Castlebar campus shortlisted for Future Friendly award

Author: Press Office

Date Article Written Friday 12th August 2011

GMIT Castlebar has been shortlisted for a Future Friendly Award for its work as an An Taisce Green Campus and for achieving Green Flag status earlier this year. The Castlebar campus is one of five "community groups" in the Republic of Ireland shortlisted for the prestigious environmental award.

Future Friendly is a consumer education programme, supported by leading sustainability experts, that seeks to inspire and enable people around the country to contribute towards a more sustainable way of living. The Community Award category involves a group of four or more people who are working on sustainability projects in their local area.

Members of the public can vote for GMIT Castlebar online at www.futurefriendly.ie until 21st  August. A panel of expert judges will then select one national winner to receive the top prize of £10,000 in funding to help support their project. The winner will be announced at the Future Friends Awards event in London in September.

GMIT Castlebar made the Future Friendly shortlist for implementing a wide range of Green initiatives on campus and becoming the first Institute of Technology in Ireland to achieve the coveted international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) Green Campus Flag and certificate. Students and staff worked together to implement the changes on campus.

Lynda Huxley, GMIT Green Campus Committee Chairperson, hopes the public in Mayo will get behind the campus and vote for GMIT Castlebar. “We would like to encourage local people to vote for Green Campus by going online to www.futurefriendly.ie. Whoever gets the highest vote wins a £1,000 bursary,” explains Lynda Huxley.

“Our campus has made huge strides in energy and water conservation, litter and recycling and CO2 savings in the past two years. We are also currently working towards completing initiatives in the areas of Biodiversity and Transport.”

For further information on the work of the GMIT Castlebar Green Campus Committee, please contact Lynda Huxley, email Lynda.Huxley@gmit.ie or visits www.gmit.ie