Smart Sustainability Will Be Honoured at Ashden Awards

This year’s Ashden Awards take place on Thursday 9 June in London. The global party will include applicants from all over the world including the UK, Africa, Indonesia, Mauritania, Asia and Central America. Eleven awards will be given out on the night.

The Ashden Awards honour those dedicated to sustainability. The awards are an evening to pay tribute to innovative people who are, in their own words, “helping to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon world”.  For the first time this year organisations that are working to manage the energy generation – energy demand gap – will be recognised.

Jonathon Porritt, environmentalist and writer, said: “Ashden Award winners are precisely the kind of entrepreneurs and crusaders who we need to be focusing on today, bringing the energy, technologies and systems from the future into our lives right now.”

The Ashden Awards Ceremony takes place at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Thursday 9 June from 7pm to 10pm. The dress code is lounge suits and the registration desk can be found on the Exhibition Road entrance.

Ashden International Conference takes place on Tuesday 7 June at 20 Cavendish Square in London from 10am to 5pm. The day will include presentations and a Q&A about the international finalists. You can find out who the 2016 UK and International finalists are here. There will also be two panel discussions. They are:

“Panel One

How can people climb the energy ladder, and faster?

In off-grid regions, what evidence is there that people are moving up the electricity ladder? What role do efficient DC appliances, innovative financing and other sector developments have to play? Are productive uses of power the next frontier? If the demand is there, what are the barriers? How realistic is it to suggest that decentralised systems will enable people to ‘leapfrog’ being grid-connected?”

Panel Two

Combining grid and off-grid electricity

How can off-grid technologies like solar home-systems and micro-grids work alongside the grid to provide sufficient reliable electricity access to everyone? What successful examples are there of governments including both grid and off-grid technologies in their electricity planning? How can the public and private sectors collaborate, and what is the potential for grid and off-grid systems to integrate and interact?”

Speakers at the event include Kat Harrison, Associate Director of Impact at Acumen, Nico Tyabji, Solar Analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Charlie Miller, Senior Policy Advisor at GOGLA and Director of National Programmes, Power For All, Sarah Bieber, Energy Officer at Beyond the Grid, USAID/Power Africa and Harrison Leaf, CEO of SteamaCo.

Prices are £30 for ceremony tickets, £80 for conference tickets or a package offer of £95 for both events. A drinks reception with canapés will follow the ceremony.  Concession tickets are available for students, academics and small charities.

For more information and to book, visit the website.