Universities and Colleges Responding Positively to Environmental Issues, Award Scheme Shows

8th December 2006

31 higher and further education institutions have been shortlisted for the prestigious Green Gown Awards. These recognise innovative actions in seven categories – Colleges; Continuous Improvement; Course Content (Degrees); Course Content (Professional and Vocational Skills); Energy and Water Efficiency; Student Initiatives; and Sustainable Construction. The Awards are organised – in collaboration with AUDE, EAUC and other sector associations - by the Higher Education Environmental Performance Improvement (HEEPI) project, whose Co-Director, Professor Peter James, commented that:

“This year’s Awards give greater coverage to learning and teaching and have highlighted many innovations to create greater environmental awareness amongst students, and the communities which they and staff live within. One highlight in this area is the first shortlisting of a non-UK body, the University of Cape Town. The Awards also show that many universities are building impressive track records of continuous improvement of performance.”

More details of the shortlisted entries can be found on www.heepi.org.uk.

Two of last year’s winning and commended entries are being presented at forthcoming events:

One on High Performance Buildings on February 8th at the University of Southampton’s Administration and Student Services Building (winner of Sustainable Construction);

One on Renewable Energy on Campus on March 27th at Harper-Adams University College (winner of the Smaller Institutions category).

Click on Events for further information on the workshops and visit www.heepi.org.uk for a summary of the shortlisted applicants.