External awards and recognition
The University of Edinburgh’s efforts continue to be recognised across a range of social responsibility and sustainability topics.
NUS Green Impact Awards 2015
The efforts of staff and students were celebrated by the National Union of Students with Net Impact Edinburgh winning the NUS Innovation for Engagement Award for running the Edinburgh Sustainability Jam.
David Somervell won the NUS Lifetime Achievement Award for service to sustainability and student engagement in the higher education sector. Hassan Waheed, an undergraduate in Sustainable Development, was highly commended in the IEMA Student Leadership award for being involved in a range of sustainability initiatives at the University.
Tim Calder of the School of Chemistry was highly commended in the Environmental Improvement Award for helping the school become the first user of Terracycle’s Nitrile/Latex glove recycling scheme.
NUS Responsible Futures
The University, in partnership with the Edinburgh University Students’ Association were awarded the NUS Responsible Futures accreditation.
Thirteen institutions across the United Kingdom took part in the Responsible Futures pilot in 2015, all demonstrating their commitment to creating an environment in education for sustainable development to thrive.
Key to this was providing students more opportunities to leave their institutions with the knowledge, skills and attributes required to critically challenge the world around them.
Athena SWAN
The University has been a member of the Athena SWAN charter since 2006 and in
2015 became the first in Scotland to receive a University-wide Silver Award. All Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) departments currently hold awards at Bronze level or above.
All University departments are now eligible to apply for an award under the new Athena SWAN remit to encompass arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law. These departments will submit in 2015/16.
Fairtrade Special Recognition Award
The Scottish Fair Trade Forum presented the University with a Special Recognition Award for its commitment to fair trade in academic work and procurement. The award recognises that the University has made an outstanding commitment to fair trade and has made consistent and significant achievements through fair trade campaigning. Edinburgh became a Fairtrade University in 2004 and recently celebrated its ten year commitment to fair trade.