The Inspiring City Awards 2025 will take place on Monday, 8th September at Radisson Blu, 301 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8DL, celebrating the city and people of Glasgow.
The afternoon will include lunch, entertainment, official event programme, networking, and the awards presentation.
Bio coming soon.
This category will reward an individual/organisation that has enhanced the reputation of Glasgow’s cultural ambitions. This category will embrace all art forms, including visual arts, music, theatre, architecture, literature, or cultural events. Judges will be looking for individuals or organisations whose cultural achievements have not only celebrated creativity but also successfully showcased Glasgow as a vibrant and engaged cultural hub.
This award will recognise businesses or initiatives that have significantly contributed to Glasgow’s economic growth and development. Judges will examine how an innovation or business concept has been developed and applied to deliver economic growth throughout the city.
This award will recognise an outstanding contribution to enhance Glasgow’s environment and/or combating climate change across the city, helping to address the Glasgow Pacts agreed by global leaders when the city hosted COP26. Judges will be looking for organisations or individuals demonstrating leadership, innovation, and measurable success in advancing environmental sustainability in Glasgow.
This award will recognise an individual at the forefront of business who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and commitment to Glasgow. Judges will look for someone who inspires others through their contribution with exceptional commitment, motivation, effort and vision.
To recognise an outstanding achievement that has fostered the development of sport in the city. They may have inspired others to become more active, been a role model or helped secure facilities and funding. Judges will be looking for individuals or organisations that have used sport as a force for good—empowering communities, encouraging active lifestyles, and strengthening Glasgow’s sporting culture.
Celebrating initiatives that have substantially improved quality of life, community cohesion, or social equity in Glasgow. Judges will be looking for initiatives that have delivered tangible benefits, empowered communities, and demonstrated a strong commitment to building a fairer and more connected Glasgow.
Awarding initiatives specifically designed to engage and empower the youth of Glasgow, ensuring they are equipped to shape the future of the city.
Honouring projects or individuals that have played a significant role in preserving Glasgow’s rich history and heritage. Judges will be looking for those who have demonstrated passion, dedication, and tangible success in safeguarding Glasgow’s unique historical legacy.
Judges will assess how projects, businesses, individuals and communities have created lasting change across Glasgow. Judges will be looking for those who have shown vision, resilience, and measurable success in creating a meaningful and enduring legacy for Glasgow.
Once you have decided on the category, or categories, you would like to enter, please click the Enter Now button where you will be directed to our Awards Entry form.
A Word document version of the form will be available for working offline.
If you have any questions regarding the entry process, please see the FAQ section below or get in touch via the details at the bottom of this page.
Entries for the 2025 awards are now open. Entry deadline is Monday, August 4th.
Stephen is currently Chief Executive Officer of Glasgow Science Centre and is committed to building confidence and raising aspiration in young people and helping them to discover the pleasure and relevance of science, engineering and technology. Stephen trained and worked as an engineer and has held two previous roles as Chief Executive Officer with Futurelab Education and The Kelvin Institute Ltd. Stephen also sits on the board of trustees for the Scottish Seabird Centre, the Campaign for Science and Engineering and is Chair of the Association of Science and Discovery Centres. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of West of Scotland in 2019 and an Honorary Doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2023 for services to science, technology, and education. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Sarah is Head of Development at GSA, responsible for managing the team to deliver the GSA Development Strategy 2023/27. Since joining GSA in 2012, she has worked extensively on The Mackintosh Campus Campaign 2014 – 2018, including the international award winning Ash to Art partnership and she has also headed GSA’s corporate sponsorship and partnerships to support student projects and opportunities with leading brands including citizenM, Loewe, Moda, Glengoyne and Penguin. Prior to working at GSA she was a Lottery Officer for Creative Scotland and was the lead fundraiser on the BBC Scotland feature film The Happy Lands.
Sarah is a graduate of GSA and Goldsmiths, a Member of the Association of Women in the Arts, a Board Member of David Dale Gallery and Studios and a former Trustee of LGBT Youth Scotland. She continues to be passionate about contemporary art, and contributes to various visual arts organisations as an advisor and patron. She is also a Creative Producer, and her most recent GI collaboration was with Giulia Gregnanin that supported the first exhibitions in Scotland by leading artists including Nora Turato and Rebecca Ackroyd. During the covid-19 pandemic she was part of the Steering Group for ViseUp+, the cross-sector initiative that designed, made and distributed PPE to the NHS and care workers across Scotland.
Susie came to Glasgow in 1996 to undertake a PhD in cancer research at the University of Glasgow’s Beatson Institute for Cancer Research where she was awarded the John Paul Award for research excellence. She would then become an R&D manager within the NHS, a public policy practitioner (specialising in health and equality) for local and national government, and Accessibility and Inclusion lead for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. For over a decade, Susie was Programme Director for Glasgow City of Science and Innovation – a regional innovation partnership focussed on positioning and strengthening Glasgow City Region (GCR) as a distinctive and thriving place for innovation-enabled growth. In this role, she co-authored GCR’s
£33M Innovation Accelerator Plan and was one of three selected regional assessors tasked with shortlisting the final projects. Susie was named as an “Unsung Hero in the Scottish Start-up scene” in 2022 and in 2024, she became Head of GRID. One of Scotland’s largest innovation districts, the Glasgow Riverside Innovation District (GRID) is anchored by the University of Glasgow and run in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise. Susie is a champion of diversity in STEM and in 2016 was recognised by Equate Scotland as a Leading Woman of Scotland for her contributions to STEM, equality, and Scotland’s advancement. She is an active Non-Exec on a range of Boards and is Chair of the Glasgow Jazz Festival – Glasgow’s longest running music festival. Outside work she is a session musician and a presenter and contributor for the BBC.
