Norwich announces Sustainability Award winners at Postgrad Festival 2025

Norwich University of the Arts is delighted to announce the winners of the Sustainability Awards at our 2025 Postgrad Festival.

The awards recognise students’ commitment to sustainable and ethical practice, and all the nominees presented an incredibly high standard of work.

Presented by the University’s Sustainability Working Group, the awards were judged by Professor Hilary Carlisle, Dean of Creative Education, and Professor Dan Lockton, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Worlds. Both judges were incredibly impressed by the work on show and depth of investigation.

Nominees were judged against the following criteria:

• Innovation and creativity: Work uses original, artistic or unconventional approaches to address sustainability, including materiality.
• Community engagement: Work actively involves or positively influences peers, staff or community.
• Longevity and feasibility: Work shows potential for long-term impact, scalability and practicality.
• Artistic integration: Sustainability is meaningfully embedded in creative or artistic work.

Caroline Mayers – MA Textile Design

Lost Love, Not Really Here and 5am Thoughts on a Long Marriage

Judge’s comments: ‘These are really powerful, poignant pieces, and the care taken throughout the work, from the choice of materials, to the indigo dyeing, to the composition of the exhibit and the striking colour palette, seemed really reflective of the ethics of care present in the process of healing and storytelling described. I was really moved by the restrained precision, and how arriving at minimal environmental impact in the process also says something about our relationships with the world and each other.’

Jade Guiraud – MA Communication Design

Footprints in the Fells

Judge’s comments: ‘I like the idea of a different kind of guidebook, and this is well executed as something which not only focuses on different kinds of things — from forest bathing to public transport — but also develops a distinctive aesthetic which really gives a feeling of the Lakes, both through the colour palette and the choices of type and paper.’

Louise Keddy – MA Communication Design

Rising Tides

Judge’s comments: ‘Clever use of rusting steel (contrasted with stainless steel) as a kind of analogue qualitative display of visualising the effects of salt water over time. Attractive visuals and graphics and a clearly designed booklet which aligns well with the Broads Authority’s identity. This is an interesting project in terms of raising awareness of a less-known effect of climate change, with a distinctive way of making the effects tangible to the public.’

Louise’s work features contributions from artists Adam Billings and Gareth Pugh.

Photography by Denisa Ilie