UL Student Sustainability

UL Student Sustainability Team take on the new FB admin roles for the UL Secondhand page. This group is designed for UL students to effortlessly buy/sell/donate items they no longer needed. By focusing on the UL community, we make the process smoother and more convenient for everyone. Ready to give your pre-loved items a second life? Join our new FB group to buy, sell, and donate within the UL community. Score great deals, declutter, and make sustainable choices all in one place! https://lnkd.in/ep8jiFK3

UL’s faculty of Science_Engineering UL hosted the yearly Science Week on campus. The Centre for Sustainable Futures and Innovation, UL (CSFI) and UL Student Sustainability hosted the EcoBuilders workshop on November 13th, 2024, for students aged 9-12 coming from both Newport Convent Primary school and Knockadea National school.  In the EcoBuilders interactive workshop, students teamed up to redesign their school with sustainability in mind. Through a hands-on activity and group discussions, they explored ideas like renewable energy, green spaces, and eco-friendly transportation. As a team, they imagined how our schools can be a great place to start building more sustainable cities, towns and villages! Special thank you to Mary Ferry from the Science & Engineering faculty for inviting CSFI to host this workshop. Thank you to Leianna Padgett, Úna McInerney, and Vicky Kelly for volunteering for the workshop and to Elisa Minoue for facilitating it. And of course, thank you to all the students who participated! Your enthusiasm, intelligence, willingness to learn, and creativity were very well received. 

🌟 Exciting Update! 🌟 The application deadline for the Student Sustainability Challenge 2024/25 has passed, and we’re thrilled to announce that 19 applications have advanced to the shortlisting panel! The Centre for Sustainable Futures and Innovation is delighted to see representation from all of four of UL’s faculties: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences | Education and Health Sciences | Kemmy Business School | Science and Engineering A huge thank you to all faculty and staff members who helped spread the word about the challenge, and to the societies and student groups who promoted it on their platforms. Special thanks our partners and sponsors UL Doctoral School, Kirby Group Engineering, Bidvest Noonan for their support, and an extra special thank you to all the students who submitted applications! It’s wonderful to see UL students passionate about making a difference through sustainability initiatives. THANK YOU! Stay tuned to see more updates on UL's Student Sustainability Challenge.

Hello all,  I’m excited to share that the Centre for Sustainable Futures and Innovation (CSFI) in partnership with the Doctoral College and industry sponsors, Kirby Group Engineering and Bidvest Noonan, is launching the UL Student Sustainability Challenge 2024-25.  This initiative encourages UL students to develop sustainability-focused projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It’s a great opportunity for UL students to work in interdisciplinary teams, collaborate with mentors, and gain real-world experience in developing solutions to sustainability issues.  The challenge aims to give UL students the opportunity to build skills in developing compelling project proposals, project management, recruiting a team, working with expert mentors and end-users, and building a network. We’ll be looking for projects around themes such as climate action, waste reduction, biodiversity, social sustainability, circular economy, responsible consumption and production. UL student teams may select their own topic or look to a bank of suggested topics from industry sponsors for inspiration.   Up to five projects will be shortlisted and will receive mentoring from UL faculty or industry partners and up to €5,000 to prepare and deliver a pilot or demonstration of their proposal. The Challenge culminates in a final pitch event to an expert panel during UL’s Research Week in April 2025 where a winning project will be selected.   We would really appreciate your help in promoting the UL Student Sustainability Challenge to all UL students and staff.  Further details and the application form can be found on the Challenge website: https://lnkd.in/eawFjXFW If you have any questions or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact studentsustainability@ul.ie  Thank you all for reading, and have a great week!

I finished my time at University of Limerick's Centre for Sustainable Futures and Innovation, UL (CSFI) just over a week ago, marking an end to seven years involved in the University since starting my undergraduate studies. Joining CSFI from day one provided a great learning opportunity to grow out a new Centre with a large and ambitious portfolio: advancing 21 sustainability missions across Governance, Economy, Society, and Planet. A sincere thanks to Andrea Deverell and Vicky Kelly for bringing me into the team, and for trusting me with building the first iteration of what student engagement could look like for the Centre. It was a steeper and better learning curve than most other jobs could provide, and it's shaped my understanding and appreciation on what long-term worldviews and development should look like. When UL Student Sustainability was launched in January 2023, there was a clear aim to make the experiences challenging, enjoyable, and useful for students, irrespective of age, background, discipline, or region. There was a lot of experimentation, resulting in 62 events and workshops over the past 15 months, including two distinct programmes developed, resulting in 10 student-created projects presented and implemented across campus. A big thanks to the UL and Limerick community for their support across the various events, programmes, and initiatives discussed and implemented over the past two years. It gave us a great testbed to understand what works and what doesn't, actively challenging students' thoughts and perspectives. Most of all, thanks to each of the students who dedicated their time and passion to Student Sustainability. There was a lot of learning on the go, but I'm confident that we've built a strong foundation for navigating complexity and challenging narratives, both within the programmes and in the students' mindsets. If it's a job you or someone you know would be interested in applying for, you can find out more details below. My inbox is always open to chat! https://lnkd.in/gM_WbWAn

Passionate about sustainability? Ready to lead change on campus? Join us as the Student Sustainability Co-ordinator at the University of Limerick! Take the reins in fostering a vibrant community dedicated to sustainable development. From leading engaging student initiatives to ideating new programs aligned with our mission, you'll be at the forefront of campus sustainability. Collaboration is key! Work closely with students, stakeholders, and partners to make a real impact. Strong leadership, communication, and teamwork skills are a must! ✨ Don't miss this chance to lead, innovate, and inspire change. Apply now and be part of something truly meaningful! #Sustainability #StudentLeadership #UniversityLife To find out more, CLICK the link: https://lnkd.in/d-BK5wJv

As part of the Global Leadership for Sustainable Development programme, this coming Tuesday we will be hosting Niamh Schmidtke in KBG-14 from 6pm to 7pm. For non-GLSD students, please feel free to come along and engage in the session. For those in attendance, please spend some time thinking about questions you would like to ask Niamh; they are providing their time on a voluntary basis to come along and chat, so for respect for their time it would be great to have a room full of questions. Niamh’s website can be found here. Per Niamh’s website:   Niamh Schmidtke (she/they b.1997, Dublin) explores the political complications of ‘being green’ by cultivating conversations with the environment, through speculation, audio, ceramics and installations. They examine the relationship between listening and speaking, to consider the kinds of voices that deep time, the sea, or humans could have with one another. These relations critique the utopia of renewable energies, drawing attention to the financial origins of climate crises and examine intimacy as a form of decolonial praxis for the future.   They are the 2023 Earth Water Sky artist-in-residence at TU Berlin, with Science Gallery International and is currently working towards a commission and final exhibition in summer of 2024. Recent shows include; Accelerating Young Talent, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg (2023), Night's Candles are Burnt Out, Hunt Museum Limerick (2023), The diamond’s less sexy sister, Future Artefacts FM, online (2023), PULSE, Limerick City Gallery, (2022), Gilchrist Fisher Landscape Award, Rebecca Hossak Gallery, London (2022), London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery, London (2022). They completed their MFA at Goldsmiths, London with a First Class Honours in 2021 and hold a Fine Art Honours BA from Limerick School of Art and Design (2019).   They have co-produced the radio show Future Artefacts FM with artist Nina Davies since 2021, receiving an Arts Council England National Lottery project grant, and funding from the Elephant Trust.

Recap from our recent event! We were delighted to have Aongus Hegarty, former President for International Markets at Dell, discussing Reduced Inequalities as part of our SDG Conversation Series. With Ben Fitzgerald Kiely as our moderator, we hosted a night exploring technological innovations, organisation diversity, and leadership's role in fostering inclusion. Thank you to all who came. Lots more planned for the rest of the semester! #SDG10 #ULSustainability.

We are delighted to see such a great programme available for students across University of Limerick - be sure to sign up before March 1st!

Want to make a change in the world? Introducing the UL Student Sustainability Mission Innovation Bootcamp - a six-week programme designed to develop UL-focused sustainability project ideas! Whether you're passionate about sustainability, eager to innovate, or simply curious to explore new horizons, this is your opportunity to dive into action-oriented sustainability. We welcome students from all disciplines and backgrounds to join us on this adventure. Don't worry if you haven't had prior experience or project ideas - what matters is your enthusiasm and willingness to make a difference. With spaces limited to just 25 students, be sure to register your interest before Tuesday, February 13 at 17:00 to secure your spot. Register now: https://lnkd.in/e9xAXrrQ