• Charles Sturt named finalist in two categories in the 2019 Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability Green Gown Awards
• University a top contender for the 'Continuous Improvement: Institutional Change' category and 'Learning, Teaching and Skills' category
• Awards recognise excellence in sustainability within the tertiary education sector, with winners announced Thursday 14 November

Charles Sturt University (Charles Sturt) has been named a finalist in two categories in the 2019 Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) Green Gown Awards.

The award program, now in its 10^th year, is the only award program to recognise and reward excellence and best practice in sustainability within the tertiary education sector in Australasia.

Charles Sturt is one of only two tertiary education providers to be named a finalist in two award categories.

The University is a finalist in the ‘Continuous Improvement: Institutional Change’ category, which recognises Charles Sturt’s ongoing commitment to improving sustainability across the entire institution.

The second category Charles Sturt is a top contender for is the ‘Learning, Teaching and Skills’ category, which recognises the University’s commitment to embedding sustainability-related skills and capabilities across all undergraduate courses and subjects.

Speaking of the University’s position as a two-category finalist, CSU Green manager Mr Ed Maher said it is an honour for the University as the ACTS Green Gown Awards is the most prestigious recognition of best practice in sustainability within the tertiary education sector in Australasia.

“Being named a finalist in two categories is a testament to Charles Sturt University’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, and demonstrates the University is an industry leader in sustainable practices,” Mr Maher said.

“It also reflects the tremendous efforts of the University’s staff to ensure sustainability-related outcomes are becoming embedded across the entire University, in everything we do, from our courses and subjects to our initiatives, programs, and policies.”

Charles Sturt’s nomination for the Continuous Improvement category recognises a number of the University’s sustainability-related achievements, including the integration of the Learning in Future Environments (LiFE) index across the University’s operations, which set the path for an ongoing commitment towards sustainability.

Additional achievements for the University cited in this category include: being the first university to be certified carbon neutral in Australia; establishing one of Australia’s largest roof-top solar energy systems by 2019; investing one million dollars in Charles Sturt’s sustainability and research grants programs between 2009 and 2019; and developing a university-wide research narrative framed around the mission to ‘create a world worth living in’.

Charles Sturt’s decision to integrate sustainability-related capabilities and content into the University’s Graduate Learning Outcomes, which apply to all undergraduate courses and subjects and aim to ensure graduates will apply sustainability practically throughout their careers, was also cited as a headlining achievement in both category nominations.

The winners of this year’s ACTS Green Gown Awards will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 14 November.

The ceremony is part of the 19^th International ACTS Conference being hosted this year by the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Charles Sturt was previously awarded a Green Gown Award in 2011 for ‘sustainability excellence’ and again in 2016 for ‘carbon reduction’.

CSU Green is Charles Sturt’s program and business area dedicated to driving the University’s commitment to creating a sustainable future for all.