TU Dublin Students Win First Place for Sustainability Leadership and Food Waste Innovation at Green Gown Awards
TU Dublin students celebrated remarkable success at the prestigious Ireland and UK Green Gown Awards, held in Birmingham, where the University achieved outstanding recognition for its commitment to sustainability and social impact.
The TU Dublin Food Pantry was awarded First Prize for Creating Impact, recognising its powerful contribution to student wellbeing and sustainability across campus. As the winner in the UK & Ireland region in this category, TU Dublin will now automatically qualify for the International Green Gown Awards in the Creating Impact category.
Fighting Food Waste, Feeding Student Futures
TU Dublin Food Pantry is a student-powered food redistribution initiative tackling food waste and student hunger on Irish campuses. It collects surplus food from FoodCloud (surplus food redistributor) and redistributes it to students facing food insecurity. The project has saved over 2,000 kg of food, prevented more than 3,200 kg of CO₂ emissions, and supported over 1,000 students with nutritious, affordable meals - all in under a year. Built on a model of collaboration and engagement, Food Pantry unites students, staff, and partners like FoodCloud and the Student St Vincent de Paul Society through volunteering, awareness campaigns, and community events. A custom app is in development to streamline logistics and enhance accessibility. Food Pantry inspires a culture of sustainability from the ground up, proving that real change begins with empowered students. Its scalable model makes it a blueprint for green innovation and student-led social impact across higher education institutes.
The elements that appealed to the judges were “the student led, strategic and cross-campus collaborative focus as well as engaging in the community - linking to education, research, wider skills and SDGs than just food.”
For more on this project see here.
In addition, Charlie Beaudelot was named Student Sustainability Champion of the Year, a phenomenal personal achievement that highlights their dedication to environmental action and student engagement.
Charlie is a passionate youth advocate for sustainability and social justice. Charlie has extensive volunteering experience with Plan International (humanitarian organisation advancing children’s rights and equality for girls), the National Youth Council of Ireland, and SpunOut, working to empower young people.
Charlie is the College Outreach Officer for the Aisha AED Initiative, a community-based initiative raising funds to increase the number of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in communities while promoting heart health education. Charlie implemented their Recycle to Revive campaign to TU Dublin where each can donated via the Deposit Return Scheme goes towards CPR training for students.
Charlie was also selected to be a Student Champion under the theme of Education for Sustainability on the technological university sector’s N-TUTORR programme for TU Dublin. As part of this role Charlie hosted the panel discussion at the national Student Climate Summit, a role that requires skill, expertise, knowledge and excellent people skills.
What the judges said:
“Charlie's application showed a brilliant grasp of multiple sustainability issues: food waste, circular economy, fast fashion and campaigning - we commend Charlie for their vocal campaigning, writing and activism”
TU Dublin student Faith Omatayo attended on behalf of TrailblazHer, which was shortlisted for an award.
TU Dublin also received two Highly Commended awards:
- Benefitting Society – MA in Art and the Environment (Sherkin Island - Artist and Lecturer Glenn Loughran)
- Reporting with Influence – Climate Action Roadmap (Rosie Webb, Sustainability)
Established in 2004, the Green Gown Awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland. With sustainability now high on the agenda for many institutions, the awards have become established as one of the most prestigious recognitions of best practice within the further and higher education sector.