2026 PRME Students Sustainability Award

Utter Rubbish is a student-led organisation dedicated to advancing sustainability through education, policy engagement, and systems change. Our mission is to equip individuals and institutions with the knowledge and tools to integrate carbon and resource literacy into decision-making, while developing evidence-based policy solutions that address environmental challenges. We operate at the intersection of climate action, education, and governance, fostering leadership, research, and practical implementation to drive scalable and lasting impact.

The work of our student-led initiative, Utter Rubbish has advanced the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by transforming sustainability from something students learn about into something they actively practice. Through our digital platform and app, we enable individuals to understand their behaviours, identify barriers, and take realistic, measurable actions that contribute to global outcomes. This directly aligns with the Seven Principles for Responsible Management Education by embedding purpose, values, and responsible leadership into everyday decision-making. Rather than focusing solely on theory, we equip students and faculty to act, supporting Quality Education (SDG 4) through experiential learning, Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12) through behaviour change, Climate Action (SDG 13) through measurable impact, and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17) through collaboration and shared progress.

Our work is rooted in a creative rethinking of sustainability education, shifting the focus from awareness to action. The Utter Rubbish platform combines behavioural science, digital innovation, and sustainability frameworks into a single, intuitive system that guides students through AI-enhanced personalised actions rather than overwhelming them with information. We recently introduced a “Carbon Insight” layer that connects behaviour to impact without relying on complex or inaccessible data, making sustainability feel achievable rather than abstract. Perhaps most distinctively, we replaced traditional knowledge-based assessment with behaviour-based accreditation, recognising students for what they consistently do rather than what they can recall. This approach has created a more engaging, human-centred model that empowers students to build habits, not just understanding.

Within the university ecosystem, our initiative has shifted sustainability from a peripheral topic into a lived, shared experience. Students who may not have previously engaged are now taking small, meaningful actions because the platform makes change feel accessible and relevant. This has fostered a culture where sustainability is embedded in daily routines, conversations, and decisions across campus. Beyond the university, the impact extended to local and regional communities, recognising that these behaviours carry over into homes, workplaces, and social networks. By providing a structured yet flexible model for behaviour change, the project enables institutions and communities to move from intention to action, creating ripple effects that go far beyond the initial student cohort.

Global cooperation is central to our approach, as the framework we have developed is inherently scalable and adaptable across different contexts, which has included involvement in over 10 countries, such as Nepal and Mexico. As recognised by 10 Downing Street and UN ESCAP, by aligning our work with internationally recognised frameworks such as the SDGs and ESG principles, we create a shared language of sustainability that transcends geographical boundaries. With a reach of over 20k young people, our platform and app encourage collaboration through shared challenges, peer influence, and collective progress, enabling students and organisations to learn from one another regardless of location. By focusing on behaviour rather than infrastructure, our model ensures that meaningful action can take place anywhere, supporting a more inclusive and cooperative global response to sustainability challenges.

In 2025, Utter Rubbish delivered a portfolio of high-impact, student-led initiatives that advanced sustainability through systemic change in education, policy engagement, and community practice. Collectively, as published by Keele University's PRME report (link below), these initiatives engaged over 20,000 learners; raised £50k in scalable funds; and partnered with 20+ institutions through co-creation models and generated measurable behavioural, educational, and early-stage policy outcomes aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 4, 11, 12, 13, and 17). This work was further elevated through international policy engagement, including keynote and policy presentations delivered to diplomats and senior decision-makers at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and at 10 Downing Street.

• Resource Literacy Certification Programme: Implemented across 8 countries, achieving a 92% completion rate and a 47% increase in sustainability knowledge scores, with 68% of participants reportingly adopting sustainable practices within three months, including reductions in waste and improved resource practices. The programme provides a structured, scalable framework aligned with SDGs 4, 12, and 13, designed for replication across education systems and organisational contexts globally.

• Carbon Literacy in Education Initiative: Embedded sustainability frameworks within teaching and learning across 5 education providers, reaching 800+ students and catalysing curriculum-level change. Participating institutions began integrating carbon literacy into formal delivery, demonstrating a shift from awareness to institutional practice in line with responsible management education principles.

• Student Policy Lab: Engaged 50+ student fellows in the development of 15 policy briefs and draft legislative frameworks addressing climate, education, and governance challenges. Outputs were shared with external stakeholders, including local authorities and policy networks, contributing to real-world policy discourse and informing early-stage adoption discussions within participating institutions.

• Community Sustainability Outreach Programme: Delivered 25+ co-designed workshops with schools and community organisations, strengthening local capacity for sustainable practices. Hosted global forums and webinars with a total reach of 15,000 across hybrid platforms globally. This initiative contributed to SDGs 11 and 17 by fostering community-level behavioural change and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

• Nature-Based Solutions & Pollination Project: Conducted applied research on pollination and carbon sequestration, contributing to emerging evidence on nature-based climate solutions and informing future education and policy frameworks focused on biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

Across all initiatives, students developed critical competencies in leadership, systems thinking, policy design, and sustainability practice, with 85% reporting enhanced academic, professional, and personal development outcomes, including progression into sustainability-focused roles and further research engagement.

The Utter Rubbish model is inherently scalable and globally transferable, designed as an open, adaptable framework that can be implemented across diverse educational, cultural, and policy contexts. Through collaborative partnerships, applied research, and high-level policy engagement, these initiatives demonstrate how student-led action can move beyond awareness to deliver measurable, systemic, and globally relevant change, positioning students as active contributors to sustainable development and responsible management worldwide.

Elliott Lancaster, e.a.lancaster@keele.ac.uk