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2023 Sustainability Awards: Another incredible year for sustainability at 皇家华人!
1 August 2023
UCL commemorated its 11th Annual Sustainability Awards Ceremony on the 12th of July, applauding the sustainable accomplishments of 48 Green Impact teams, 77 LEAF teams and 10 Special Awards recipients.
Celebrating our community
UCL鈥檚 Sustainability Awards Ceremony witnessed over 200 staff and students from all corners of the university join together, both online, and in person, to celebrate the unwavering dedication and hard work of our community members who have been striving to enhance the sustainability of UCL.听Amidst joy, celebration and ice-cream, the event shone a spotlight on the importance of collective action, the strength of community, and the significance of coming together to celebrate and inspire one another. 听
From laboratories pushing the boundaries of energy efficiency, to departments cultivating green spaces and well-being initiatives, our community at 皇家华人 strives for progress. Together, we are weaving sustainability into the fabric of our institute. The passion and dedication of our staff and students inspire us to reach even greater heights, and I look forward to celebrating more remarkable stories of sustainability and innovation in the years to come." Jason Clarke, Assistant Sustainability Director, UCL.
The Ceremony, hosted by UCL鈥檚 new Assistant Sustainability Director, Jason Clarke, celebrated an astonishing 77 LEAF teams making their laboratories more sustainable, and 48 Green Impact teams working towards improving the sustainability of their offices and libraries. This year, we had 67 teams receive Gold Awards - more than ever before! 听
There were also five Special Sustainability Awards. These Special Awards were given to nominated individuals and teams who have shown to go the extra mile to achieve greater levels of sustainability in teaching, research, and operations at 皇家华人 and beyond. View the winners, and those who were highly commended at the end of this article. 听听
Networking
To foster meaningful relationships between members of staff and students working towards the same sustainability goals, the ceremony began with an engaging networking event, attended by 10 stallholders from across the university. This was followed by a delicious vegetarian and sustainable barbecue on the Wilkins Terrace, before the awards ceremony began.
Guest speakers
To commemorate the winners, attendees were graced by three guest speakers: 听
- Aimie Chapple, UCL Vice-Provost (Operations), sharing her insights on the significance of sustainability in her new role, expressing admiration for the commendable sustainability efforts at 皇家华人 and recognising the university's widespread engagement in sustainability initiatives. 听
- Zihan Xuan, a UCL Philosophy, Politics, and Economics BSc graduate and the , speaking passionately about the vital role of young people in addressing climate change. YOUNGO is the official children and youth constituency of the UNFCCC. Drawing from his experiences at the Conference of Parties (COP), he highlighted the importance of youth voices in climate conferences.听
- Professor Priti Parikh, Director of the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, sharing her profound journey in sustainability and climate change. Emphasising the power of interdisciplinarity and the Sustainable Development Framework, she outlined how these approaches can effectively address the pressing issues across the entire university. Priti concluded her inspiring talk with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, urging everyone to "Be the change you wish to see in this world." 听
From left to right: Jason Clarke, Professor Priti Parikh and Zihan Xuan听
The awards
All winners were presented with wildflower seeded certificates and delicious cakes to celebrate their achievements. The cakes were baked by Luminary Bakery, a social enterprise providing training, employment, and community to women in need.听
UCL in numbers
The fantastic accomplishments across UCL add to听a positive year for sustainability at 皇家华人. In 2022/2023: 听
- UCL ranked 7th in the People and Planet University League, moving up 12 positions from 2021/2022.
- 21 academics represented UCL in the international climate negotiations at COP27.听
- The UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education launched to support teachers to prepare them on how to teach subjects relating to climate change and sustainability.听
- An Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Network launched for staff to share best practise in embedding sustainability into the curriculum.
- 788 staff and students pledged to switch off during the Christmas and Easter periods, helping UCL to reduce 139 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to planting 2,224 trees and saving UCL over 拢190,000.
- UCL鈥檚 caterer, Gather & Gather, received a prestigious UDine award for the 'Best Plant-Based Menu.'听
- Club Zero, a returnable cup scheme expanded to 10听UCL cafes. Club Zero launched at 皇家华人 in 2021, which has since enabled over 6,000 fewer single-use cups to be produced.
- The UCL CAVE Research Laboratory achieved BREEAM Excellentand UCL East and Marshgate are on the track to achieve BREEAM Excellent.
- UCL collaborated with 9 other London-based universities for the London Student Sustainability Conference.
*On average, one tree can consume approximately 60kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.听 听
2023听Winners of the Sustainability Special Awards
- Staff Award for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability
The winner of the 2023 Staff Award for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability is Dr Deniz Bakkalci, Research Fellow in the Department of Targeted Intervention.听听
Deniz is a tissue engineer and develops 3D models of disease and healthy tissue听from biodegradable materials to study basic biology and how disease progression impacts tissue form and function. Deniz also leads the Division of Surgery & Interventional Science Green Impact team and seeks greener alternatives in laboratory settings by introducing innovative initiatives and working collaboratively with staff and students to conduct case studies aimed at conserving energy and minimising the use of plastic. 听
Deniz听has also听implemented a mandatory听sustainability induction for new staff to raise awareness and ensure that sustainability principles are ingrained in our daily activities.鈥�
The highly commended Staff Award for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability was awarded to Professor Paolo Taticchi, UCL School of Management Deputy Director & Professor in Strategy. 听
Paolo introduced a well-received sustainability module for the Global Business School for Health Master of Business Administration (MBA) and played a pivotal role in developing the UCL MBA Sustainability Lab. Additionally, as the School Deputy Director for Global Engagement, he spearheaded the strategy for a new summer school addressing grand challenges through ecosystem innovation.听
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- Student Award for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability
The winner of the 2023 Student Award for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability is Tom Weston, MBA student, UCL School of Management. 听
Tom founded the UCL Sustainability Lab in May 2022, as a collaborative, sustainability-focused platform to build an impactful link between academia and industry and to tackle grand business challenges. During the 2022-23 academic year, Tom has established partnerships with 6 companies and industry organisations, as well as two non-governmental organisations.
>听 鈥�
The highly commended Student Award for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability was awarded to Engineers Without Borders. Rachel Wan, second-year Biomedical Engineering student, collected the award. 听 听
Engineers Without Borders are a student-led project that deliver hands-on sustainable engineering workshops for students in primary and secondary schools across London. They encourage young people from different backgrounds to choose a career in engineering. This academic year, Engineers Without Borders have organised 19 workshops, promoting sustainable engineering in nine schools across London, where their activities reached out to more than 500 young students. 听
- Sustainability Education Award
The winner of the Sustainable Education Award is Blanche Cameron, lecturer at The Bartlett School of Architecture, for leading UCL鈥檚 Greening Cities module.听
The Greening Cities module explores how integrating biodiverse nature-based solutions into the urban fabric can help to cool buildings and neighbourhoods, reduce flooding, filter water pollution, reduce carbon emissions, energy and costs, and improve people鈥檚 health and sense of wellbeing. 听
Blanche has been testing out innovative solutions with her students on campus.听
> UCL installs biodiverse rain planters for nature-based climate adaptation.听听
The highly commended Sustainability Education Award was awarded to Dr Nicole Blum, Senior Lecturer, Insitute of Education (IOE) and Dr Frances Hunt, Senior Researcher,IOE.听
Created and built by Dr Blum and Dr Hunt of the IOE, and funded by the Sustainable UCL team, the Educating for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Schools and Universities鈥� online short course provides educators in schools and universities with support and continuing professional development to embed ESD within their practice. To date, 1,015 participants have enrolled in the course from 115 countries, and they have received very positive feedback from participants located around the world. 听
This project had support from academics and professional staff from across the UCL institution. 听
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- Sustainability Research Award
The winner of the Sustainability Research Award is Professor Catalina Turcu, Professor of Sustainable Built Environment, The Bartlett School of Planning.听
Professor Turcu is the Founder and Director of the SDG鈥檚 Research Accelerator. This is a transdisciplinary research initiative that provides scientific evidence through participatory engagement between researchers and policymakers to advance the understanding and implementation of the UN SDGs and sustainable urban transformations.听 听
> SDG Research Accelerator initiative
The highly commended Sustainability Research Award was awarded to Alexa Wong, Rebecca Nasterlack and Asma Laali, Students in the Mathematical & Physical Sciences Faculty.听
Following mounting mental health and wellbeing concerns, Asma, Alexa and Rebecca (under the supervision of Dr Peter Bratby) applied to UCL鈥檚 ChangeMakers Project for funding and support to develop an understanding of disabled/neurodivergent (D/ND) students鈥� experiences in Natural Sciences. Through rich testimonies, survey results and research, they produced a 25-page report that surfaced several shortcomings and opportunities to improve support. 听
- Sustainability Impact Award
The winner of the Sustainability Impact Award is UCL鈥檚 Student Zero Food Waste Project, collected by Daisy Li, Claudia Low and Cynthia Allen. 听听
The Student Zero Food Waste Project is a student-led volunteering project that aims to tackle food waste and enhance sustainability on campus through food redistribution.鈥疭ince October 2022, the project organises volunteers to deliver unsold food from 9 food outlets (caf茅s/shops) across campus to nearby homeless shelters and other locations.鈥疶hey have saved almost 4,600 food items from being thrown away.听听
The highly commended Sustainability Impact Award was awarded to Gather & Gather, UCL鈥檚 catering contractor.听
Gather & Gather, also known as 鈥楩ood at 皇家华人鈥� are committed to serving food that has a lower carbon impact thereby reducing the most significant driver of their climate impact at 皇家华人 and supporting UCL鈥檚 campaign Positive Climate. Gather & Gather have been tracking not only the availability of very high to very low impact dishes, but also have built systems to track their sales in their main refectory against the dishes carbon intensity.听
Gather & Gather have run behaviour change trials in the main refectory to see whether menu descriptions, larger icons, inclusion in meal-deals, and increased comms around carbon and food will change customer鈥檚 choices. The learnings from these trials will guide Gather & Gather on what methods they should use across all UCL outlets to help the community make better-informed choices.
- Special Awards for Outstanding Sustainability Plan
The Sustainability Plan is a bespoke plan, which focuses on the unique sustainability opportunities and challenges that are connected to a division or faculty鈥檚 area of work.
Green Laws 听听
Laws have dedicated time and effort in gathering data and consulting staff and students in finding appropriate and impactful solutions that can make a difference with their faculty. They also have a Green Impact Committee of 49 staff and students. 听
A major project that Green Laws are working towards is the installation of water fountains in Bentham House. This is being undertaken to help increase the number of students bringing in reusable bottles.听
Mullard Science Space Laboratory (MSSL)听
The Green Impact team have worked tirelessly over the last few years to increase awareness of the issues surrounding climate change. One example is how they have been bringing nature into the surrounding areas of MSSL through the reduction of mowing, native planting and exclusion of chemical herbicides. 听
PALS Green Team 听
The PALS Green Team continue to lead the way on sustainability at 皇家华人. One incredible example is their partnership with , which collects trainers from staff and students to donated for distribution around the world or to be shredded and recycled, as opposed to going to landfill. 听
Green Impact Awards
- Bronze
ARC Green Team听
ICH Sustainability听
IOE Library听
SSEES Library听
Student Psychological and Counselling Services听听
UCL Institute of Orthopaedics Library听
Wickford Stores听
Wilms Team听- Silver
Bartlett Library听
Bloomsbury Theatre听
EPH听
Green Laws听
Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology听
IRDR 鈥� Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction听 听
Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering听
Senate House UCL Hub听
Student Centre Library Team听
UCL Statistical Science听- Gold
Bartlett Faculty Office听
BASc Green Team听
BSEER Green Team听
BSSC Green Onions听
CBER听
Central Library Services听
Cruciform Hub听
Dementia Research Centre [ION]听
Division of Surgery听
Ear Institute Team听
Green Team: Office of the President & Provost听
ICH Library听
IGP听
Institute of Archaeology Library听
Institute of Ophthalmology听
IoO Library听
Language & Speech Science Library听
Legion of Eunomia听
Main Library听
OVPA听
PALS听
Psychiatry听
Royal Free Library听
School of Pharmacy Library听
Science Library听
Student Enquiry Centre听
The Green Team at Prion听
UCL Careers听
UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory听
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Admin
UCL Queen Square Library听
LEAF Awards
- Bronze
Centre for Cell & Molecular Dynamics Imaging Unit听
Confocal & Light Microscopy Core Facility听
Darwin Research Facility (DRF)听
Franz lab CBD听
Immunosenescence and Ageing听
Long/Scambler Lab (204/209)NMD听
Mass Spec lab听
Medawar Pain and Somatosensory Labs听
Morris Lab and Schorge Lab听
Parrinello Lab听
Patricia Salinas Lab听
PSL1/PSL2 and Clinical skills听
Purton Lab听
SoP-MSc Teaching/Instrumentation Laboratory (B56)听
Tedesco Lab听
Thrasher Lab听
Waudby Lab (421)听
Worm Lab Anatomy 2nd Floor- Silver
Centre for Clinical Microbiology听
Dubowitz Neuromuscular centre听
Farrant/Cull-Candy Lab听
G16 Electrochemistry Lab听
GGM MBRD 1st Floor听
ICH - Ground Floor Labs (Jenkins et al)听
ICH - Respiratory Infection听
Knapp Lab听
Lab-308_exNDU听
LG30 - Volpe Lab听
LG31 - Clarke Group听
Pallett lab (IIT)听
UCL Genomics听
Williams Lab听
ZCR Cancer听- Gold
A.C.B.E.听
Barnes Lab听
Booth (ZCR)听
Brogan/Eleftheriou听
BSU Biological Services听
Carmalt and Parkin Research Group听
Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy Labs听
Crompton Lab听
Cruciform 3.4
Depatment of Clinical and Movement Neuroscience
Department of Neuromuscular Diseases听
Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases
DSIS labs听
Ear Institute Labs听
Flow Cytometry Core Facility Lab听
Fly Lab Rockefeller听
GCLP Facility听
Geography Labs听
Graham Lab 101听
ICH Lab Management Team听
IoO Labs听
Kurian Lab 鈥� ZCR听
MRC听Prion Unit at 皇家华人听
Neural Computation Laboratory 鈥� Cruciform Wing 2.2听
NMD 鈥� Cruciform Building听
PALS LEAF Lab听
Rheumatology labs - Rayne听
Sainsbury Wellcome Centre听
School of Pharmacy Teaching Labs听
Spinal Repair Unit听
UK DRI听
Wedderburn Lab听
Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging听
WHO PSLR听
WLDI Skin Lab听
Get involved
We extend a heartfelt thank you to all the individuals and teams who have contributed to our remarkable sustainability achievements this year. Our staff, students, Green Impact, and LEAF teams, as well as our Special Award winners, have been instrumental in making these accomplishments possible. As we continue our journey, we invite everyone at 皇家华人 to join us. If you are eager to be part of a Sustainable UCL, you can find out how to get involved below. Together, we can make #ChangePossible.
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