YSP is now a Green Tourism accredited site and has been awarded the prestigious Gold Award. 

The award is independently assessed against sustainable certification standards recognised across the sector and demonstrates that we have an ongoing commitment:

• to sustainability standards and practices
• to work responsibly, ethically, and sustainably
• to contribute to our community
• to reduce our impact on the environment
• to be accessible and inclusive to all visitors and staff.

Green Tourism has assessed our business against 15 sustainability criteria grouped under the pillars of People, Places and Planet. These consider the social, economic, and environmental actions we undertake, providing a holistic assessment of our sustainability performance.

We are particularly proud to of achieved exceptional feedback on our criteria goals associated with people, which included awareness, community, health and well-being, and equality, diversity and inclusivity. 

Mark Chesman, Head of Estates & Projects, said, “It’s been an incredible journey, the YSP Environment team are delighted with the award. Our carbon footprint has been significantly reduced, we have invested (through funding) in green technologies and are working hard to enhance wildlife habitats across YSP. There is always room for improvement across the pillars of people, place and planet, but we are particularly proud of our outdoor work engaging young people with art and nature.”   

Achieving the Gold award shows that YSP is meeting the highest standards of sustainability, has a strong and broad environmental ethos, and can provide excellent examples of best practice throughout the majority of the three pillars of people, places and planet.

The Environment Working Group and all members of YSP staff and volunteers look forward to building on this success and continuing to put in place further improvements to help the organisation meet its environmental performance ambitions.