Sustainability in Prisons Workshop – How to save energy, water, waste, and costs (2024) – EuroPris: Promoting Professional Prison Practice

Introduction

Never before has the topic of sustainability, climate neutrality, and environmental friendliness been as prominent on the European agenda as it is today. This is particularly relevant since last year when Europe faced an energy crisis and rising costs. This concern extends beyond just prisons. EuroPris aims to prioritise these themes to support its members in achieving eco-friendly goals and establishing more efficient prison systems across Europe. Working collaboratively with our members and other professionals in Europe, we seeked to delve deeper into the realm of sustainability within correctional facilities.

The first EuroPris Sustainability in Prisons Workshop was facilitated by the Real Estate and Logistics expert group with the theme of Sustainability in Prisons. The workshop took place on 24 – 25 September 2024 in the historic city of York, England, and included a visit to the UK’s first net zero ready prison (full electric prison). The Workshop was a two-day event, and hosted by the UK Ministry of Justice and HMPPS.

Participants explored sustainable solutions for conserving energy, water, reducing waste, and lowering costs. The workshop also touched upon the different ideas on promoting ecologically responsible prisons with a focus on achieving carbon neutrality.

Photos

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Topics of Interest

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The program included practical examples of some of the tremendous progress that is occurring across Europe to advance the Sustainability credentials of our Prisons, deal with Climate change, reduce energy consumption, save money, decarbonise and navigate the path to net zero.

These and other topics focused on included:

Energy Management (improve the management of energy, reduce consumption, and save money including the use of building management systems, monitoring and targeting, zero carbon technologies, and energy efficiency)
Renewable Energy (generation of renewable energy from solar and wind in prisons)
Decarbonisation (developing solutions to decarbonise existing prison estates)
Net Zero (the what, whys, and hows of designing net zero buildings)
Adapting buildings for climate change (control overheating, improve energy efficiency)
Water Management (conserve water, reduce water leaks including the use of rainwater harvesting, waterless appliances, storage of potable water)
Waste Management Systems (measures to reduce waste, enhance recycling arrangements and avoid single-use plastics)
Bio-Diversity (bio-diversity action plan, ecology reports, conserve the diversity of species)
Travel & Transport (travel policies, measuring travel emissions, measures being taken to electrify prison fleets, introduce electrical vehicle charging points)
Environmental Management Systems (Sustainability Strategy, environmental targets and measures in prisons)
Training Programmes on Sustainability Awareness

Workshop Summary

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Read the report summary of the Sustainability in Prisons Workshop 2024 here.

Agenda

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The workshop was a two-day event in September. During these two days, participants had the opportunity to engage in various activities, discussions, and learning sessions.

23 September: Arrival Day
24 September: Day 1 of the conference (full day) including the prison under construction visit
25 September: Day 2 of the conference (full day)
26 September: Departure Day

Theme Introductions: Each theme were introduced through engaging presentations by subject matter experts.
Visit: Part of the programme included a unique visit to the UK’s Net Zero Ready prison, an all-electric facility, which will be undergoing construction. This prison is fully electric to achieve a carbon-neutral solution.

View the agenda here.

Sustainability in Prisons Workshop – How to save energy, water, waste, and costs (2024)

Introduction

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