Apply today - European Sustainable Healthcare Project of the Year

  • Europe

The European Sustainable Healthcare Project of the Year is an exciting new award that celebrates the sustainability efforts of healthcare organisations across the WHO Europe region.

Sponsored by Philips - this new initiative from Health Care Without Harm Europe recognises sustainability projects that make a real difference in reducing the environmental impact of healthcare activities in Europe. 

Apply today

With the support of Philips, we want to shine a light on the great work taking place across European healthcare to reduce energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, and waste, helping to speed up the transition to climate-neutral, circular, and resource-efficient economies and societies with urgency, in line with the Paris Agreement preferred goal of limiting global warming to 1.5⁰C.

“There is growing momentum across the healthcare industry towards more sustainable and low-carbon healthcare models. Through this much-needed initiative, we can find, spotlight, scale, and further accelerate best practices in public and private healthcare organisations across Europe.”
Robert Metzke, Global Head of Sustainability - Philips

Share your groundbreaking work with the world and help move the sustainable healthcare movement forward - apply by 31 March.


Eligibility criteria

The award is open to current or candidate members of our Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) network. Membership of GGHH is open to any organisation that delivers health or social care services in Europe, including:

  • Hospitals, health centres, and other healthcare facilities
  • Health systems
  • Government/Regional health service providers

Not yet a member of GGHH? Register your interest in free membership as part of your application.

There is no cost for membership or to apply for the award.

Award criteria

We invite healthcare organisations to submit qualitative and quantitative data about their projects that are centred around Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe’s programmes. We particularly welcome those that span across multiple areas:

  • Climate-smart Healthcare - e.g. mitigation, adaptation, resilience, or leadership in low-carbon healthcare projects
  • Circular Healthcare - e.g. leveraging healthcare procurement to promote circularity or non-toxic sustainable product design, substituting hazardous substances, or best practice in waste prevention/management
  • Safer Pharma - e.g. reducing pharmaceuticals in the environment, antimicrobial resistance, or pharmaceutical waste. Antimicrobial stewardship, greening pharmaceuticals and packaging, or preventing pharmaceuticals in wastewater
  • Sustainable Food - e.g. sustainable food procurement, plant-based diets, reducing food waste in healthcare, or antimicrobial-free food purchasing

Ongoing projects that started in 2022 or projects that concluded in 2022 are eligible for the award. Applicants will be asked to submit qualitative and quantitative data as part of their application that demonstrate their impact, reach, cost/benefit, replicability, and innovation.

The deadline for applications is 31 March - submit your project today!

European Sustainable Healthcare Awards

Judging panel

This new award will be judged by a prestigious and diverse panel of international sustainable healthcare leaders, pioneering researchers, and champions of sustainability:

  • Dr Fiona Adshead, Chair - Sustainable Healthcare Coalition [UK]
  • Dr Oliver Groene PhD, CEO - International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services [DE]
  • Gary Cohen, President and Co-Founder - Health Care Without Harm [US]
  • Sonia Roschnik, Executive Director - Geneva Sustainability Centre (International Hospital Federation) [CH]
  • Simona Agger, Professor/Architect and HCWH Europe Board member [IT]
  • Robert Metzke, Global Head of Sustainability - Philips [NL]

Award ceremony

The judging panel will announce a shortlist of four finalists in May 2023, who will be invited to join us in Berlin to meet the panel and other finalists. The award ceremony will be broadcast live from Berlin on 7 June 2023 as part of our online conference CleanMed Europe. Travel and accommodation expenses will be covered, and each finalist will be asked to present a short project summary.

All finalists will receive a certificate and two free passes to the online conference CleanMed Europe 2023 - where the winner will be announced. They will be highlighted and celebrated across HCWH Europe’s extensive network of healthcare organisations and professionals, with the winning organisation prominently featured. The winner will also receive a winner’s pack featuring digital materials and communication support to promote their achievements, including a press release and short video.

Submit your application before 31 March 2023