News / 07 Aug 2025
Announcing the winners of the 2025 Sustainability Awards
University News
The winners of this year’s annual Student Sustainability Award have been announced, showcasing a diverse range of innovative and thought-provoking ideas.
Since 2016, the Annual Student Sustainability Awards has given Leeds Arts University students the opportunity to showcase work which addresses environmental, social and ethical issues.
As a signatory of the SDG Accord and in alignment with our Sustainability Framework, the Sustainability Award prompts students to consider the relationship of their work to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and articulate how their work may influence new ways of thinking or action on their chosen issue.
Kole Morris, second year BA (Hons) Comic and Concept Art student, was awarded first place in the Higher Education category for their work ‘Safin: Slash that Trash’, a video game concept to encourage young people to think about cleaning up our beaches.
The judging panel really enjoyed Kole’s video game concept for teaching children about cleaning beaches, commenting on both the quality of the images and conceptual attention to detail which made it so effective.
The judging panel were faced with some particularly tough decisions in the Higher Education category, leading to the award of two runner-up prizes. Joint runners up were Anca Nicula, Onche Ikwue, Sean De Asis, Cody Reilly and Claudio Figueiredo, second year BA (Hons) Animation students, with their short film 'Billionaire Bullhonkey'; and final year BA (Hons) Visual Communication student Jade Pharoah for their narrative photobook ‘How to Become Human Again’.
&w=3840&q=75)
Billionaire Bullhonkey
"We are so honoured for our short to have been recognised; in such difficult times it's reassuring to see people open to discussion on class and capitalist corruption. We hope that our short inspires others to think about sustainable practices, especially with responsible consumption and production, and to move forward with a proactive interest in protecting our planet."
Anca Nicula, BA (Hons) Animation student
In the Further Education category, Fern Woodhead, a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design student on the Fashion/Textiles pathway took first place for their work ‘Bioplastics: is a sustainable future in fashion possible?’. The judging panel commended Fern's 'striking and innovative work' which explores the possibility of a fully sustainable garment constructed from homemade biomaterial, with the intent of challenging the industry to adapt.
Riley Tierney, Extended Diploma in Creative Practice, was the Further Education runner up for the second year running, with ‘Tackling plastic pollution in the ocean’, a product design project accompanied by sustainable packaging and posters to help raise awareness of plastic pollution. The judges were impressed by Riley, whose consistently high quality work and adaptability across a range of media and sustainability issues has impressed the panel two years running.
“It was great to see an increase in entries this year across a wide range of courses and levels, and a real breadth of themes and approaches used to explore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Claire Booth, Sustainability Manager
Leeds Arts University recognises the importance of embedding sustainability within its practices both operationally and educationally. Click here to read more about our approach to sustainability.