International Judges

The judging panel are representatives of sector organisations and/or specialists in a particular area and represent international regions.

It is their substantial experience in the sector that truly makes the International Green Gown Awards sector owned.

Each of our partner organisations provides at least one representative to be a judge, as well as other invited guest judges:

• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN)
• AALTO public research university (AALTO)
• Allianz Global Investors
• Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)
• Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS)
• British Council
• British Embassy Hanoi
• COPERNICUS Alliance
• Centre for Sustainability Solutions
• EAUC
• Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)
• German Society for Sustainability at Higher Education Institutions (DG HochN)
• Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI)
• International Association of Universities (IAU)
• International Green Gown Awards Alumni
• L’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)
• Nature Positive Universities
• Network of Networks
• Race to Zero
• SOS-International
• The Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
• World Benchmarking Alliance

Judging Process

Each partner organisation nominates a representative of their organisation to be a judge. Each category has a Chair.

All judges are checked to ensure no conflict of interests with the applicants. If there is any conflict of interest the judges are asked not to judge that category or that application depending on the nature of the conflict.

All applications are checked by the International Green Gown Awards secretariat in terms of application length, correct information submitted etc.

The judges are sent all of the applications that are eligible. They are asked to complete a scorecard and submit this to the International Green Gown Awards secretariat. 

The judging consists of two stages of virtual judging sessions. Stage 1 selects the finalists. Stage 2 selects the winners and highly commended. 

The regional award winners from the UK & Ireland Green Gown Awards and the Green Gown Awards Australasia, are automatically entered as finalists and undergo the same judging process as all International finalists. 

Judging Criteria

The stage 1 International Green Gown Awards are judged separately to the regional awards. Those selected are know as the international finalists. The winners of the regional awards are then judged together with the international finalists. The judging criteria for the International Green Gown Awards are based on the stage 1 submission, answers to judges' questions, and the stage 2 submission. There is no additional information in the form of brochures or printed materials. 

Category Criteria 

Guidance Notes and Scoring

Judges also think about: 

• The broader significance for the sector (e.g. originality, innovation/best practice within the sector, pathfinder status)
• The quality and reliability of evidence supporting the claims being made (e.g. quantitative evidence of benefits and outcomes)
• Unusual features which make the application ‘stand out from the crowd’ (e.g. extraordinary commitment and impact of a member of staff, quirky responses to topics that are sometimes seen as boring).
• The local environment and country of the Project (e.g. be sensitive to local cultures and different challenges)

Based on the above criteria, judges decide on a winner for each category. Ideally we would like to have the winners across a varied geographical location; however, the winning applicant is to be chosen based purely on its merit.

The only exception to this rule is where judges will have to:

Distinguish between small and large institutions, judges will have the discretion to award up to TWO winners. (Small institutions are those with an annual turnover of US$50 million or below.) However, this will only be done when applications are of a high quality and is not mandatory for judges to do so.