The Sustainability Awards honour and reward the best national sustainable development practices implemented in organisations in Luxembourg in four distinct categories: People, Planet, Prosperity and Sustainability Team.
Among the received applications, an independent expert pre-jury will select 12 nominated practices (3 in each category), which are then evaluated by a jury. The 4 winning practices are disclosed during a ceremony in October.
The criteria used for all categories are:
- the degree of implementation,
- the impact,
- the innovative and replicable nature of the approach,
- the way in which the practice is managed and integrated into a long-term approach.
Participation is free and open to any organisation set up in Luxembourg, whether or not it is a member of IMS, and regardless of its size, status - private, public or associative - and its field of activity.
Applications are now open! Request your application form at awards@imslux.lu and apply before 14 June
- Contribute to building a more innovative and sustainable society through the possible replicability of good practices;
- Strengthen your organisation's credibility in the field of sustainability;
- Confirm your leadership in the field of sustainable development and the recognition of your peers;
- Strengthen the competitiveness of your organisation and your employer brand both internally and externally;
- Guarantee a strong visibility as a sustainable development actor in Luxembourg;
- Enable networking to share and learn from best practices;
- Learn from the leaders in the sector;
- Advance the entire industry by sharing the best innovations.
Participating in the Sustainability Awards means contributing to a strong dynamic of awareness of the issues related to sustainable development. It also means working towards a more responsible, innovative and sustainable society, taking into consideration the challenges of today and tomorrow.
1. People
The People category includes different topics such as youth, human rights, well-being at work, digital well-being, community engagement, volunteering, trainings, the fight against over-indebtedness, new forms of work organisation.
Inclusion & diversity: it is not recommended to apply for projects directly related to inclusion and diversity.
Why not? The Diversity Awards, organised every 2 years, a competition dedicated to these particular themes, will be organised in 2025.
2. Planet
The Planet category takes into account issues related to climate change, biodiversity and natural resource loss, waste, plastics and carbon reduction, ecomobility, energy and water management, land use, new technology and product development.
3. Prosperity
The Prosperity category focuses on the implementation of your strategy, responsible production and consumption, new economic approaches, social and solidarity economy, transparency and reporting.
4. Sustainability Team
The Sustainability Team category rewards a team that has implemented an innovative sustainable development project within its organisation and has demonstrated its commitment. The initiative implemented may address the three pillars of sustainable development. The action may target strategy, products, services, communication, work environment, etc.
Winners will be selected according to the criteria below, each of which will be graded by the jury and pre-jury:
• Impact of the practice: it is not restricted to words and to a declaration of intent but has been translated into concrete actions and has a measurable impact both on the organisation and in terms of societal impact.
• The innovative nature of the action.
• The exemplary and replicable nature of the initiative: the practice should be an inspiring example that can be adapted to other organisations or other relevant areas.
• The level of implementation of the practice: extent and scope according to the size of the company.
• How the project is governed.
• Integration as part of a long-term approach: the practice should be enshrined in a continuous improvement process and must not be a one-off, anecdotal event. It should be embedded sustainably in the strategy of the organisation.
The 1st edition of the Sustainability Awards took place on 25 October 2022 and rewarded organisations that implement the best sustainable development practices. To represent each award, Jacques Schneider, a Luxembourg artist, proposed a series of illustrations for each category, inspired by the categories: People, Planet, Prosperity and Sustainability Team.
Promising involvement of organisations
This first edition showed the commitment of organisations: 60 entries were received from organisations of all sizes, sectors, and types.
The pre-jury, composed of 20 independent experts, designated the nominees for each category. The final jury, consisting of multi-stakeholder representatives, selected the winners of the four categories.
Get inspired by the 12 nominated practices
Watch the nominated practices on the IMS Luxembourg Youtube channel
Check the Sustainability Awards 2022 brochure
The winning practices
In the evening, four prizes were awarded, and a special mention from the jury:
In the People category, the association Digital Inclusion stood out for its work on digital inclusion. Established in 2016, the non-profit organisation collects computers and smartphones, refurbishes them if necessary, and then provides this IT equipment to people who cannot afford it. The service was beneficial during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing homeschoolers without computers. And even more so since the war in Ukraine, when thousands of migrants have poured into the country.
The award is "recognition for this professional work", says Digital Inclusion director Patrick de la Hamette. "Before the pandemic, we knew that our work was useful," he adds. "But the last two crises have shown that our project can adapt to a different context and provide solutions in Luxembourg.
The Ferber Group was awarded in the Planet category, not for a particular practice but for various solutions for sustainable development. "Each small choice matters" is the new credo of the company, which has thirteen hair salons in the country. The company completely offsets its carbon footprint by planting the equivalent of one tree for each colouring job it does, 100% vegetable-based colouring, smoothing with 100% organic, bio and vegetable-based tannin, casting with natural pigments, waste sorting, recycling of colouring tubes. The company even sends the cut hair to an association that recycles it.
This set of practices has enabled the hair salon chain to win the Sustainability Awards. "It means that our measures are bearing fruit, " says Lionel Ferber, who, together with his sister Laura Ferber, represents the company's fourth generation. "It's a recognition of our commitment to our planet, the only one we have that feeds and sustains us daily."
In the Prosperity category, Moulins de Kleinbettingen has chosen to promote short circuits and sustainability by offering a range of quality pasta and flour made from 100% Luxembourg wheat. Launched in 2020, the Le Moulin brand stood out for its innovative character at all stages of the value chain: in terms of the raw material, but also in terms of the packaging - by offering 100% recyclable packaging - or the launch campaign, during which 260,000 packets of pasta were distributed to Luxembourg letterboxes. Just two years after the launch, more than two million packs of Le Moulin pasta have already been sold on the Luxembourg market.
"This is a great source of pride for our company and rewards the work of all the people who work at the Kleinbettingen mills", comments the CEO of the family business, Jean Muller. "Sustainability is in our DNA. We are pleased to be rewarded for this."
SES, which provides satellite communications services worldwide, was awarded in the Sustainability team category for implementing a new ESG strategy. "In 2020, we re-evaluated our strategic priorities to align our business with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" (goals set by the United Nations), explains Amber Ledgerwood, SES' social and environmental impact manager.
The company embarked on an intensive stakeholder outreach campaign to develop a comprehensive ESG strategy, the SES Horizon strategy. The strategy identified four pillars on which to focus: sustainable space, climate action, diversity, and equity and inclusion. A way of "using the power of space to address sustainability challenges on Earth", comments Amber Ledgerwood.
The jury gave a special mention to Food4All (F4A), a 20-person service company from Luxembourg.
The company's employees work to reduce food waste and facilitate access to affordable food by promoting short-term consumer products and optimising the supply chain. To do this, F4A has developed an application that connects grocery shops, supermarkets and restaurants with consumers. On the one hand, the organisation that puts products on sale approaching their sell-by date can optimise its productivity and increase its margin by avoiding throwing away unsold products by publishing them on the platform. On the other hand, on the consumer side, they can have access to discounted products in the nearest shops thanks to a geolocation system. F4A also aims to significantly impact society by reinventing eating habits and promoting access to affordable food for all.
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Any organisation based in Luxembourg can support the Sustainability Awards by becoming an event sponsor.
Supporting the Sustainability Awards ensures that your organisation:
- Associates its brand image with a highlight of sustainable development in Luxembourg;
- Supports awareness-raising and concrete action on these issues;
- Takes advantage of this opportunity to engage all its stakeholders on these topics.
Sponsoring organisations are not eligible to apply for the Sustainability Awards 2024.
Steps to become a Sustainability Awards sponsor:
- Check the benefits grid and choose the desired sponsorship level;
- Contact awards@imslux.lu to express your interest;
- Sign the contract.