'Climate action' link created between Mayo authority and university
Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and Mayo County Council have announced a new collaboration focusing on sustainability education and training, in line with a key objective of the Council’s recently launched Mayo Council Climate Action Plan 2024-2029.
This plan sets out a vision for Mayo County Council “to be a climate resilient and low carbon organisation that inspires, leads and facilitates just and ambitious climate action across the county.”
This means the council will endeavour to embed not just climate action but all SDGs into their work.
Mayo County Council have also recently been named as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Champion for 2024/24.
ATU’s draft Strategic Development Plan puts sustainability as a core guiding principle.
The university, and the Mayo campus in particular, has a distinguished record of action and achievement in this area, being the first Institute of Technology (IOT) in Ireland to be awarded An Taisce Green Campus status (2012) and the first IOT to be awarded the Biodiversity Flag (2014).
Staff in the Department of Environmental Humanities & Social Sciences have developed key strengths in cross disciplinary collaboration, sustainability leadership, place-based learning, experiential learning, and community development, and recently been awarded funding from Community Foundation Ireland (CFI) to deliver a project titled “Consortium for Change."
This will see the roll out of a new Postgraduate Certificate Sustainability Leadership (Level 9) programme, commencing September 2024, which has potential to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations SDGS and in particular SDGs 11, 12 and 13 - Sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption & production, and Climate Action.
The programme is 80% funded by CFI.
The new Level 9 programme will be delivered in a blended format with participants attending residential workshops (class-room based) in monthly blocks throughout the semester and preparing for these sessions in the intervening period with designated on-line materials on the ATU Virtual Learning platform.
Key elements involve self-directed learning, participation and collaboration and problem-orientation delivered in an interdisciplinary way with different inputs from social, environmental, and economic perspectives.
Dr. Deirdre Garvey, Head of the ATU Department of Environmental Humanities & Social Sciences, said: “Experts have highlighted that most of the tools, technologies and change mechanisms exist today to make the transition to decarbonise the economy and prepare for climate change, but the key to change relies on leadership.
"We hope the programme will help in considering the complexity of the sustainability challenges and how we can take action at a local level and create that capacity for change and embed a commitment to action for the longer term.
“The availability of funded Level 6 and Level 9 programmes aligned to the strategic vision of a sustainable resilient future provides a great opportunity for Mayo to lead by our collective actions."
Separately, the ATU Galway-Mayo Centre for Sustainability developed the Level 6 Certificate in the Sustainable Development Goals, Partnership, People, Planet and Prosperity.
The aim of the programme is to introduce the theory and application of the UN SDGs with a particular focus on their application in the Irish context.
The programme will encourage knowledge of and reflection on how the SDG framework can be applied in a local context to encourage the implementation of environmentally sustainable, living and working practices, that support a just transition to more equitable society.
The programme consists of four 5-credit modules, each (module) focused on one of the four themes: Partnership, People, Planet and Prosperity and is delivered 100% online.
Each module can be undertaken individually as a 5-credit “micro-credential”, which has also been successful in gaining funding under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Micro credential Learner Fee Subsidy initiative.
Dr. John Scahill, SDG programme chair, ATU, stated: “The programme offers students the opportunity to explore the SDGs in an Irish context.
"It aims to encourage knowledge of and reflection on how the SDG framework can be applied in a local context to encourage the implementation of environmentally sustainable, living and working practices, that support a just transition to more equitable society.”
PHOTO: From left are Dr John Scahill, Senior Lecturer, ATU Galway-Mayo Centre for Sustainability, Joanne Grehan, Director of Service, Mayo County Council, Kevin Kelly, Chief Executive, Mayo County Council, Dr Deirdre Garvey, Head of Department, Environmental Humanities & Social Sciences, ATU Mayo, Ann Moore, Head of Environment, Climate Change and Agriculture, Mayo County Council, Laura Dixon, Climate Action Coordinator, Mayo County Council. Photo: Michael Donnelly