Each year Green Impact programmes across the country award Special Awards to individuals and teams who go above and beyond for sustainability. These awards recognise the breadth of positive action happening in the UK through Green Impact, and spotlight some of the initiatives that might not be fully captured by the standard Bronze, Silver and Gold Green Impact awards.

These local Special Award winners have been announced at universities, hospitals, research institutes and charities over the last 12 months, and in December 2021 these local winners were put forward for consideration for the 2021 Green Impact National Awards!

There are five categories of award, and we had more than 70 local nominations. The national judging panel was made up of Sara Kassam (sustainability lead at the V&A), Ann-Sofie Van Enis (Green Impact coordinator at SOS International) and Teach the Future volunteers Eleanor Andrade May and Phoebe Hanson. After careful consideration, and tough competition, we are pleased to announce that the national award winners are…

Student Leadership Award

‍To recognise an exceptional student who has been leading change within and beyond their Green Impact team. Green Impact supports students who are driving action for sustainability across their campuses and communities: Students are integral to building a sustainable future and this award is for those showing outstanding leadership qualities and skills to make a positive impact and promote sustainability.

o   Winner: Megan Asbury (University of Worcester) for being ‘committed to forwarding environmental education’, supporting Green Impact team members, and developing communications to increase public understanding of sustainability.

o   Runner-up: Immy Hayton (University of York) for being an integral part of the Biology DMT Hub Green Impact team at the University of York.

Sustainability Hero Award

‍To recognise an extraordinary person within a Green Impact team who has really become a sustainability hero, as nominated by their colleagues or students. They may have helped others in their team realise the importance of taking action on climate, inspired people to get involved through their enthusiasm, or be very good at practicing sustainability within their role or personal life.

o   Winner: Adrian McKie (Going the Extra Mile) for developing the student and sensory garden and inspiring students at National Star to learn more about sustainability.

o   Runner Up: Zoë Bather (Kingston University) for being the driving force and inspiration in getting the Kingston School of Art Graphic Design department to move towards embedding sustainability into the curriculum.

Community Action Award

To recognise how Green Impact teams have led, developed, or participated in innovative community action. Over the years we have seen some brilliant examples of teams working in partnership with community groups, developing new projects, and helping their organisation to build capacity for sustainability in the wider community.

o   Winner: Forest Voluntary Action Forum (Going the Extra Mile) for creating a collaborative community hamper scheme over the festive period to bring festive joy to those who were alone on Christmas Day during the pandemic.

o   Runner-up: BA Graphic Design team (Kingston School of Art) for partnering with local community organisations, and supporting BA Graphic Design students to spend three months working with these groups on consultancy projects.

Environmental Improvement Award

‍To recognise an environmental improvement or initiative that has been put in place to make a tangible impact within, or beyond, Green Impact teams. Every step within the Green Impact programme is designed to make positive sustainability improvements, but this award showcases those initiatives that have gone above-and-beyond to make a particularly significant impact.

o   Winner: Evergreen Dentistry for the huge range of positive changes they have made to reduce the environmental impact of the practice.

o   Runner-up: Music team (University of Sheffield) for sharing their resource on the future of academic meetings to better consider sustainability and accessibility.

Innovation for Engagement Award

‍To recognise ways in which Green Impact teams have engaged more people in sustainability activity, supporting more staff and students to learn about and lead on sustainability. This award spotlights creative innovation in engaging staff and students: The more people we can actively engage, the bigger the positive impact we can make.

o   Winner: Climate Emergency Education team (University of Worcester) for their novel way of working with educators and the wider community in engaging with the climate and ecological emergency.

o   Runner-up: LANS team (University of Birmingham) for their bottom-up student initiative to introduce a Sustainability Major pathway and for establishing a student LANS Green Team.

In March, for the first time ever, we will be collaborating with our international partners SOS International and ACTS on the International Green Impact awards where some of our UK winners will be in consideration for the prestigious international awards. Keep an eye out for more information coming soon!

Congratulations to all our award winners, runners-up, and nominees! If you are part of a Green Impact team, don’t forget to nominate yourself, a colleague, or a student for one of the Special Awards in 2022. If you aren’t yet taking part in Green Impact and would like to bring the programme to your organisation, please get in touch with Rachel, senior project manager at SOS-UK, Rachel.Soper@sos-uk.org.