Provost presents Trinity Civic Engagement Awards

Posted on: 12 December 2024

The Provost presented the Civic Engagement Awards to staff at a ceremony in the GMB on Friday 6th December. The Awards, sponsored by the Civic Engagement for Societal Impact unit, are for four proposed civic engagement projects to take place in 2025. Projects from the School of Medicine, School of Natural Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Security team in Estates and Facilities were all honoured with awards.

Speaking at the event, the Provost acknowledged the tireless work of so many staff across the university, both academic and professional, who continue to build and maintain relationships with different communities over years. The Provost also reiterated Trinity’s commitment to working in collaboration to tackle societal challenges. She positioned Civic Engagement as a way of playing to our many strengths here in Trinity in order to be a partner for change.

Prof Jo-Hanna Ivers, Associate Dean of Civic Engagement for Societal Impact, reflected on the progress achieved so far in the Civic Engagement for Societal Impact Action Plan, which is now finishing its first year. Prof Ivers also celebrated the partnerships between her unit and Dublin City Council, the NGO sector, European Researchers’ Night/START, Creative Brain Week, TAP, Trinity Global, the Trinity-based Research Centres’ Education and Public Engagement Teams and Impact Officers, PPI and public engagement staff.

Partner agencies from the Pearse Street area were also well represented and Mary Colclough, Community & Enterprise Engagement Manager for Trinity East, gave an update on the work of Unit 18 and its motivation to be a good neighbour while also programming exciting activities in the space across the year.

The four awards presented on the day were as follows:

• The Engaged Teaching and Learning category went to Prof Eimear McGlinchey in Intellectual Disability in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. The winning initiative will co-develop resources that promote the increased inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in teaching and assessment within the Intellectual Disability Nursing program. Her award was accepted by Prof Eilish Burke, Director of Research in the School.

• The award in the Civically Engaged Research category went to Dr Erica Krueger, Research Fellow in Geography for an initiative that will install two CoastSnap monitoring stations in the Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve to track coastal changes. CoastSnap is a worldwide citizen science project, and these stations will bring together a number of public sector and community partners.

• The Civic Activity Award went to Beth Corcoran, a programme manager in Paediatrics within the School of Medicine. The project will develop a health awareness programme for teenagers with Down Syndrome.

• The inaugural Civic Starter Award was presented this year too. The award is for an individual with no previous track record in civic engagement but one who is proposing an innovative project that can benefit stakeholders. This award went to Zachary Chambers, Security Operations Manager in Estates and Facilities for a project that will help security staff to administer mental health first aid to students experiencing a mental health crisis outside of daytime hours. This project will be delivered in partnership with Trinity Students Union and Trinity’s Student Counselling Services.

This inspiring festive event was brought to a close by the surprise arrival of acapella group The Trinity Belles with a beautiful arrangement of Fleet Foxes’ ‘White Winter Hymnal’ before the crowd retired to their hot chocolate and mince pies.

Read more about the Civic Engagement Awards on the website.

• Tags:
• Awards and Funding
• Community
• Society