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Celebrating a year of sustainability achievements

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A large crowd sit for the panel event at the Sustainability Celebration

On Monday 24th June, the Sustainability Service hosted a celebration to acknowledge staff, partners, and community members who go above and beyond to embed sustainability in everything they do. 

The Sustainability Service is a team dedicated to helping deliver a more socially and environmentally responsible University, and its partnerships with teams and individuals from across the University and with the local community are essential to creating positive change.   

The event was designed to bring together our thriving University of Leeds sustainability community to celebrate the achievements of the academic year. Attendees included Staff and Student Sustainability Architects, Blueprint teams and colleagues within the Sustainable Labs and Sustainable Curriculum communities, as well as some of our valued partners in the local community and interested colleagues from across the University. 

Talks and panel discussions

A panel of staff, students, and community members speak at the Sustainability Celebration

Talks from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development and Thom Cooper, Head of Sustainability, opened the event and focused on the importance of collaboration and courage when tacking sustainability challenges. 

Sustainability Engagement Manager, Jane Dickinson then led an inspiring panel, made up of Student Sustainability Architect Fatema Al Shirawi, Research Fellow in Urban Climate Action Amelia Duncan, Manager of Cardigan Community Centre Cllr Abdul Hannan and LUBS Professor Vera Trappmann. Topics of discussion in the panel included this year’s Student Sustainability Research Conference, reducing waste during the student tenancy changeover period, and slow travel initiatives.  

This part of the event was closed with an inspiring performance by writer, spoken word artist and University of Leeds alum Simone Yasmin. 

Networking and showcase

During a plant-based buffet and networking opportunity, staff and members of the community were then invited to showcase their highlights of the year.

A group of community members smiling at the camera.

Attendees were able to explore posters and stalls including those sharing projects from our 2023-24 cohort of Student Sustainability Architects, our Blueprint teams and community partners including the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, OWLS (Older Wiser Local Seniors) and Left Bank Leeds.  There was also the opportunity to test out some of the inspiring technology within HELIX such as a virtual reality experience.

An attendee tries the VR experience. They are wearing a white headset.

Local artist Vicky Hughes coordinated a collaborative art piece as well as capturing a visual summary of the event.

Artistic interpretation of the celebration. The art includes a drawing of the panel members, and recaps what they discussed. This includes bubble writing talking about the importance of collaboration.

Sustainability Engagement Manager Jane Dickinson said of the event: 

The celebration was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on sustainability successes from just our own team but from elsewhere across the university. And for the first time we welcomed some of our community partners and were able to celebrate their successes too. Our panel guests gave an excellent insight into some of their thoughts, concerns and challenges, as well as some amazing success stories. The highlight for me was the incredible spoken word poems from local artist Simone, who provided a moving and thought-provoking addition to an excellent timetable of events. 

Thank you to every who contributed to the event, and who has contributed to embedding sustainability across the University in the 2023-24 academic year. We look forward to our sustainability community growing further in 2024-25!