Flying the Flag – UCC’s Collective Response to Global Sustainability Challenges

In the most recent Greening our City webinar, in partnership with Cork Environmental Forum, SHEP Earth Aware, Green Spaces for Health, Cork Healthy Cities and the Environmental Research Institute at UCC, Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC, and Dr. Maria Kirrane, Sustainability Officer UCC shared University College Cork’s sustainability journey to date, their future plans in the making, and how others can become leaders in sustainability. 

Beginning their journey in 2007, UCC has achieved a 43% reduction in CO2 emissions, a 21% reduction in total energy use and a 25% decrease in waste tonnage. Noteworthy achievements include the first plastic free café in Ireland, and a farm to fork initiative. Their immense efforts have led to global recognition and numerous sustainability awards, most notably the Green Flag campus award of which UCC was the first to achieve worldwide. Most recently, UCC launched the Sustainable Futures programme, a collaborative initiative based on enterprise and research. The development of a sustainability and climate action plan is the next big project currently in the making.

How did a community of 25,000 students and 3,500 staff (a population equivalent to that of a bustling Irish town) accomplish so much? President O’Halloran and Dr. Kirrane named the following enablers critical to embedding sustainability into every element and activity within the university. 

Firstly, facilitating behaviour change among individuals, social networks, and throughout the actual buildings and estate of the college, following the ISM Model developed by the Scottish Government, has been a key element to engaging the community and various stakeholders.

In addition, the concept of “student-led, research-informed, practice-focused” has helped guide the numerous initiatives UCC has carried out.

Lastly, the speakers highlighted the need for top-down, bottom-up and middle-out approaches to create an ecosystem rooted in sustainability. The latter concept is especially important to linking relevant stakeholders. While UCC has been recognised globally for their sustainability efforts, there is still much to learn from each other in this continuous process.

Fortunately, Cork is well placed to become a leader in sustainability, being a city of learning that is home to both UCC and Munster Technological University, along with globally recognised research centres such as the Tyndall National Institute and the Nimbus Centre. We have access to a pipeline of skills, expertise and future generations of talent for industry to utilise as we work towards becoming a climate-neutral smart-city by 2030.

Our speakers concluded that while this journey takes time, it requires urgency. As we progress globally it is critical that diversity is respected, embedding climate justice into all sustainability activities to ensure no one is disproportionately impacted from the changes to come. A whole systems approach that involves every network, industry and community is essential, from environmental scientists, chemists and economics to psychologists, architects, and artists.

President O’Halloran left us with an inspiring proverb to encourage collaboration, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

While we will face roadblocks and challenges along the way, if the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything it is that when we collaborate globally and mobilise the resources we have at our doorstep, we can do more than we ever have.