International recognition for University’s green initiatives
2 December 2020
The University of Newcastle has been awarded three of the eight 2020 Australasian ‘Green Gown Awards’ in the categories of Climate Action, Benefiting Society and Student Engagement.
The institution’s efforts to become a carbon-neutral university, improve physical and mental wellbeing of girls and create better spaces for disadvantaged women and children have all been recognised by the Awards organiser, Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS).
The winning entries from the University of Newcastle were:
- ‘Sustainability Reimagined’ by the Infrastructure and Facilities Services team in the 2030 Climate Action category
- ‘Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered’ by the School of Education in the Benefitting Society category
- ‘out(fit)’ by the School of Architecture and Built Environment in the Student Engagement category
Both the ‘Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered’ and ‘out(fit)’ entries were winners in international categories and will go on to be considered for the International Awards to be held next year.
Two other programs from the University of Newcastle were shortlisted as Finalists:
- ‘Hunter Water Story’ by the School of Education in the Benefitting Society category
- ‘Germinate – May Contain Seeds’ by the School of Architecture in the Creating Impact category
University of Newcastle Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Excellence, Professor Jennifer Milam, congratulated the winners.
“I’m incredibly proud of the five teams for being chosen as finalists – the fact that three of those teams won in their categories is a bonus. These initiatives are a great demonstration of our commitment to sustainability as well as an inspiring example for our students,” said Professor Milam.
“Each project displayed a high degree of innovation and all of them involved meaningful engagement with various communities during their inception and development.”
The Green Gown Awards represent the most prestigious recognition of sustainability activities within the tertiary education sector. The Australasian Awards, open to all tertiary education institutions in Australia and New Zealand, were started in 2004 and brought to Australasia in 2010 to inspire, promote and support change towards best practice sustainability.
The full list of winners and highly commended is available on the Green Gown Awards website.
Further detail on all University of Newcastle finalists:
Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered
Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered is a community-based education program targeting fathers/father-figures to improve their daughters’ physical activity levels and social-emotional wellbeing. Importantly, this innovative program also addresses and challenges the culture of gender prejudice existing in girls’ lives.
Using innovative collaborations with local schools and industry partners, results have been overwhelmingly positive with significant long-term health improvements achieved. Since its development in 2014, the program has led to $4.1 million in research funding and seen delivery to 790 daughters and 678 fathers in various sports across NSW and in the UK.
In addition, a highly innovative University course has taught over 190 preservice and in-service teachers to deliver the program; creating wide-ranging education and community benefits through improved teaching practices and holistic outcomes for children and the wider community.
