On Thursday 31 October, University of St Andrews awarded its 2024 St Andrews Prize for the Environment to the outstanding Kham River Restoration Mission, a collaborative initiative of the eco-consultancy group, EcoSattva. Accepting the prize on behalf of the Kham Restoration Mission was EcoSattva co-founder and project manager Natasha Zarine (pictured).
CEE Director Prof Mette High serves on the Screening Committee for the Prize, which involves reading, assessing, and selecting submissions to go through the stages of long-listing, short-listing, and eventually entering the final round. This year there were 125 submissions from 37 countries across 6 continents, competing for the USD 100,000 Prize.
On the day, the three finalists – Kham River Restoration Mission, Northwoods Rewilding Network, and Washbox – gave presentations followed by questions from the Committee, the judges, and the audience. This was followed by a closed interview session with each of the three finalists, after which the Committee and judges deliberated. Gathering in the beautiful Upper College Hall, Prof Sir Iain Boyd, Chair of the judging panel, together with the University’s Vice-Chancellor Dame Sally Mapstone, announced this year’s winner. Afterwards, all finalists were celebrated with a festive dinner till late!
Reflecting on this year’s submissions, Mette said:
“It was extremely competitive this year. Our three finalists presented projects that were really different from each other. One was focused on restoring a seasonal river ecosystem that has been severely damaged by rubbish pollution; another was about rewilding Scotland by working with a wide chain of landowners and the public; while the third offered a technical solution to the huge issue of liquid waste pollution generated at construction sites across the world. All three submissions were truly outstanding, offering inspirational responses to dire situations. They all grappled with situations that were “20% ecology, 80% social”, as one finalist described it. We need to work with people to bring change. We can’t do it alone. And that’s something we can all take into our own lives, doing our bit to protect the environment and encourage a more sustainable society.”
