Shipley College Wins International Green Gown Award

Shipley College came out a winner in the 2024 International Green Gown Awards, as a Highly Commended organisation in the Creating Impact category.

Being one of the smallest colleges in the UK, the college was up against projects from across the globe in the category of ‘Creating Impact’ - ‘A large Sustainable Development Goals impact in the smallest FE College’, and had already been successful with the collaborative project with the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges in 2023 with a UK and Ireland award.

Shipley College was shortlisted along with twelve institutions including universities in Canada, Malaysia and Australia and was the only UK finalist in this category.

Greg O’Shea, Vice Principal - Curriculum and Quality at Shipley College said, "Working in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire, we cherish our history and safeguard its future by nurturing the next generation of ‘SDG difference makers’. It’s with immense pride that we accept this award on behalf of our students, staff and employer partners – whose selfless actions made this possible."

A large SDG impact in the smallest FE College

Shipley College has been leading on an SDG training project with the West Yorkshire Consortium of College. Throughout the year the college provided technical guidance and mentorship to other colleges around the West Yorkshire region.

Seven colleges participated in the project and a small selection of SDG champions undertook an SDG training session, facilitated by Shipley College. The SDG champions then had the knowledge and understanding to cascade the training to other staff and students in their colleges. Each college has taken a bespoke approach, which means that colleges have created an ongoing impact on the majority of the SDGs. To date, more than 2,000 staff and students have gained an understanding of the SDGs.

(Pictured - the SDG Champions Group with representation from colleges across West Yorkshire and WYCC at a network meeting early in the project)

What the Judges Thought

This project by Shipley College stands out as exceptional for its impactful leadership in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) training. It is a great example of a collaborative initiative which has led to impact being demonstrated across the sector. It is applicable and could create great impact for the sector due to it's cascading model of empowerment and knowledge transfer and could have the potential to support many more in creating meaningful and ongoing impact on the SDG's ahead of their 2030 timeframe.

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.

Find out more about the award and the project.