The Awards ceremony took place at The Divinity School, Bodleian Library, recognising and honouring the outstanding achievements of those who are contributing toward the University’s strategic environmental goals of net zero carbon and biodiversity net gain by 2035.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey presented the awards, along with colleagues from across the University. As well as celebrating individual and project winners, 180 teams in labs, colleges and departments were awarded for improving environmental sustainability in the Engagement Awards category and received accreditation in the national Green Impact scheme and the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF).
Green Impact Awards
Green Impact is a national scheme providing simple and effective ways for staff and students to make their buildings, departments or colleges more sustainable. The Green Impact workbook is tailored to align with the University’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy, and can be applied to teams and departments of any size or complexity. Actions recognised through this scheme range from changing the type of paper used to creating a biodiversity garden.
Our department was awarded a Silver Green Impact Award, attained by the NDS Collaborative Green Group.
Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) Awards
The Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) is the world’s largest green lab programme, empowering researchers to implement sustainable practices. LEAF is supported by the UKRN (The UK Reproducibility Network) in recognition that high quality research is sustainable research and all MPLS departments are strongly encouraged to engage with its aims and advice.
Silver LEAF Awards awarded in NDS this year:
- Business Administration Unit
- Oxford Prostate Cancer Biology Group
Bronze LEAF Awards in NDS this year:
- Macaulay Lab (award retained for 2023)
- Oxford Neural Interfacing Group
- Translational Research Immunology Group (TRIG)
The full list of winners across the University and colleges can be found on the University’s Sustainability webpages, where you can also download the Awards brochure to learn more about the winners and see the winning photographs from the Sustainability Photographer of the Year competition.
The Environmental Sustainability Team runs a diverse range of engagement and training activities throughout the year, as well as campaigns and events designed to educate and inspire staff and students on all aspects of sustainability. The Sustainability website offers a lot of information about engagement opportunities, campaigns, interesting initiatives and more. You can also sign up to the monthly newsletter. For further information, email the Environmental Sustainability team: sustainability@admin.ox.ac.uk