Bedfordshire's Sustainability Forum is a cross-disciplinary community which shares teaching ideas and works to engage students to construct healthy futures for themselves, their communities and the planet.

This Bedfordshire team is one of 15 institutions to make the shortlist. If chosen as a winner, the University will be awarded a grant worth £15,000 to share the learning of the Sustainability Forum.

The CATE celebrates collaborative work in teaching and learning and seeks to capture creative and innovative practices that impact positively on the student learning experience.

Dr Diana Pritchard, Principal Curriculum Developer at the University and coordinator of the Sustainability Forum, said: “Working collaboratively across disciplines and involving practitioners from beyond the University has enabled us in the forum to be innovative in creating interesting learning experiences for students.

“Through our University-wide activities students have become aware of the relevance of their courses to real life and shared challenges that our communities and societies face. Engaging with professionals who work in public and private sectors also highlights for students a range of work and career opportunities relating to sustainability.”

The University of Bedfordshire is currently ranked eleventh in the UK-wide People and Planet Green League table. 

Bedfordshire’s Vice Chancellor Bill Rammell said: “At Bedfordshire we are committed to excellence in teaching and I would like to congratulate the team for this fantastic achievement. Sustainability is a priority for the University and the work of the Forum is key to help us share the importance is sustainability to our students and our communities.”

The six winning teams will be announced at the black tie event held in Westminster on 1 November.

The core members of the Sustainability Forum are:

• Dr Tamara Ashley, Dance Performance
• Dr Helen Connolly, Sociology
• David Jazani, Construction
• Dr Diana Pritchard, Centre for Learning Excellence
• Dr Nicolas Worsfold, Biological Science

Photo caption:

Front row, left to right: Dr Diana Pritchard & Dr Helen Connolly
Back row, left to right: Dr Nicolas Worsfold, David Jazani & Dr Tamara Ashley