Thursday 26-02-2026 - 13:47

 

 

 

Written by Scott Barker

Scott is the LUSU Green Coordinator.

 

 

 

ECOChallenge 2026 brought together 28 students, 12 mentors and 5 judges for Lancaster University’s biggest sustainability event in the calendar. Over two days, students formed teams, identified campus sustainability challenges, and developed solutions with support from mentors across the University and beyond.

 

This year’s edition marked the 10th anniversary of ECOChallenge, opened by keynote speaker, Phoebe L. Hanson. The multi-award-winning climate advocate shared insights from coordinating MockCOP 26 – a virtual youth climate conference convening 800+ young people from 140 countries, and from co-founding Teach the Teacher, now providing students with opportunities for leadership in 200 UK schools a year. She mentioned that while 70% of young people feel hopeless about climate change, we can start to change that by the end of the event.  

Across Friday evening, Saturday morning, students met their teammates, identified a challenge on campus, and started brainstorming ideas. On Saturday afternoon, mentors from across and beyond the University offered guidance and feedback to help refine their idea. On Sunday morning, the mentors returned to support teams with practicing their pitch ahead of the final.  

Furness College claimed first place and a £250 prize with RootedinUnity, an initiative designed to make gardening and sustainable activities more inclusive and accessible by creating welcoming planting spaces within each College.  

Ernest Uche-Eze, part of the winning Furness team, said: “My experience at EcoChallenge 2026 was truly exhilarating. Not only did it greatly improve my collaboration skills, but it also highlighted a lot of sustainability issues, like food waste, on and around campus that were not apparent to me. Great weekend event, I would highly recommend attending—you’ve got nothing to lose!" 

Bowland College secured the Sustainability Team Internship for Lan‑Car‑Share, a staff‑and‑student car‑sharing scheme aimed at reducing daily campus traffic and emissions. Grizedale and Lonsdale took third place with Drop by Drop, a behavioural‑change and rainwater‑collection project to reduce water consumption. The People’s Choice Award went to Graduate College for Re‑Cater, a food‑waste reduction idea that alerts students when surplus food is available after catered events.

Judges Zoe Detko, Carys Nelkon, Phoebe L. Hanson, Morgan Neilson, and Rory O’Ceallaigh praised the creativity and feasibility of every proposal, noting that each idea had real implementation potential. 

All students received an ECOChallenge certificate and 15 points towards the Lancaster Award. Every student agreed or strongly agreed that they developed new skills, improved their confidence in tackling sustainability challenges, strengthened their teamwork, and enjoyed taking part. 

Ginoe Rigor, also part of the winning Furness Team, said: "Despite studying marketing and design, I loved applying my skills to an environmental challenge outside my field. The ECOChallenge truly welcomes everyone it helped me connect with students within my college , grow professionally, and gain skills I’ll use in my future. It was a fun, meaningful, and memorable event that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to challenge themselves while making a positive impact"

A huge thank‑you goes to the LUSU Events and Communities Teams, the LUSU Sustainability Committee, the University’s Sustainability Team, the nine Colleges, Work in Progress, our photographers Emily Smith, Joy Wang and Oliver Hartley, our mentors and judges, the Management School, and of course the students who made ECOChallenge 2026 such a success.

We look forward to seeing you again in 2027.