Trio of awards for trailblazing sustainability team

Our Sustainability team are celebrating a trio of recent award wins that have cemented the College’s forward-thinking status as a trailblazer for positive climate action.

Most recently, at the Green Gown Awards, the College’s work to embed Carbon Literacy and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into teaching and learning across departments was recognised as Highly Commended in the Student Engagement category.

That project, part of our ongoing Carbon Literacy work, has also garnered plaudits in the Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards – where we won the Sustainability Award – and from the Carbon Literacy Project, who named us as the first ever Silver Carbon Literate Educator.

Head of Sustainability, Sasha Beswick, said: “Our continued recognition for our work to embed Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into every part of teaching and learning is testament to the sustained engagement and interest of staff and students.

“Our approach has led to some amazing opportunities to work with institutions across the world and share knowledge. These opportunities to collaborate and share with others are as valuable to the College as receiving awards for our own efforts.

“We will continue to strive for sustainability to form a core part of our work to transform the lives of students, as our recent successes have shown there is a genuine appetite for positive climate action among the younger generation.”

The Green Gowns success capped an awards ceremony – held at Edinburgh’s breathtaking Dynamic Earth venue – in which a Barnsley Sixth Form College programme, which encouraged students to lead changemaking projects in their communities, was also celebrated among the finalists.

Recent research by Students Organising for Sustainability UK, which asks students about their attitudes towards learning for sustainable development, stated around 80 per cent of students think their institution should be doing more on sustainable development.