In the past month our pioneering decarbonisation project ‘ZERO’ at the Gillingham and Maidstone campuses has won a collection of awards.
On November 20, at Westenhanger Castle, MidKent College won the Sustainability and Decarbonisation Business of the Year at the Kent Invicta Chamber Business Awards for ZERO.
The annual awards, organised by Kent Invicta Chamber in conjunction with Kent County Council, celebrate the exceptional achievements of the local business community.
On November 28, in the Kent Green Schools Awards event at the Ashford International Hotel, organised by Social Enterprise Kent, ZERO won the prize for Further Education Trailblazers. 
MidKent College Executive Director of Finance & Estates, Martin Peat, said: “Our students have been clear that they want to see their College taking action on the environmental issues that will shape their future. ZERO shows that large scale change is possible, and that sustainability can sit at the heart of an educational organisation. These awards are a real testament to what can be achieved when we listen to our students and work together with committed partners.”
Earlier in November, the College had already won a national Green Gown award for Climate Impact and been commended in the AoC (Association of Colleges) Beacon awards for the ZERO project which embeds sustainability as a core value across every aspect of the college.
In the Ashford & Canterbury Business Awards at the Ashford International hotel on December 4, the ZERO project was a finalist in the category “Sustainability & Decarbonisation Business of the Year 2025”.
MidKent College is equipping students with green skills for the future through sustainability-rich courses, staff training, and specialist hubs that support industry with low-carbon training and events. The College’s investment will also deliver major operational benefits - including an 80–90% cut in energy costs, increasing resilience to fuel price volatility and enabling surplus energy to be stored or sold back to the grid.
The college’s sustainability journey began in late 2021 with a carbon footprint assessment, followed by a detailed reduction plan and governance approvals in 2022. Installation works commenced in mid-2023, with completion in September 2025. Across both Medway and Maidstone campuses, the College has eliminated gas entirely and is generating renewable electricity on site. At the Maidstone campus, the solar carport is one of the largest in the UK.
