University of Wales Trinity Saint David
UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES: Reimagining Sustainability through Humanities-Driven Community Co-production
Finalist, Benefitting Society
About
At a time when progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals is stalling, environmental initiatives repeatedly fail because they are designed within institutional silos, ignoring the communities who must live with their outcomes, resulting in wasted resources and lost impact. UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES tackles that problem. Hosted at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) in the UK, BRIDGES transforms universities into catalysts for social transformation through a global network of university anchored hubs, which bring together researchers, communities, Indigenous knowledge holders, artists, policymakers and young people to co-design practical sustainability solutions rooted in lived realities. By integrating the humanities, arts and social sciences with environmental research, BRIDGES creates socially durable sustainability transitions across housing, ecological restoration, cultural heritage and community wellbeing. In just four years, BRIDGES-related initiatives have already secured almost £14 million in funding while connecting community-rooted knowledge directly into UNESCO sustainability policy discussions.
Top 3 learnings
- Humanities-led, culturally-informed insights are essential to making sustainability initiatives effective at every level.
- Sustainability initiatives succeed when communities co-design solutions from the start.
- Universities can act as adaptive bridges, connecting partners to drive effective sustainability action.
What it would mean to win
Winning a Green Gown Award would validate UWTSD’s commitment to community-engaged sustainability. As host to the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES UK Hub and IPO, this recognition would highlight our leadership in transdisciplinary collaboration, celebrating staff and partners working beyond conventional boundaries. It would provide a platform to amplify our impact, demonstrating the necessity of integrating diverse expertise to address complex socio-ecological challenges, while modelling how universities, as truly community-rooted institutions, can produce actionable wisdom to improve societies worldwide.
SDG
| 2026 | |
| Benefitting Society | |
| Finalist, UK and Ireland |
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