Double Gold for UCL East in the UCL Sustainability Awards

Two teams from UCL East were amongst those winning Gold in this year’s UCL Sustainability Awards, which for the first time were held on our UCL East campus in glorious sunny weather on 9 July with guests gathering for the ceremony on our 7th floor Staff Common Room Terrace.

Dr Izzy Bishop took home one of the top accolades with the Sustainability Education Award going to the UCL People and Nature Lab team based at One Pool Street for launching UCL’s first 'Sustainable Stand-Up' course, using comedy to make climate education more accessible and emotionally resonant across the university.

Having completed a stand-up training course herself in 2018, Dr Bishop realised how much it had changed her own approach to teaching and science communications and wanted to bring that back to UCL, which she did with support from the UCL Grand Challenges initiative.

Dr Bishop said:

“It’s wonderful to receive a UCL Sustainability award, particularly as the result of nominations from students.

“Sustainable Stand Up was a real team effort from the students and my collaborators Belina Raffy and Tannis Davidson, so I’m very much accepting the award on their behalf. The ceremony was a fantastic way to celebrate a huge range of impressive sustainability initiatives across UCL, and it was an honour to be a part of it.”

Meanwhile, the UCL East Libraries team were proud to receive a Green Impact Gold Award for a display which ran in March this year around sustainability and the following themes:

• Gardens and gardening. 
• Nature and sustainability. 
• Green spaces. 
• Biodiversity. 

The team also put together posters that spotlighted community gardens around UCL East, the benefits of gardening and local sustainability related events.

They also created a digital pinboard using Padlet where they encouraged the UCL East community to post their favourite gardens, parks or plants for everyone to see.

Igho Wekpe, UCL East Library Manager was delighted to see this work recognised:

“I’m so proud that we’ve received the Gold Green Impact Award for the second year running — especially as a relatively new team still developing our presence at Marshgate.

“This has been a real team effort, driven by creativity, care, and a shared commitment to sustainability. It’s encouraging to see what we can achieve together as we continue to grow and shape our service.”

Overall the judges were impressed across the board with the UCL East community’s support for green initiatives over the last year.

They flagged how both teams had built on their hard work from last year, achieving the Gold award by completing criteria involving actions such as identifying key local sustainability challenges, taking part in UCL’s Project Period, working with student ambassadors, ensuring sustainable procurement, and creating biodiverse space on campus.

Auditors said they were particularly impressed by the People and Nature Lab’s efforts in communication and outreach, and the UCL East Library team’s Nature and Sustainability display,  which they said contained various resources encouraging viewers to get involved in gardening and explore their nearby green spaces.

Congratulations to all those who supported green impact initiatives and the awards this year. Here’s to making an even bigger impact in 2026!

Learn more about the 2025 UCL Sustainability Award winners