The University of Aberdeen has had five transformational projects shortlisted in an internationally recognised awards scheme celebrating sustainability excellence.
The Green Gown Awards, held in association with UKRI, recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges around the world.
The University has been shortlisted across two categories in the UK & Ireland awards, Research with Impact and Tomorrow’s Employees.
A total of four University projects are in the running in the Research with Impact category which recognises the importance and societal impact of research and development by post-16 education as a driver of sustainable development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
They are:
The Lighthouse Field Station, a 30-year initiative which seeks to understand how natural and man-made environmental changes influence the behaviour and population dynamics of marine mammals and seabirds. Located in the Moray Firth, the research is ideally placed to inform resource management and energy transition.
The ‘Sharing the benefits of the Ocean’ initiative, which has seen colleagues in Chemistry and Law work to stimulate progress on international efforts to negotiate a new legally-binding instrument under the UN’s Convention on Laws of the Sea. It seeks to regulate marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction and realise the benefits which can be obtained from the oceans in developing new medicines and other products.
The Cool Farm Tool, a free-to-use greenhouse gas calculator for the whole supply chain to measure the carbon footprint of crop and livestock products.
And in the Schools of Business and Education researchers’ work to transform the readymade garment industry, which currently uses the low-cost labour of the global south to fulfil the clothing retail demands of the global north, has also been highlighted.
The University is also shortlisted in the Tomorrow’s Employees category for its Sustainability Transitions MSc. This category recognises institutions which are taking pioneering and innovative steps to ensure that their students are future-fit in terms of enhanced employability skills as well as beneficial social and environmental impacts.
The Sustainability Transitions MSc builds on the foundation of an earlier Environmental Partnership Management Project and is designed to train the future generation of innovators and thinkers with the passion and ambition to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and become true sustainability leaders.
The programme covers a wide array of topics, addresses challenges faced by different sectors and utilises case studies drawn from different parts of the world, with students taught not only by academics but also by experts in a range of fields, including energy transitions, coastal management, land management, tourism and transport.
"The academic community around the world is resolute in working towards the common targets of tackling the intersecting economic, human, social and environmental challenges facing the world," said Ruth Taylor, Vice-Principal (Education).
“As a University we are committed to supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and making a positive impact through our research and education, so to have the work of our researchers recognised through these prestigious awards is fantastic and we wish good luck to all our colleagues on the night.”
The winners will be announced at the award ceremony at Loughborough University on 8 November 2022.