Celebrating the pinnacle of pioneering environmental and sustainable initiatives

9th January 2013

The EAUC's article in the January issue of University Business focuses on the 2012 Green Gown Awards. One of the underlying founding principles of the EAUC is the notion of sharing best practice. Working with University Business, the EAUC interviewed some of the winners to find out just what makes a tertiary education institution both green and great.  

The 2012 Green Gown Awards can be described as a resounding success and a fitting celebration for the pioneering environmental and sustainability initiatives that have been championed in the tertiary education sector in the past year.

Winners and highly commended Awards were bestowed across 13 unique categories and included the inaugural launch of the Green Gown International Awards.

Guests included university and college representatives from across the UK, joined by leading figures from institutions such as the Higher Educational Funding Council (HEFCE), Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE), Association of Colleges (AoC) and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) to commend visionary projects which are pushing the sustainable boundaries.

Although Universities and Colleges are anxious during this period of financial uncertainty, this year’s winning and highly commended entries demonstrate not only that innovative institutions are taking successful action to minimise their environmental footprints and enhance their social contribution, but also that this is often accompanied by other organisational benefits such as financial savings.

Now in their eighth year, the Green Gown awards were founded in 2004 by the Higher Education Environmental Performance Improvement (HEEPI) project and have continued to grow in reputation and stature year on year. In an effort to promote dissemination of good practice, all the 2012 Green Gown Award winners, highly commended entries and finalists have all been asked to provide a case study and a short video on their Awards. These will be available from the Green Gown Awards website in early 2013 and are supported by HEFCE. 

To find out more about the Green Gown Award winners and their initiatives download the article below. 

This cutting has been supplied to the EAUC by University Business Magazine, a publication by Wildfire Comms Ltd, Unit 2.4 Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3EN.