The results for the 2020 Gibraltar Sustainability Awards were announced at a ceremony broadcast by GBC TV on Wednesday 14th October.
The Awards are informed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and celebrate local and regional best practice. They recognise the efforts taking place in Gibraltar, to address these goals across a number of sectors and groups.
On the 8th September, finalists were named across 12 categories including: education; planning, design and construction; sports and leisure; technology; business; community engagement; events, and food. The Awards were also seeking to identify Gibraltar’s 2020 Young Champion for Sustainability and the recipient of the Minister’s Future Generations Award.
The international judging panel was composed of sustainability professionals based in Australia, Lebanon, Singapore, Spain, Wales, South Africa as well as Guernsey and Gibraltar. They were asked to review and rank the submissions.
Finalists submitted short videoclips that captured their concerns and achievements. These built upon the detailed application submitted. Judges commented how the videos brought alive some of the realities as well as the value of these initiatives - making the Awards even more competitive and decisions even harder.
One of the judges, Kim Loddo, a Gibraltarian and director of Inglis Badrashi Loddo Architects UK, explains: “Making recommendations was a hard task and there clearly is a lot of work being done in the local community to promote and embed sustainable practices and to respond to climate change as robustly as possible. In my opinion, and without exception, all the shortlisted teams, should be very proud of the positive impact they are having”.
The trophies commissioned as the Awards were original handcrafted pieces made by out of repurposed materials, in keeping with the sustainability commitments being made by the nominees.
Minister for the Environment and Sustainability, Prof John Cortes added: “We thank the artists that carefully crafted the Awards as well as all those who nominated and submitted entries for the awards. The Awards drew attention to the diversity of initiatives across our community that are seeking to build a better future. We hope that by recognising and sharing this best practice we can inspire others to take on practical and relevant steps in support of sustainability”.
Professor Daniella Tilbury, Commissioner for Sustainable Development and Future Generations, was very grateful to all: “It is important to celebrate achievement but also to scale up the adoption of sustainability. There is an urgency which requires us all to get involved as well as to rethink our engagement with people with planet. We must encourage a move away from single actions to embracing more sustainable lifestyles and professional responsibilities. I am very grateful to the youth groups, community action groups, NGOs, associations, clubs, schools and businesses that are tackling sustainability issues head-on”.
The Kusuma Trust Gibraltar is the main sponsor of the 2020 Gibraltar Sustainability Awards. The ceremony was produced and broadcast by GBC TV following the need to reschedule the live event due to Covid restrictions. The Commissioner expressed her thanks to these partners for making the Awards ceremony possible.
The Awards are offered by the Office of the Commissioner for Sustainable Development and Future Generations which has responsibility to scale-up the adoption of sustainability in Gibraltar. For further information please visit the Awards webpages.
RESULTS
1. ENGAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY (COMMUNITY)
The 2020 winner: Action for Housing and GBC Viewpoint Programme
2. SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY
The 2020 winner: Girls In Tech
3. EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY
The 2020 winner: St Bernards First School Runner-up: Marlene Dalli
4. SUSTAINABLE EVENTS
The 2020 winner: Gibraltar 2019 NatWest International Island Games
5. SUSTAINABLE FOOD
The 2020 winner: Calentita Festival
6. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
The 2020 winner: Gibraltar Shine Easy Ltd Runner-up: TSN
7. SUSTAINABLE ENGAGEMENT (Business)
The 2020 joint winners: Chestertons and Carmel Khalilian Runner-up: OTWO
8. REGIONAL IMPACT
The 2020 winner: Instituto de Estudios Campogibraltareños
9. PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION:
The 2020 winner: North Gorge Ltd Runner-Up: GCArchitects, E&M Engineers Ltd, Carduus and Casais
10. SUSTAINABILITY IN SPORT AND LEISURE:
The 2020 winner: Gibraltar 2019 NatWest International Island Games Runner-up: Europa Football Club
11. MINISTER’S FUTURE GENERATIONS AWARD: The finalists:
The 2020 joint winners are: #GibraltarSchoolStrike4Climate and Joyful Riot
12. GIBRALTAR’s 2020 YOUNG CHAMPION
The 2020 Young Champion is Iona Sacarello