The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology is delighted to have once again achieved Beyond Gold Green Impact Accreditation for 2025–26, recognising another year of outstanding commitment to environmental sustainability across our laboratories, offices, workshops, and shared facilities.

Presented through the University of Oxford Green Impact programme, the Beyond Gold Award is the highest level of Green Impact recognition and celebrates departments that embed sustainability into everyday practice while delivering innovative, measurable, and transferable environmental solutions. It recognises not only continuous improvement but also leadership in developing initiatives that can be adopted across the wider University and beyond.

This year's accreditation reflects the collective efforts of the Dunn School Green Group, laboratory members, facilities teams, workshop staff, stores, cleaners, and professional services colleagues who continue to integrate sustainability into all aspects of departmental life.

Highlights of our work during 2025–26 include:

• Maintaining LEAF Gold Accreditation across all Dunn School laboratories and facilities.

• Continuing to expand laboratory plastic, glove, and soft-plastic recycling schemes, diverting over 1,000 kg of laboratory plastic waste from incineration each year.

• Promoting circular economy principles through the washing and reuse of laboratory consumables, helping laboratories reduce waste and procurement costs.

• Supporting energy-saving initiatives, including freezer optimisation, equipment switch-off campaigns, and sustainable laboratory practices that contribute to significant reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions.

• Expanding biodiversity through wildflower patches, wildlife habitats, bee hotels, gardening activities, and planters manufactured from recycled laboratory plastic.

• Promoting resource sharing through departmental initiatives such as the EcoZone, Unity Fridge, Goodwill Freezer, refill stations, equipment and reagent sharing, and reusable mug programmes, encouraging reuse and reducing unnecessary waste.

• Organising the Dunn School Green Festival as part of Great Big Green Week, featuring sustainability talks, Green Tours, supplier exhibitions, Bike Doctor sessions, clothes and plant swaps, refill initiatives, and community engagement activities.

• Sharing best practice nationally and internationally through invited talks, conferences, publications, workshops, laboratory tours, and collaborations on sustainable research.

The award also recognises the strong culture of collaboration that has developed across the Dunn School. Sustainability is now embedded within departmental decision-making through the Sustainability Committee, LEAF representatives, Green Impact teams, and the many volunteers who contribute their time and expertise to environmental initiatives.

Representatives of the Dunn School Green Group attended the University of Oxford Sustainability Celebration held at the University Club, where departments, colleges, and laboratories from across the University came together to celebrate another successful year of Green Impact. Pete Stroud and Saroj Saurya proudly collected the Beyond Gold Green Impact Award on behalf of the Dunn School.

Achieving Beyond Gold for another consecutive year reflects the enthusiasm, innovation, and dedication of everyone across the Dunn School. We are incredibly grateful to all staff, students, technicians, professional services colleagues, suppliers, and collaborators who continue to support our sustainability journey.

Together, we are demonstrating that world-class biomedical research and environmental sustainability can go hand in hand, creating a model that is practical, collaborative, and transferable across the University of Oxford and the wider research community.