Award submissions are now open for the All-Ireland Sustainability Awards, which were launched this morning at the Europa Hotel, Belfast.

With sustainability and the net-zero agenda firmly on the radar for everyone, the race is now on to find the best examples of sustainability, to be celebrated at an awards evening hosted by Barra Best in the Grand Ballroom of the Europa Hotel on October 5th, 2023.

This year’s awards are organised by All-Ireland Sustainability in partnership with Everun, and sponsors include Visit Belfast, International Synergies NI, Danske, NIE Networks, Veri Connect and Ulster Bank.

There are 14 awards being presented on the evening with 13 categories open for nomination to represent the wider sustainability agenda, these include: 

  • Agri-Food Initiative of the Year
  • Biodiversity Initiative of the Year
  • Young Changemaker of the Year
  • Housing / Buildings Initiative
  • Consultant / Consultancy of the Year
  • Waste, Resource Management & Circular Economy Initiative of the Year Food 
  • Waste Reduction Initiative of the Year
  • Energy Initiative / Project of the Year
  • Green Exporter of the Year
  • Net-Zero Initiative of the Year
  • Green Marketing / Stakeholder Engagement Initiative of the Year
  • Social Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year
  • Sustainable Tourism & Hospitality Initiative of the Year

There is also the Overall Winner of the Year 2023, which will be the final award of the evening. This prestigious title will go to one business, selected from all the category winners of the evening, to be awarded the most Sustainable Business of the Year 2023.

Danielle McCormick, of Triterra and founder of All-Ireland Sustainability, explained: “All-Ireland Sustainability began in November 2020 with our free online networking group, the goal of which was to drive the sustainability agenda, and positive change, across the region, share best practice and learnings and create collaboration opportunities. I am proud to say that the Network now has 400 members across NI and Ireland, we have run two All-Ireland Sustainability Summits in 2022 and are now looking forward to delivering our first Awards event in October.

Ross Moffett, Sales & Business Development Director at Everun, adds “We are delighted to partner in the inaugural All-Ireland Sustainability Awards this October as the ethos of these events was a natural fit with our own. 

‘At Everun we are focused on helping our customers become more sustainable through reducing energy consumption, and we felt that the awards were a fantastic opportunity to recognise all the great work being achieved across the island of Ireland to drive and accelerate positive change across the sustainability agenda. 

We are looking forward to being involved in the judging process and can’t wait to hear more about the individuals and organisations making a difference across this year’s categories.”

The awards are completely free to enter, and individuals can nominate themselves, their organisation, or a colleague for an award. Entries are now open and will remain open until the August 15th with finalists expected to be announced week commencing the 4th of September.

Danielle ends by commenting “We are extremely grateful to all of our sponsors and partners, without whom the awards evening simply wouldn’t be possible, and are absolutely thrilled to have young and upcoming Northern Irish artist, Ruthie Stewart, design a unique trophy especially for our event.

“We have an absolutely amazing evening organised up for our guests, including a super line-up of local musicians and entertainment, as well as a local produce menu designed by the Europa team for guests to enjoy on the night. We’re delighted to have entries now open and to celebrate all exciting and innovative sustainable developments at our awards event in October.”

Award categories, nomination forms and further details can be found at: https://www.allirelandsustainability.com