The winners of De Montfort University (DMU) Leicester’s Big SDG Awards have been announced at a ceremony in the university’s SDG Impact Hub.
At the start of the year, DMU was made the global academic hub chair for SDG 11 by the United Nations Academic Impact earlier this year - the only UK university to be named as a hub chair for one of the SDGs.
The winners and those who have been highly commended at this year's Big SDG Awards
The Big SDG Awards event recognises the contributions of staff and students who have gone the extra mile to promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on campus.
In total, 23 staff and students were honoured at the ceremony at Heritage House.
Head of the SDG Impact Hub, Dr Mark Charlton, paid tribute to the work of the SDG Fellows and all those involved in working towards the SDG Goals.
He said: “This event aims to reflect all the excellent work going on across the university towards the SDGs and sustainability generally. We may have rewarded the work of 20 staff and students at these awards but there is so much more going on across to DMU that is worthy of celebrating.”
More than 160 staff members have now enrolled in the SDG Fellows programme since it launched in 2024. The initiative encourages staff to embed the SDGs in both the curriculum and university life.
Steven Baguley, Anoop Bhogal-Nair and Jason Lee were all named SDG Fellows of the Year in the Professional Services, Teaching and Research/Knowledge Exchange categories, respectively.
Aamena Meidell was named the winner of the Staff SDG Project of the Year for her work embedding the SDGs and helping to found the international DMU SDG Fellows in partner universities across the university’s transnational partners.
The SDG Student Project of the Year went to Damari Kota, who travelled to Tanzania for four weeks to teach shoemaking to local women so they could break out of poverty and earn a living from the trade.
Student volunteers from the Project Atefa initiative won the SDG Student Project Award for organising a Christmas party for refugee children. Run in partnership with the British Red Cross, more than 120 people from the Leicester community attended the party, catered by Chartwells, which paid for all the food at the event.
Aqilah Binti Wan Kamarulzaman, who was part of the team responsible for organising the event, said: “I really enjoyed hearing how much the kids were enjoying themselves. Everyone was having a great time and even though we only had a few hours with them, we felt we had built a close bond. It was great to see.
Aqilah (left) at the Christmas party for refugees with fellow volunteers Valerie Vidal and Sucdi Awale
“Integration all depends on the community being welcoming and that is what this event was about. Together, as a society, we are stronger.”
Each year, to coincide with the annual COP climate conference, DMU invites staff and students to submit their own ideas on how the university can become more sustainable.
A shortlist of 30 ideas is then presented to the university’s senior leadership with a view to being implemented, and a £100 top prize is awarded for the best idea.
Senior Assistant Librarian, Phil Adams, took home the £100 prize for a series of ideas, including flexible switching on of the campus’s heating system to reflect the seasons, installing solar windows, which are cheaper than rooftop panels and a salary sacrifice scheme for staff buying electric vehicles.
This year also saw the introduction of a new award, the SDG 11 Project of the Year, which was announced to celebrate the first anniversary of the DMU becoming the global academic hub chair for the United Nations’ SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Master’s student Nander Lin won the inaugural award for her conceptual project redesigning the Dawei Bus Station in Myanmar. Her architectural design was in response to the increasing demand for efficient, sustainable public transportation infrastructure in Southeast Asia.
DMU has long enjoyed an excellent reputation for sustainability. Last month, the university was named the UK’s Sustainability Institution of the Year for large institutions at the prestigious Green Gown Award.
A full list of winners can be found below:
Winner, Professional Services Fellow of the Year: Steven Baguley
Highly commended: Philomena Imade-Omoregie Osagie and Abbie Williams
Winner, Research Fellow of the Year: Jason Lee
Highly commended: Alex Anlesinya and Steven Hadley
Winner, Fellow of the Year: Anoop Bhogal-Nair
Highly commended: Sahar Abdalrahman, Masoud Keimasi, Hasti Chitsazan and Julia Cook
Winner, SDG Student Project of the Year: Damari Kota
Highly commended: Clémence Belbéoch and Nandar Lin
Winner, SDG Staff Project of the Year: Aamena Meidell,
Highly commended: Tuan Luong and Penny Tremayne, Cath Arden and Hannah Taylor-Rollings.
Winner, SDG Civic Project of the Year: Project Atefa student team and Chartwells
Highly commended: Being Human Festival and Trash for Art
Winner, SDG 11 Project of the Year: Nandar Lin,
Highly commended: DMU Made
Winner, 30 for 30 sustainability competition: Phil Adams
Highly commended: Casey Bell and Amanda Thorley.
Posted on Tuesday 9 December 2025