Keele University has been shortlisted for four awards at the prestigious Green Gown Awards 2018.

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 moving up the agenda, the Awards have become established as the most prestigious recognition of best practice within the further and higher education sector.

Keele has been shortlisted in the categories of:

• Sustainability Institution of the Year
• Outstanding Leadership Team of the Year
• Student Engagement - with the 'Great Donate'
• Enterprise - with student Elliott Lancaster's 'Utter Rubbish' App

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in November at the National Railway Museum in York.

Dr Zoe Robinson, Director of Education for Sustainability at Keele University commented:

“To be shortlisted for four Green Gown awards is fantastic, including two relating to the whole institution, as well as specific work around student engagement, and a student-led enterprise project. This breadth demonstrates the genuinely strong commitment towards sustainability right across the University, with everybody playing a part in considering the environmental, social and economic sustainability of their work.

“For example, there are lots of opportunities for students to engage in sustainability-related initiatives both within and outside of their formal curriculum, driven by different parts of the university and the Students’ Union, as well as staff from right across the University embedding sustainability into their own teaching.

"We want all of our students to be able to look at issues and make decisions through a sustainability lens, no matter what degree they are studying, and to take their greater understanding and awareness of sustainability into their professional and personal lives in order to really make a positive difference to the world.”

Keele University continues to pursue its ambitions to be genuinely sector-leading in the area of sustainability, embedding sustainability activities across research, education, business processes, the campus and the wider local community and alumni networks, as well as in external engagement with partners and business.

Keele is at the forefront of energy research, and as such the University launched the HyDeploy project - a green energy trial in partnership with Cadent - to explore the potential of injecting zero-carbon hydrogen into the natural gas network in a bid to help cut the UK’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by heating homes. Furthermore, this year work began to turn the campus into Europe’s first “living laboratory” for research into new smart energy, gas and heating technologies. The £15 million Smart Energy Network Demonstrator project is an innovative example of how new energy-efficient technologies can be researched, developed and tested in a real world environment.

The Green Gown Awards recognise sustainability best practice within the further and higher education sectors. The Awards provide the sector with benchmarks for excellence and are respected by Government, funding councils, senior management, academics and students.

Iain Patton, Chief Executive at the EAUC, said: “The Green Gown Award applications show the truly pioneering initiatives being borne in post-16 education. Every day, tireless environmental, social and sustainability leaders across the UK and Ireland are driving change and showing the value universities and colleges bring to the economy and society. The Green Gown Awards exist to give them the recognition and platform they need to share their learning and do even more.”