DMU named one of UK's most eco-friendly unis for third year running

For the third year in a row, De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has reached the finals of a competition to reward Britain’s greenest universities.

The Green Gown Awards recognise exceptional work done to save energy and promote sustainable practices in universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland.

This week DMU was announced as a finalist in the Sustainable Reporting category, a new award to recognise those institutions that share information about green schemes on campus in an engaging and inspiring way.

And this year, the DMU team will not have as far to travel to attend the awards ceremony, as it is being held in Leicester. DMU and the University of Leicester have teamed up to host the Green Gowns at the city’s Athena venue on 10 November.  

Karl Letten, Environment and Sustainability Officer, said: “Being a finalist in the Green Gown Awards 2016 for Sustainability Reporting is very exciting.

“DMU has always done well at the Green Gown Awards with several of its projects being recognised as sector leading but to actually have the way we report our sustainability performance recognised in this way is tremendous news.

“We try to make our reporting as transparent and engaging as possible as sustainability is an issue which our staff and our students know is important”.  

Nolan Smith, Director of Finance,Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), praised all the 2016 finalists, adding: ““This is such an important area for institutions in terms of reducing environmental impact, improving student experience and making financial savings.”

Last year, DMU’s work which transformed lives for thousands of villagers in remote parts of South Asia was named the best green energy scheme run by a university anywhere in the world.

The OASYS – Off-grid Access Systems for South Asia – project has provided reliable electricity supply to about 5,000 households using solar power. 

It took the top spot in the Community Innovation category of the Green Gowns Awards 2015 - and then went on to win the International award too, judged against work being carried out in universities worldwide. 

The project is led by Professor Subhes Bhattacharyya, Professor of Energy Economics and Policy, and involves a collaboration of British and Indian researchers.