Welcome from the Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action
Trinity is committed to addressing the challenge of achieving a sustainable and healthy planet, both for people, and for the natural systems we are part of, and rely upon. Since the Sustainability Strategy was published, we have been working to realise Trinity’s potential to make a difference and act as an engine for the cultural, technological, and societal changes that are needed.
We wanted to fill you in on some highlights as we implement our plan and build our team.
Education
More than 500 students in Trinity Business School will be taking a new interdisciplinary sustainability module called Enacting Sustainable Development. It is mandatory for first-year Business students, and was co-designed by Trinity students and Trinity’s Fellows in Education for Sustainable Development. The ESD Fellows are also working with the Trinity Centre for Academic Practice to support staff to embed sustainability throughout Trinity by providing training and resources.
Trinity is now participating in an international pilot, Responsible Futures, which is a framework & accreditation mark for embedding sustainability in learning. The externally assessed accreditation mark (audited by students) is awarded to educational institutions based on the whole of institution approach to sustainability. The audit will take place in October 2024 and will be supported by the Student Experience Officer Sarah Murphy and Sustainability Student Intern Órla Fitzgerald.
Research
The new Green Labs Officer, Dumitru Anton, is working on enabling research to be conducted in a way that reduces resource use and generates less waste, contributing to Trinity’s Circular Campus strategy. There are 36 labs beginning the process of being certified ‘Green’ by My Green Labs, with the guidance and support of Trinity Sustainability. This is in addition to the 17 labs supported by SFI.
A new Chair in Climate Science, Professor Karen Wiltshire, has joined Trinity’s academic staff. Prof Wiltshire brings a wealth of international and multi-disciplinary research experience, and her research focuses on "whole- system climate resilience", and innovative ways to combine the needs of society, renewable energy and nature towards a sustainable climate and human future.
Operations
Several energy efficiency projects were completed in 2023-2024 which have led to significant energy savings across campus. These include LED lighting retrofit projects, new Energy Management Systems and Building Management Systems are in place, and we have new meters to monitor hot water usage. Estates and Facilities are conducting audits that will inform the development of a campus-wide decarbonisation plan. 1000 bike parking upgrades have been made and Reverse Vending Machines for waste bottles and cans will soon be operational on campus. A Transport Study is underway and will inform a new Campus Travel Plan, and a Campus Food Plan is being developed by the new Healthy Campus Manager, Martina Mullin.
Trinity has made changes to encourage wildlife across campus, including installing a wildlife pond, changing mowing regimes to allow wild flowers to flourish, and planting trees.
Community
The Climate Action Mandate requires Trinity to provide annual training for all staff in Climate Leadership. We have taken staff feedback on board and developed bespoke training to almost 440 staff members. Staff are trained in climate leadership, focusing on climate literacy, embodied carbon and life cycle costing. Trinity continues to work with international partners, for example through LERU, Nature Positive Universities Network and International Sustainable Campus Network
Trinity Sustainability is forging ahead with the Action Plan and we invite you all to get involved. Climate and Biodiversity Action week is a great opportunity to do so, and you can find all of our events here. We hope this is a great semester for everyone and we look forward to working with you!
Jane Stout, Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action