As the world finds itself in unprecedented times, the Green Gown Awards have a place to highlight and celebrate the exemplary, and often overlooked, efforts of students and institutions as they undertake inspiring work to tackle the global climate action agenda.

The Green Gown Awards occupy a very special place. They force us to ask what our institutions are doing well, and, of course, what they could be doing better. They raise the bar. And right now, importantly, they are the opportunity, in the months and years to come, as we recover from the most shocking pandemic in living memory, to tell the story of how UK and Irish institutions have collaborated to build back better and play a pivotal and leading role in tackling climate action, in even these most challenging of times. We are united as a sector to take climate action now.

A strong ethos of the Green Gown Awards is that they are free for institutions to enter. Due to the pandemic we have extended the Awards programme to allow institutions more time to take part and we will be holding a virtual Awards Ceremony. Again we are making the Awards Ceremony free to attend but we do ask for a donation to help us to continue running the Green Gown Awards. The main source of income we receive to run the Green Gown Awards programme comes from the Awards Ceremony. Whilst we will not incur costs from a venue, we still have costs to run the Awards programme and host a virtual Awards Ceremony. We truly appreciate any donation you can make, no matter how small. All donations will go towards the Green Gown Awards programme. We thank you for your support so we can continue to celebrate sustainability excellence in higher and further education.