The John Connell Awards 2025 will take place at the Palace of Westminster on the evening of Wednesday 22nd October 2025, kindly hosted by The Lord Balfe, and the awards presented by Emma Hardy MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State – Defra.
These unique awards are named after the Noise Abatement Society’s far-sighted founder John Connell OBE, who lobbied the Noise Abatement Act through Parliament in 1960 when noise became a statutory nuisance in the UK for the first time. These unique annual awards, known as the ‘Noise Oscars’, are now in their 24th year. They acknowledge the importance of the quality of sound in our lives, and champion vital advances in reducing the negative impact of unnecessary noise for the public benefit. Over 450 recipients from local authorities, industry, organisations and individuals have now been honoured for the significant impact they have made to improve the aural environment.
The John Connell Awards serve not only as a celebration of acoustic excellence and community action, but as a national call to value quiet and better sounding environments as fundamental components of everyday life. Each award is a powerful reminder that quieter solutions enable a more healthy, productive and positive life for all.
The Noise Abatement Society (NAS) is a dynamic UK charity whose aim is to share a better understanding of what sound is, how it affects us and how we can solve noise problems in a pragmatic and sustainable way. Its internationally respected work helps to relieve the physical and mental distress caused by excessive noise which profoundly affects health and wellbeing, learning, productivity and social cohesion http://noiseabatementsociety.com/.
These are the John Connell Awards 2025 categories:
1. John Connell Local Authority Award presented by the Trustees of the Noise Abatement Society
The Local Authority Award recognises Local Authority Environment and Planning teams dealing with the challenges of neighbourhood noise and promoting sustainable placemaking. It commends innovative services, campaigns and initiatives that show strong community engagement and creative approaches to reducing excessive noise and shaping healthier sounding environments.
2. Institute of Acoustics Young Persons’ Competition 2025
The Institute of Acoustics (IOA) is inviting young people to dive into the fascinating world of acoustics – the science of sound – and show the world why sound matters in daily life. For more information about the IOA Young Persons Award please see:
https://www.ioa.org.uk/news/sound-unleashed-discover-create-inspire-ioa-2025-youngpersons-competition
3. Quiet Mark Young Engineers Award sponsored by S&P UK Ventilation Systems Ltd
The Quiet Mark Young Engineers Award recognises early-career engineers who are developing innovative, practical solutions to reduce noise pollution and improve sound design. Celebrating creativity, technical skill, and real-world impact, the award highlights tangible outputs such as prototypes or products that advance quiet engineering in everyday environments.
4. John Connell Sustainable Development Award sponsored by the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) and ANV Measurement Systems
The John Connell Sustainable Development Award recognises innovative and/or novel products, services, and solutions that reduce noise and/or enhance sound quality. This award recognises advancements that benefit society, the environment and the economy and highlights impactful approaches leading to quieter, health promoting, and sustainable placemaking.
5. John Connell Soundscape Award sponsored by Anderson Acoustics
The John Connell Soundscape Award recognises and encourages the development and advancement of soundscape projects demonstrating practical ‘real world’ applications to improve/support health, mental health, wellbeing, aural diversity and sustainability in indoor and outdoor spaces.
6. John Connell Innovation Award sponsored by the Institute of Acoustics
Innovation is the key to solving noise and improving the sound environment for the benefit of all. This award recognises original thinking, products and solutions when faced with particularly challenging acoustic issues.
7. Quiet Mark Logistics Award sponsored by Rolltek International
The Quiet Mark Logistics Award recognises advances in low noise technology in the logistics industry to facilitate quieter delivery and servicing especially in urban areas and near sensitive receptors (e.g. schools and hospitals).
8. Quiet Mark Built Environment Award sponsored by ROCKWOOL UK
The Quiet Mark Built Environment Award recognises shining examples of acoustic design and construction excellence incorporating high performance acoustic materials within the built environment.
9. Quiet Mark Commercial Award sponsored by Quiet Mark Approval
This award recognises companies who have been highly inventive in the marketing of their Quiet Mark product to support health and wellbeing.
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