, and...
Local Fishers protecting Nemo and Friends: an effort in Coastal Resource Management of Talim Bay COSCA’s effort focused on a consultative process of listening to the...
International Green Gown Award Winner Centre for Sustainable Technology and Development (CSTD) Our climate-smart landscapes: watershed protection using agroforestry...
Development and implementation of a solar PV outreach training module for capacity building in East Africa Highly Commended Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC)...
Helping bees and other pollinators The University has over the past few years been trying to create habitat and by doing so broaden species range and biodiversity across...
Choose to reUSe The Salford reUSe scheme was created from necessity but has exceeded all expectations being on track to achieve £0.5 million savings from the reuse of...
Extracting carbon savings from our science labs A £1.025 million estate-wide review and upgrade of science laboratory ventilation, covering 252 fume cupboards to...
Responsible investment: Making money matter Since becoming the first university in Europe to adopt the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI) in 2013,...
Brum brum: Driving greener fuels at Birmingham Turning scientific research into reality, the University of Birmingham is leading the way in greener vehicles, fuel technology...
The incredible journey Building a brand new campus six miles from the existing estate, needn’t mean increased unsustainable and detrimental driving. ‘The...
“Greening the City” Nottingham Trent University is one of the largest and most popular universities in the UK. Nearly 27,000 students study with us across three...
KU reuse revolution Kingston University has increased reuse from 0% to 5% since 2014, whilst also increasing recycling rates by around 10%. This has been achieved through a...
Green labs in King’s College London King’s College London have spearheaded a Green Labs programme which has not only led to significant energy savings, it has...
#Loveyourhalls Bangor University Halls, Properties and Campus offices lead by example to maximise resource efficiency and reduce waste from the running, maintenance and...
APPLES – Applied Learning in Sustainability The University of Leicester is proud to be recognised for the Green Gowns Enterprise and Employability category for their...
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programme The Royal Agricultural University Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programme endeavours to create awareness of enterprise by...
Carbon week - embedding sustainability into all second year students Climate change, sustainability and decarbonisation will be key factors in every business decision a...
INSPIRE@UWTSD – Leading continual, cross sector, organisational sustainable development INSPIRE – the Institute for Sustainable Practice, Innovation and...
International Green Gown Award Winner Positive Footprint: Phase 2 Positive Footprints presents the University’s sustainability aims for the period 2013 – 2020....
‘c-change’ is in the air! The University of Brighton has been addressing sustainability across the institution for over 6 years, which was reflected in the...
A decade of driving sustainable transport The University of Nottingham has, over the past decade, delivered a suite of creative projects mainstreaming sustainable, healthy,...
Systems in harmony Sheffield Hallam University has operated two certified environmental and energy management systems since 2011. Their ongoing integration with all...
Enough, for all, forever - Collaborative sustainability at Newcastle University Environmental Sustainability is one of only three societal challenge themes introduced at...
Financial futures Since 2013, the London Institute of Banking and Finance (previously called ifs University College) has been building and expanding its sustainability...