2024 St Andrews Prize for the Environment finalists announced

Three projects have been selected for a chance to win the St Andrews Prize for the Environment and a cash award of $100,000 to boost their organisation’s efforts at tackling the climate crisis.

The Prize attracts submissions from around the world and has awarded more than US$2.7 million in funding to organisations, innovators and community groups to support their inspirational approaches to addressing environmental challenges, including the climate crisis.

“The global climate and biodiversity challenges will only be met by applying human ingenuity and innovation, and we were delighted to have received so many submissions which fulfilled this promise,” said Professor Sir Ian Boyd FRS FRSE PRSB, chair of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment Judges, Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Biology at the University of St Andrews, and President of the Royal Society of Biology.

More than 120 entries were received this year from a total of 37 countries and six continents, with the three finalists hailing from Scotland, India and Australia due to deliver public presentations on the work and impact of their organisations at the University of St Andrews on Thursday 31 October (9am to 11am).

SCOTLAND:The Big Picture champions rewilding across Scotland through impactful communications, training and advocacy, WASHBOX is an Australian organisation that has developed a mobile tool-washing system that prevents construction waste going into waterways, while the Kham River Restoration Mission brings together multiple urban climate resilience strategies to the Kham River in Maharashtra, India.

Sir Ian Boyd added: “The University of St Andrews values both environmental sustainability and progress in human endeavour wherever it exists. These are brought together in the St Andrews Prize for the Environment which supports outstanding examples of entrepreneurship in environmental sustainability. The Prize aims to reward the work of dedicated and creative individuals and to nurture new solutions to mitigate environmental challenges.”

The winner will be decided by an esteemed panel of judges and announced on Thursday 31 October.

The St Andrews Prize presentations and award ceremony takes place during the inaugural Sustainability Week, to be held in and around St Andrews during the week commencing Monday 27 October. Members of the St Andrews wider community are especially welcome to attend the broad variety of events taking place throughout the week, including in-person presentations by this year’s finalists.

With guided walks, specialist talks, volunteer opportunities, panel discussions, lectures and exhibitions, there will be numerous opportunities for the community to learn about the many ways the University of St Andrews has embedded sustainability in research, teaching and operations.

For further information on this year’s finalists, please visit the St Andrews Prize for the Environment website.