The 2022 Australasian Green Gown Awards recognised 10 universities; celebrating 9 winners and 3 highly commended across 8 different award categories.
The virtual awards ceremony was streamed live from 6.00pm AEDT on the 17th November 2022, hosted by ACTS Board Directors: Edward Maher – Manager, Sustainability, Charles Sturt University and former ACTS President and lifelong Member Leanne Denby – CEO, Independent Living Support Association, with a range of special guest presenters from all over the world.
Thirteen years strong, the Green Gown Awards Australasia continue to recognise exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by tertiary education institutions. The Awards are administered regionally by ACTS and form part of a global partnership for the Green Gowns led by the EAUC in the United Kingdom.
Organisational
Benefitting Society 
University of Tasmania WINNER
Creating Impact
University of Sydney WINNER
Next Generation Learning and Skills
The University of Queensland JOINT WINNER
University of Tasmania JOINT WINNER
Powerful Partnerships
Western Sydney University WINNER
The University of Newcastle HC
Victoria University of Wellington HC
Student Engagement
University of Otago WINNER
International category
Organisational Awards
WINNER: University of Tasmania
Curious Climate program: student and community-led conversations with scientists on climate change
Curious Climate Tasmania (CCT) delivers public-powered scientific engagement, bridging the gap between experts and audiences with credible, relevant information about climate change. CCT is different from most science communication projects in that content is driven by its participants. It asks the Tasmanian community what they want to know about climate change, and responds directly to their questions. Curious Climate Schools is a component of CCT that since 2020 has involved 1300 students aged 9-18. In 2021, classes worked together to send in 280 questions about climate change. CCT organised 57 experts to answer them – in video, webpage and in person. CCT is a collaborative project between the University of Tasmania-hosted Centre for Marine Socioecology, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, ABC, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Many additional organisations from across the world provided access to an amazing group of experts.
Deakin University
Stream: Collaboration, Connection and Integration Reinvigorating a university campus through a resilient systems approach to IWM
Recognising the value of water in our urban landscapes as a finite and precious resource, Deakin developed an on-site Integrated Water Management Plan at our Waurn Ponds campus. The development of the plan commenced in 2020 and focuses on enhancing the existing drainage features on-site to deliver benefits spanning biodiversity, amenity and safety.
Consultant investigative and feasibility works have detailed a program of works to deliver key objectives including improved local water quality, amenity, and biodiversity, waterway stabilisation and improved ecology through the naturalisation and enhancement of existing features, and reduced flood impacts across the campus.
A number of major works are currently in design and delivery, notably the conversion of four existing water bodies to wetlands, water-sensitive landscaping and water metering.
University of the Sunshine Coast
Putting the Uni in Community: regional university empowers local community to reduce suicide and improve mental health outcomes
The Alliance for Suicide Prevention addresses the Sunshine Coast’s unacceptably high suicide rate through a partnership framework that is creating rapid and meaningful social change. Led by the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Thompson Institute, The Alliance brings together 140 community, private, and public sector organisations, working to create meaningful change through public awareness, community training, upskilling of health professionals and supporting high-risk groups. Alliance initiatives have benefitted 17,827 people, through the program’s award-winning engagement model.
More than 2000 people have completed The Alliance’s suicide prevention training programs to help them identify the signs that someone may be thinking of suicide. Sectors with clients at higher risk, such as domestic violence, housing, and youth mental health, are offered fully funded training in suicide prevention skills. This targeted approach has allowed The Alliance to have a powerful impact on upskilling key people in the community to help address suicidality in the region.
University of Technology Sydney
Intergenerational COVID response – Glebe Digital Mentoring
UTS identified two community groups affected by the pandemic and its lockdowns. Vulnerable seniors in a social housing community were isolated with poor levels of digital literacy. UTS international students experienced financial hardship, having lost jobs with no access to government support, and isolation from family.
The Digital Mentoring program employed international students to mentor seniors in Glebe. Students were paired with multiple residents, meeting weekly over three months. The program aimed to reduce social isolation for both groups, offering students opportunities to develop leadership skills whilst increasing residents’ confidence and access to digital services, information and networks.
The program’s strength lay in the relationships it fostered. Students reported growing attachments to the mentees, a more positive experience of life in Australia, and increased self-confidence. For seniors, the program had a significant impact on confidence and wellbeing. This program has since been awarded a City of Sydney grant to expand services.
WINNER: The University of Sydney
Nguragaingun, Ngara, Pemulian – our Curriculum Garden and Biodiversity Management Plan
The Curriculum Garden is a collaborative Living Lab project with Open Spaces, Botany (School of Life and Environmental Sciences), IndigiGrow (First Nations’ social enterprise) and the Sustainability Strategy working in partnership to establish an on-campus native garden.
This cultural and environmental project frames our Strategy’s Caring for Country foundation and aligns with the principles of the University’s Indigenous One Sydney, Many People Strategy. Offering an opportunity for our community to learn about local plants and Australian natives, our garden has become a living classroom. The revitalised area features plant signage in English and Sydney Indigenous languages, offers spaces for yarning, work and rest with recycled furniture and laptop power, and students can collect samples for botany labs which would otherwise need to be sourced from across NSW.
The garden extends our wildlife corridor, aids in reviving local endangered plants, and showcases sustainability on campus with our rain tanks and new biodigester.
University of Tasmania
Re:Cycle
Re:Cycle is a small program with a big impact. In a unique partnership between the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and Big Picture School in Launceston, at-risk students are taught how to repair abandoned bicycles. The program fosters sustainability by saving bikes from landfill, avoiding waste, and reducing embodied carbon associated with the production of new bikes. Students learn the value of repairing and restoring things and gain the necessary technical and life skills required to fix and sell the bikes (with all funds donated to the UNHCR to support refugees globally as they flee from war and persecution in search of a better life). An additional benefit of the program is the promotion of cycling to university staff through the provision of campus bikes as well as bikes for students doing placements in rural towns.
JOINT WINNER: The University of Queensland
UQ Carbon Literacy Program delivers impactful climate education
The UQ Carbon Literacy Program is a short course that brings together people and organisations from all sectors and walks of life to collaborate, disseminate and act on climate change. More than 300 participants have gained their carbon literacy certification since UQ Launched the program in 2021, and 400 more are expected to be certified by the end of this year.
Accredited by international climate education leader, the UK-based Carbon Literacy Project, the UQ Carbon Literacy Program is developed and delivered by UQ’s leading experts in business and sustainability, and certified carbon literacy trainers. UQ is the first university in Australia to launch a local version of the program.
The course comprises eight hours of blended learning, including self-paced online modules and live seminars. Learners spend two additional hours making a pledge and writing an assessment to receive their certificate. Aligning with the University’s vision, the UQ Carbon Literacy Program epitomises knowledge leadership for a better world.
JOINT WINNER: University of Tasmania
Massive online courses delivering individual and community sustainability country wide
The Diploma and Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainable Living are fully online courses developed by the University of Tasmania, starting in 2018. They aim to create a very broad understanding of the concepts, implications, and relevance of sustainability but are founded on rigorous academic knowledge. The courses have made substantial and new contributions to education in sustainability by reaching over 6,000 students to date, mostly from parts of the community that are poorly served by standard university offerings. These courses reach all states of Australia with strong uptake in regional areas, as well as some international students.
The courses are also increasingly chosen by existing professionals, many of whom attest to the contributions that the courses make to their work. To maximise value to students, the courses are highly integrated and interdisciplinary; they address sustainability through the lenses of biology, ecology, geology, economics, climatology, governance, communication, ethics, health, sociology, and indigenous knowledge.
WINNER: Western Sydney University
Thinking Global, Acting Local: A decade of partnerships delivering ESD impact across Greater Western Sydney
Hosted by Western Sydney University (WSU), the RCE Greater Western Sydney (RCE-GWS) network is a collaborative, regional, multi-stakeholder educational network delivering place-based, partner-led programs and initiatives for 10-years. As an anchor institution, WSU brings together key internal and external partners to strategically link, leverage and strengthen our ESD work in response to our evolving sustainability challenges – identified as a network – to deliver local impact and aligned under the SDGs.RCE-GWS has 26 regional partners that have delivered 36 initiatives and 45 community events to over 44,000 local and global school students, teachers, community members and university staff and students. Projects have included large-scale biodiversity restoration and climate action engagement projects; EfS capacity building for school teachers through professional development workshops; sustainability awareness school-based initiatives linked to key learning areas of NSW school cross-curriculum priorities; and international youth leadership and empowerment across Asia-Pacific region.
HC: Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
Growing our Future
Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington has partnered with Wellington City Council to reforest an 11-hectare block of land in the Outer Green Belt of Wellington. The project – ‘Growing Our Future’ is enhancing the biodiversity of the city; strengthening the connection between the University and the city; providing volunteer opportunities for staff, students and alumni; generating applied teaching and research opportunities; and sequestering carbon.
The University has urban campuses with limited opportunities for extensive biodiversity restoration. The City Council had recently acquired the block of land but lacked the resources to actively regenerate the native forest cover. The partnership formalised the collaboration and the carbon credit sharing through a 33-year peppercorn lease, where the University got access to the land and took on responsibility for managing the forest restoration.
The project is delivering environmental benefits while bringing the University community together and forming closer ties with the city.
HC: The University of Newcastle & Lake Macquarie City Council
CELL: A first for the nation
Our communities, our region, our responsibility – this tenet underpins the University of Newcastle’s operations as an organisation ‘of and for its regions’. Strong collaboration with key local institutions is key to delivering on this commitment. Working through its Institute for Regional Futures, the University has partnered with Lake Macquarie City Council to address a range of social, economic and environmental challenges the area faces.
One major joint initiative is establishing Australia’s first Circular Economy Living Lab (CELL). The Hunter is facing significant social and economic change. This project recognises the opportunities that these changes represent by leveraging the region’s existing skills to create thriving circular economy industries. The living lab approach to delivering a circular economy is unique in Australia. It is designed to establish a system where waste is eliminated, resources re-circulated and nature regenerated through a user-centred open innovation ecosystem co-designed and operating in real life settings.
RMIT University & Russell Investments
Moving the market – a partnership to create fossil-free investments
On 31 March 2021, RMIT University was able to confirm that its equity portfolio had no material exposure to fossil fuels. This quiet achievement was the result of over five years of hard work and a collaborative partnership between the University and its external investment manager Russell Investments.
Globally, the tertiary sector has significant investment portfolios and engaged stakeholders who want to see action on climate change. However, with under $100M in the University’s Philanthropic Fund when the Responsible Investment Principles were developed, RMIT was a relatively small player in the investment space and needed a partner that could help it achieve some bold ambitions.
What has since transpired is an equity portfolio with no material exposure to fossil fuels and strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles, that can (and has been) joined or replicated by other like-minded institutions.
A truly committed partnership with industry-leading results focused on addressing the biggest crisis we face today.
University of the Sunshine Coast
K’gari World Heritage Discovery Centre
The K’gari World Heritage Discovery Centre is the first interpretative information Centre on World Heritage-listed K’gari (Fraser Island). It provides visitors with an understanding of the island’s World Heritage value and why the island should be protected. It was a partnership of the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), Sealink’s Kingfisher Bay Resort (KBR) and the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation (BAC). This innovative project aims to educate and inform visitors about the Island’s global ecological and cultural significance contributing to the conservation and protection of the island. Located adjacent to a key entry port to the island, the Centre tells the story of K’gari’s unique landscapes, ecology and cultural significance. The concept, interpretative panels and imagery were designed and developed by UniSC staff and Creative Industries students in collaboration with the BAC and other stakeholders. The Centre has become a highly visited site, attracting over 5,000 visitors in the past year.
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury & Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki | Lincoln University
Aotearoa SDG Summit Series 2020-2021
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) and Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki | Lincoln University (LU) co-hosted the Aotearoa SDG Summit Series during 2020 – 2021, drawing together many sectors, organisations and individuals to envision and deliver three online hui (meetings) before pivoting from a face-to-face summit to an online summit due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The SDG Series featured 83 speakers from across Aotearoa New Zealand, with nearly 1000 people attending online and almost 1 million people reached through social media engagement.
A significant outcome of the series was that 199 organisations and individuals signed a Declaration of Commitment to the SDGs and pledged support for the emerging national SDG Alliance.
Some 66 videos of sessions from the three hui and the online summit are available online, creating an invaluable free resource for ongoing engagement with students, sustainability advocates, the business sector and interested members of the public.
UC and LU partnered with Ara Institute of Canterbury, Christchurch City Council, and other partners, forming an innovative working group guided by independent event curator Erica Austin. Initially, the conversation began with our mana whenua (local indigenous) Treaty of Waitangi partner Ngāi Tūāhuriri, who helped the team Read more >
WINNER: Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou – University of Otago
Te Oraka – The Good Space
Te Oraka, The Good Space was designed by our student team for students and staff on campus. This sustainability hub showcases the circular economy – created from recycled items, it pours all its income into activities it hosts.
Te Oraka focuses on reducing waste because our students have relied heavily on skips, highlighting a need for alternative options as well as a focus on tools and skills throughout the year.
Te Oraka was devised to capture a holistic approach to waste. Creating a space that can be transformative for waste minimisation through being used as a store, workshop, refilling station, repair café and an education space.
We believe our multi-faceted approach, tailored to our needs, is leading by example in New Zealand’s tertiary sector, and possibly Australia’s.
The University of Queensland
UQ Repair Café brings circular economy to life
Saving more than 200 items from landfill, and upskilling more than 90 repair volunteers to date, the UQ Repair Café is a thriving sustainability initiative that cultivates mindful consumption, community connection and communal learning – all while participants enjoy a cup of tea and a chat.
Launched just under two years ago, the Repair Café hosts regular events where students and staff bring along a variety of broken items to be fixed. The initiative is run in partnership with the UQ student chapter of Engineers Without Borders; UQ Innovate (an on-campus maker space facility); and the UQ Sustainability office.
The Repair Café elevates circular economy principles out of sustainability theory and into a real-life learning environment. Covid supply chain issues have strengthened a local desire for self-reliance and waste reduction, and these events enable students and staff to gain practical skills that foster long-term reuse and recycling behavioural change.
University of Tasmania
Landcare Society – caring for the environment and community
The Tasmanian University and Community Landcare Society (the Landcare Society) is an initiative that connects students with volunteer land management and restoration opportunities across Tasmania, to create resilience in our landscapes and in our communities. The purpose of the initiative is to provide opportunities for students at the University of Tasmania to get involved in hands-on, on-ground environmental restoration work across the state. Since the project began in 2019 the Landcare Society has hosted over fifty events, supported more than 30 individual Landcare groups, worked with three local councils, co-hosted community engagement events with five other UTAS university societies, worked on eight different agricultural properties, and have engaged a total of 968 UTAS students across all our activities.
