The Awards were opened by Sara Lynch, Head of Sustainability at Queen's, and certificates were presented by Professor Alan Stitt, Academic Sponsor of the LEAF Programme.

Queen's University is committed to embedding sustainability across our teaching, research and operations. As a result, the LEAF Programme launched in 2022, with 12 labs taking part. This year saw 31 labs achieving accreditation, with five of the labs gaining silver accreditation. Twenty seven labs were accredited within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, with Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences receiving certification for four of their labs.

The LEAF programme provides technicians and students with the information and support needed to implement sustainability actions within labs across campus. Labs are peer-audited to ensure sustainability criteria is achieved, with criteria focusing on waste management, procurement, equipment efficiency and chemical management.

A new award, Queen's LEAF Sustainability Champion, was created to recognise exemplary actions undertaken by an individual to support the delivery of the LEAF Programme and implement sustainability practices within labs. This year it was awarded to Jim Sloan, a Technician within the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine (WWIEM), who was instrumental in ensuring all labs within WWIEM achieved LEAF accreditation.

Commenting on the LEAF programme and awards, Sara Lynch, Head of Sustainability at Queen's, said: 

As a leading international university and an anchor institution regionally, we have a responsibility to lead the way in tackling climate change and to demonstrate this more visibly through our teaching, research and operations.

Delivering on our net zero commitment will require us to integrate climate action into all that we do as a university – from how we operate our buildings, to how we travel, what we buy, what we build and how we undertake research.

The LEAF programme is a key part of our Net Zero plan – focusing on embedding good sustainable practices across our lab activities.

Congratulations to all this year's participants – particularly our technicians – their support, enthusiasm and commitment to the programme has been critical to its success.