The Green Ward Toolkit
The Green Ward Toolkit supports clinical and non-clinical staff by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and resources to implement sustainable practices in ward settings.
About the Project
NHS staff are encouraged to challenge existing norms, adopt circular economy principles, and recognise ways to reduce environmental impact. Its long-term goal is to build a skilled and empowered workforce capable of delivering greener healthcare systems, while providing recognition for systemic and behavioural change.
The toolkit is delivered through an online web-platform that empowers and supports NHS teams to reduce their carbon footprint by providing evidence-based tools, practical actions, and targeted interventions that drive sustainable behaviour change at scale. The web-platform is structured around eight priority themes: Waste, Energy, Travel, Prescribing, Greenspace, Water, Proactive Care, and Green Team.
Case Study Cards
The case study cards are embedded resources within the web-platform that highlight leading best practices implemented by NHS secondary care departments across the UK. Drawing on the eight themes of the web-platform, the cards aim to stimulate discussion among NHS staff, patients, and collaborators, promote the adoption of best practice and foster improvement in daily ward operations.
Ward 2045 CO₂ Monitor
The Ward 2045 CO₂ Monitor visualises emissions from waste, water, and energy streams, helping NHS staff and patients understand their wards carbon emission levels.
This interactive and speculative prototype enables users to explore carbon emissions across three modes using nine motorised faders. Users can view real-time emission data, review weekly and monthly reports, or take a short quiz to estimate the ward’s carbon output.
The monitor promotes NHS Scotland’s net-zero targets and drives behavioural change by connecting users to a scalable web platform that offers practical actions and interventions for sustainable ward practices.
Project Gallery (5)
Events, News
Green Ward Toolkit on Disegno
Ward 2045 CO2e Monitor is a speculative device designed to visualise energy consumption data for NHS staff and patients, helping hospitals to understand – and potentially reduce – their carbon footprint. It is one of several emergent elements of the Green Ward Toolkit project and in this article on Disegno, Dean Brown speaks with Heather […]
Life Sciences Award Finalists
Design HOPES celebrated the successes of our projects last week at Scotland’s 2026 Life Sciences Conference & Awards
Design HOPES at Beyond 2025
We’re excited to be joining BEYOND Conference next week, as part of the showcase, demonstrating two Design HOPES projects; Green Ward Toolkit and FLOW; we’ll be sharing the research and impact to date on these two projects which seek to make visible the carbon impacts of healthcare decision making, both from the perspective of practitioners […]
