TU Dublin claim two Highly Commended awards at UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards
The winners of this year’s UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards in association with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have been revealed.
Now in their 20th year, the awards recognise outstanding and exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken in the Higher Education sector across the UK and Ireland. This year’s awards saw 133 projects from 83 institutions shortlisted, with 22 winners and 23 highly commended awards announced at a ceremony at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on the evening of 13 November.
On the night, TU Dublin scooped two Highly Commended awards in the 2030 Climate Action and Next Generation Learning & Skills category.
Speaking of the success demonstrated by Architectural Technologies Discipline at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment Lecturer, Kirk McCormack, Vice President for Sustainability Jennifer Boyer commented:
“TU Dublin’s approach to Sustainability Education works to build wider societal and sectoral capacity to address local and global challenges. Achieving a Highly Commended Green Gown Award celebrates the ‘Sleep out against Homelessness’ project where students turned knowledge into action. This initiative exemplifies TU Dublin’s thriving ecosystem for advancing sustainability education.”
Speaking of the University's achievement, TU Dublin Head of Decarbonisation, Rosie Webb said:
TU Dublin’s success in major decarbonisation initiatives stems from our tenacious commitment to climate action and our partnership approach to advancing Ireland's first low-carbon district heating system and first deep borehole geothermal heating technology. Achieving a Highly Commended award at the prestigious Green Gown Awards amplifies these exemplar projects and our roadmap towards net zero.
Picture L-R Kirk McCormac (Head of Architectural Technologies Discipline), Dr Lucia Walsh (Sustainability Education & Innovation Lead), Dr Julie Dunne (Head of School of Food Science & Environmental Health), Mark Geraghty (Environmental Sustainability Manager), Dr Rena Barry-Ryan (Senior Lecturer in Food Product Development) and Annette Sweeney (Senior Lecturer in Culinary Arts & Food Technology).
TU Dublin had finalists across five categories at the Green Gown Awards:
- Decarbonising-by-District: How TU Dublin are pioneering two district heating projects,
- Sustainable shelter sleep-out for homelessness - Architectural Technologies Discipline at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
- Enactus TU Dublin – from dwindling numbers to international success,
- Annette Sweeney and The Mindful Kitchen Project Team - School of Culinary Arts & Food Technology,
- The IMPACT of NEMOS – An Irish Case-study for developing food sustainability competencies: educator professional development and service-learning as a signature pedagogy - School of Food Science & Environmental Health.
Read more about the projects here
With categories ranging from sustainability reporting to research with impact, individual actions and whole-organisation approaches, the Green Gown Awards continue to provide a national platform to showcase effective sustainability practice taking place in the Higher Education sector.
Established in 2004, the Green Gown Awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland. With sustainability now high on the agenda for many institutions, the awards have become established as one of the most prestigious recognitions of best practice within the further and higher education sector.