Forth Valley College have been selected as a finalist at the Green Gown UK and Ireland awards for the third time in four years.
The College is down to the last seven in the Campus Health Food and Drink category, and is a finalist alongside Cambridge, Liverpool, Southampton, Sussex and Cardiff Universities as well as Imperial College London.
This year's shortlist consists of 133 finalists from 84 institutions. Finalists are now invited to submit their stage two applications with judging taking place in October.
The College were also Green Gowns finalists in 2021 and 2023, but just missed out on picking up the top awards.
This year, the winners will be announced at the Green Gowns Awards Ceremony at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on 13 November, following the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) Scotland conference. The evening will be hosted by Charlotte Bonner from EAUC and Jo Allatt from UKRI as they celebrate 20 years of the Green Gown Awards!
FVC’s submission focused on their recent work with Forth Valley Food Futures and Forth Valley Food and Drink. The College was one of several case studies who were highlighted within the project, which had a primary aim to help develop the social impact auditing tool.
Together, this has helped to produce the UK’s first social impact auditing tool for the food and drink industry - a methodology allowing businesses and institutions to better understand their own contributions toward social sustainability. Published in May 2024 this is now available to food and drink businesses and institutions to use for free.
Through Forth Valley College’s involvement trialling this new methodology, the College has gained a valuable understanding of how its own food and drink provision across the institution contributes to social impacts.
This has helped to better understand and collate many of the positive impacts already in place, such as reducing waste, and to identify further improvements which the College has taken such as the free ‘Food to Go’ project for students.
Judges were impressed by the reduction on food waste and the sound implementation of a range of environmentally and socially responsible options including the overall engagement with students and staff.
Established in 2004, the UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities, colleges and other institutions in the post-16 education sector. With sustainability high on the agenda for many institutions, the Awards have become established as the most prestigious recognition of best practice within the sector. The Green Gown Awards are administered by EAUC.
Kenny MacInnes, Forth Valley College Principal, said: “We are delighted to be recognised once again by the Judges at the Green Gowns Awards for our work in relation to sustainability. Well done to everyone in the Hospitality and Estates Department who have contributed to this great submission, working with our partners in the Forth Valley Food Futures and Forth Valley Food and Drink organisations.
“Hopefully, this year at the 20th Green Gowns Awards ceremony, it will be third time lucky for Forth Valley College and we will take home the top prize. We do know it will be tough as we are up against some excellent submissions in our category, but we are certainly not out of place among the nominees.”
Charlotte Bonner, CEO of EAUC, said: "As EAUC celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, so too does the Green Gown Awards. The Awards continue to recognise, celebrate, and share the most impactful and innovative sustainability action across the post-16 education sector. We are thrilled to announce the finalists for the Green Gown Awards UK & Ireland, showcasing the exceptional sustainability initiatives from our higher and further education institutions. This year, we saw a remarkable increase in applications, highlighting the growing commitment to sustainability across the sector. We look forward to celebrating the achievements of these institutions at our Awards Ceremony on November 13 at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh."
Susan Simon, UKRI Environmental Sustainability Programme Director, said: “The Green Gown Awards are consistently demonstrating the commitment of the research community to tackling the impact of science on the environment. Each year we are presented with new, innovative and inspirational projects nominated for these awards. We look forward to following the progress of another exceptional set of projects tackling this important global issue.”