11 June 2025 — The winners of the 2025 European Sustainable Healthcare Awards were announced today by Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe during the CleanMed Europe conference, held online from 10 to 13 June 2025.
This year’s top honours go to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau from Spain, for its GREEN BREATH initiative, which won the Sustainability Project of the Year Award; and to Evelyn Brakema, co-founder and chair of the Dutch Green Health Alliance (Groene Zorg Alliantie) in the Netherlands, who received the Sustainability Champion of the Year Award.
Now in its third year, the Awards, which are sponsored by Philips, recognise professionals and institutions across Europe that are leading efforts to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare delivery. The award winners are showcased in a new video filmed in Barcelona, Spain, and Leiden in the Netherlands shown at the CleanMed Europe conference.
Championing sustainability in healthcare - 2025 European Sustainable Healthcare Awards winners
2025 Award recipients
Sustainability Champion of the Year
The Sustainability Champion of the Year Award recognises an exceptional individual making a positive change in healthcare’s sustainability efforts.
Evelyn Brakema, Co-founder and Chair of the Dutch Green Health Alliance, received this year’s Award for her work in mobilising health professionals in the Netherlands. Under Evelyn’s leadership, the Dutch Green Health Alliance created over 230 Green Teams representing 10,000 health professionals, launched a book on sustainable healthcare, a podcast, 12 masterclasses, 12 network events, and, since 2022, the yearly Green Care Festival, which had 750 participants in 2024. She is also a General Practitioner in training and a post-doctoral researcher at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).
“I am thrilled to receive this award,” said Evelyn, “but it is also great recognition for all the doctors, nurses, and everyone working super hard to drive change for a more sustainable healthcare sector.”
Sustainable Project of the Year
The Sustainable Project of the Year Award celebrates sustainability practices in European healthcare and was open to members of the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) network.
Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau received the 2025 Award for its GREEN BREATH project. This project focuses on making inhaler use in Spain more sustainable through improved prescribing, education, and waste management, particularly targeting pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs).
With over 15 million pMDIs used annually in Spain, the project estimates that a 10% shift from pMDIs to other alternatives could reduce 40,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year, with potential individual savings of up to 664 kg per patient.
Implemented across 40 hospitals in Spain, this initiative assessed patient inhaler disposal habits and raised awareness about proper disposal. It introduced pharmacist-led interventions aimed at educating patients on eco-friendly disposal methods, thus reducing the environmental impact of residual propellants, gases used to push the medication out of inhalers, which are potent greenhouse gases when released into the atmosphere.
“We are very happy for this award, it has boosted our motivation and we hope that sharing this experience can help others to start other projects as well,” said Noé Garin Escrivà, a Pharmacist at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and GREEN BREATH Project Coordinator.
Shortlisted finalists
This year’s Awards received over 30 applications from all over Europe, and also recognised eight individuals for their incredible work and commitment to sustainable healthcare. Honourable mentions went to:
Sustainability Champion of the Year Award
- Roma Arya, Head of Housekeeping at HCA Healthcare UK
- Wouter Hehenkamp, Professor and Gynaecologist at Amsterdam UMC
- Beatriz Pineiro Lago, Lead for Innovation and Sustainability at Galician Health Services (SERGAS)
- Emily Kennedy, Clinical Pharmacist at NHS Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Government
Sustainable Project of the Year Award
- Karolinska University Hospital, for the project Switch from disposable to reusable patient monitoring accessories and centralised ownership.
- Consorci Hospitalari de Vic (CHV) for the project 25 Years of Sustainability Commitment in Healthcare.
- ASST PAPA GIOVANNI XXIII - ASST BERGAMO EST and Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research IRCCS for the project Healthcare Services and Ecological Transition: An Alliance between Institutions.
- HCA Healthcare UK for the project Waste Segregation, Recycling and Reduction Programme.
Selection and criteria
The winners were chosen by a panel of experts based on six criteria: internal collaboration, cost/benefit, replicability, innovation, impact, and reach. The judges included:
- Kenneth Barker, Consultant Anaesthetist, Clinical Lead for Sustainability - NHS Highland, and HCWH Europe Board Member
- Dr Natalia Allué, Medical Assistance Director - Mollet Health Foundation
- Oliver Groene, PhD, Deputy Chairman of the Board - OptiMedis AG.
- Dr Fiona Adshead, Chair - Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
- Sonia Roschnik, Executive Director - Geneva Sustainability Centre
- Diana Picon Manyari, International Climate Director - HCWH
- Robert Metzke, Global Head of Sustainability - Philips
Previous editions
NHS Scotland was awarded the Sustainable Healthcare Project of the Year 2023 for their pioneering project, Green Anaesthesia Scotland, which aimed to reduce the environmental impact of medical gases across healthcare services in Scotland.
In 2024, the Awards honoured two healthcare institutions, KABEG LKH Villach and Fundació Sanitària Mollet, and one healthcare professional, Lynn Elsey, Consultant Respiratory Pharmacist, for their exceptional achievements.
Looking ahead to 2026
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Contact: europe@hcwh.org