Green Gown Awards 2018 - University of Southampton - Highly Commended

Each year, students from across the UK and the rest of the world run, attend and present their research at the prestigious ‘Meliora International Symposium of Student Sustainability Research’, and submit work for publication in the student-run peer-reviewed academic journal ‘Meliora International Journal of Student Sustainability Research’. Meliora is latin, meaning ‘for the pursuit of the better’, which is what student sustainability research should be all about!

The focus of the Meliora symposium & journal series is the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students in every academic area conduct research that relates to at least one of the SDGs, even though many initially do not consider their work to be about sustainability. Meliora aims to meaningfully embed sustainability into the university learning experience of all students through the element of their degree that has the deepest impact on them – their independent research project (or ‘dissertation’).

 Students also develop critical professional skills for a career in sustainability through running the symposium and publishing work in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Meliora also provides a platform that showcases the academic quality and brilliance of student research in sustainability.

Top 3 learnings:

1. Trust your students and they will deliver quality outputs.

2. Make the most of the passion and energy of your students.

3. The SDGs provide the perfect entry point to sustainability for all students and academics.