French speaking Green Gown Award Ceremony

17th February 2015

The first French speaking Green Gown Awards Ceremony took place on 10 February at Kedge Business School in Paris. The Ceremony was preceded with the Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, presenting the goals of Education for Sustainable Development. The Minister then presented the ‘Les Trophées des campus responsables’.

Congratulations go to L’Université Catholique de Lille (France), winners of the social responsibility category; L’Ecole des Mines de Douai (France) for winning the continuous improvement category; L’Université de Lausanne (Switzerland) for the student engagement category and. The French speaking Awards also have an additional category on disability and accessibility and congratulations go to L’Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais (France) as the winners.

With over 200 people from education, NGOs and government attending it was great to see the Awards and their learnings being shared to such a wide audience.

The French speaking Green Gown Awards are open to institutions in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg and we are excited to announce that the Awards will also open to French speaking Canada in 2015. The French speaking Green Gown Awards - Les Trophées des campus responsables - are delivered by Campus Responsables.

Félicitations à tous les gagnants!

You can find out more about the winners:

Lille Catholic University - Social Responsibility

The neighbourhood of Humanicité: living together and much more

Lille Catholic University has initiated the global project “HUMANICITE” which involves local development, social innovation, population diversity, creation of new activities and jobs, and sharing amenities (social, athletic, educational and cultural, etc.).

This new urban, residential neighbourhood, on a human scale, aims to respect architectural and environmental quality.

Humanicité is an urban development project in the city of Lille consisting of diversity (social and generational), sharing of public spaces and amenities, citizenship, conviviality in collective spaces and pedestrian walkways, solidarity and social innovation.

The birth and maturing of the project (2002 to 2013) is the result of the university’s service to society, in eco-responsibility and in social innovation.

TOP 3 LEARNINGS

1. Eco-district of 15 hectares includes 900 accommodation units, housing around 2200 people
2. The neighbourhood notably includes health centres, a hospital clinic, but also traditional housing, centres of education and commerce
3. Harmony and balance between built spaces and natural areas are realities here.

Ecole des Mines de Douai - Continuous Improvement

The sustainable development approach adopted by the Mines Douai

Since 2009, Mines Douai, aware of the challenges of sustainable development, has invested in its consideration for all its activities.

To achieve its objectives, Mines Douai has established tools and methodologies, defined assessment criteria, set up economic and socio-economic targets. The School made a commitment to promote sustainable development through its missions, decisions and practices, by developing concrete actions shared by the entire staff and the students.

3 main lines of work were defined :

• The training of future engineers in the stakes and values of sustainable development, as well as their global responsibility
• Research and innovation
• The management of the campus with the aim of reducing our ecological impact

TOP 3 LEARNINGS

1. The savings made on consumptions (paper, water, electricity, trips, the dematerialisation of documents) can be estimated at about 300,000 € a year
2. Since 2010, our water consumption has divided by two. Our gas and electricity use declined by 9%, whilst managing three new buildings. Our paper consumptions fell by 40%. More than 120 laser printers were removed and replaced with multifunction photocopiers
3. The recruitment of a daily health aid for a tetraplegic student helped him find a job just after his diploma.

The University of Lausanne (UNIL) - Student Engagement

Permaculture at UNIL – Exchange knowledge on our food production
and consumption practices

The students association “LA PEL” was created to promote permaculture on UNIL’s campus. Their project focuses on creating spaces of exchange (vegetable garden, conferences and courses) where the UNIL community can share knowledge in a participative and free-of-charge way on permaculture, sustainable agriculture and also discuss about consumption and production practices.

Besides knowledge on sustainable agriculture system, this project also aims to question participants on their consumption habits, particularly to rebuild the link between production and consumption.

The garden of “LA PEL” is situated in an open place that any campus visitors are able to visit. Students also plan to transform its garden into a pedagogic place for the campus visitors (schools, academic events, etc). Educative pathways with explicative panels will be installed.

TOP 3 LEARNINGS

1. Create a network around sustainable food, slow food and permaculture on the campus
2. Gather students and staff members on a common project
3. Share knowledge on the above topics in a participative, free-of-charge and open-access way.