And the winners of the #BIGAwards 2018 are...
The 2018 BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards reached a thrilling finale on 12th September when we unveiled this year's worthy winners across eight hotly contested categories, along with the overall winner of this year's Challenge, and the 2018 BIG Biodiversity Champion, voted for by the industry!
Launched in 2013 by CIRIA’s Biodiversity Interest Group (BIG), the BIG Biodiversity Challenge and its ethos “do one thing” for biodiversity has captured the attention of the construction industry with 600+ case studies submitted, 21 Awards presented plus 4 overall winners gaining recognition.
We were delighted to have Leonie Cooper AM, London Assembly Member, Merton & Wandsworth, MC the Awards presentation and our thanks to both Dusty Gedge, President of the European Federation of Green Roof and Wall Associations and Peter Head, Founder and CEO, Ecological Sequestration Trust who both took time out of their busy diaries to join and inspire our industry guests.
Speaking after the awards, SSEN’s Head of Environment, Richard Baldwin on winning three Awards said "This is a great night for all of the team who have worked so hard to support the rare Great Yellow Bumblebee population around our Thurso South Substation. It is also an excellent example of how we work with other organisations to support both local and national environmental initiatives, in this case with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. As a responsible developer we are committed to ensuring that our work causes the minimum amount of disruption in the local community and where possible enhances biodiversity. Winning these awards is a fantastic recognition of this ongoing commitment."
Our 2018 BIG Biodiversity Champion is Jamie Edmonds from Kier Utilities. Jamie was nominated by Tom Conway, Kier Contract/Operations Manager for the Bristol Water Southern Strategic Support Main project as he had the ability to collaborate and communicate with the client, landowners, charities, local communities, schools and the Kier team to ensure the success and longevity of the initiatives to enhance biodiversity on the project. Jamie leads by example and his enthusiasm for “all things biodiversity” continues to inspire Kier employees and many others to do their bit for biodiversity.
On winning his Award, Jamie said "it's an incredible honour to win the Biodiversity Champion Award, which wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of the amazing team that work tirelessly with me. The BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards are a brilliant way to raise the profile of what can be seen as 'the fluffy stuff' so I hope that we can continue to encourage and inspire people to do something, no matter how big or small, for biodiversity and make a difference."
Congratulations to all the category winners, commendations to those that were shortlisted, and a big thank you to all the entries received this year as well as our sponsors for their support. Read the press release for full details of all our winners.
Check out the photos from the Awards evening here.