In this episode of the Green Campus podcast, Ava O'Donnell (Greenshoots Communications Intern), interviews Dearbhla Richardson (Greenshoots Communications Intern, SU Environmental Representative and environmental activist) and Niamh Guiry (UCC PhD Candidate and environmental activist) about their experience at COP23.

COP (Conference of the Parties) is a series of United Nations climate change conferences, which have been running since 1995. The purpose of these conferences is to review progress made by members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to combat climate change. COP is the primary decision-making body of the UNFCCC and includes representatives of all countries that are signatories (or ‘Parties’) to the UNFCCC.

In the 20th episode of ‘The Green Campus Podcast’ we talk to UCC’s Energy Manager Pat Mehigan.

Pat talks about his role and responsibilities in relation to the energy infrastructure across our campus. He discusses where our energy comes from and how UCC’s energy consumption has changed in recent years in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing energy and climate crises.

He moves on to discuss what changes are being implemented and what plans are in place to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets, including becoming a carbon neutral university by 2040. He finishes by discussing the need for systemic change across all areas of society and the importance of public engagement with our politicians to demand sustainable changes and climate action.

In the 19th installment of the Green campus podcast we talk to Student Support Administrator Natalie O’Byrne.

Natalie talks about her role in the international office which has responsibility for the arrival of over four thousand students from 104 countries each year. Natalie moves on to talk about the swap shop where students can avail of household items left behind by international students.

She talks about how it feeds into the circular economy and the positive reaction to its establishment by both students and staff. She finishes by talking about the challenges in setting it up, how it operates throughout the year and how to engage with the swap shop.

The 18th instalment of the Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to Professor Justin Holmes, the Professor of Nanochemistry in the School of Chemistry in UCC. Justin first talks about his early career in chemistry.

He moves on to talk about his work in the Radical project, and EU funded research project to develop a brand-new way of detecting atmospheric radicals in real-time. He outlines the collaborative effort on the project alongside the challenges and progress of the project in creating a prototype.

He moves on to talk about his work in another EU funded project, the Translate project that aims to develop a new nanofluidic platform technology to effectively convert waste heat to electricity. He finishes by talking about how these new technologies can assist in meeting our 2030 and 2050 energy targets.

The 17th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to Dr. Fionn Rogan, Senior Research Fellow in MaREI. 

Fionn begins by talking about how he first started working on issues of climate change and sustainability. He talks about a paper he co-authored ‘Improving energy savings from a residential policy: A new model to inform better retrofit decisions’.

Fionn moves on to discuss how important retrofitting is and the sheer scale of change that is required to allow us to meet our 2030 and 2050 climate targets in Ireland. He talks about the CAPACITY Project and Imagining 2050 Project and finishes by discussing his role in coordinating and contributing to the Mock UCC COP26 event in October 2022. 

Calum and Fiach talk about their role in the LIVE project down on the Iveragh peninsula. This project enables coastal communities to promote their natural and cultural assets and how to create opportunities for sustainable tourism. They talk about the rich environment of the Iveragh peninsula, the studies and surveys they carry out to produce different resources, and the community engagement in the region.

They move on to talk about the reintroduction of a meadow at the Valentia Meteorological Observatory. They describe the conditions needed for a meadow, the results achieved in respect of the flower and fauna that inhabit the meadow, and how you can have your own meadow in your back garden. They finish by talking about how meadows and the live project feed into the national discussion on Ireland’s biodiversity.  The LIVE project has been co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through its Ireland Wales Cooperation Programme.

The 15th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to UCC Student Union President Asha Woodhouse.

Asha begins by talking about her background in Environmental Science and Environmental Law and how her family inspired her involvement with social justice issues and climate activism.

She moves on to talk about her time on the UCC Environmental Society and UCC Green Campus, and the initiatives that she helped bring into UCC during her time on these committees. She talks about the challenges of Covid-19 and her experience working with staff and students through the UCCSU over the past year.

The 14th instalment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to author and Head of the UCC Visitors Centre, JP Quinn. 

JP begins by telling us about his own UCC journey, from starting as an undergraduate student to his role as Head of the Visitors Centre. JP tells us about his book ‘A Bee At UCC’, a children's book illustrated by Charlie Ruxton, which started as a Covid lockdown project and is now available in every library in Ireland. He talks about the importance of storytelling and how he tailored his books to engage with young readers and communicate the importance of bees and biodiversity. He also gives us a sneak peek into his second and upcoming book ‘A Tree At UCC’. 

Following on from this, JP discusses the importance of having open conversations with children about environmental issues, and the role that inclusion and communication plays in sustainability. He tells us about the different sustainable products and gifts available at the Visitors Centre including our very own UCC Honey (produced by UCC bees) and upcycled clocks. JP wraps up the episode by talking about the student-led sustainability initiatives in UCC and how our university is leading the way in this area. 

The 13th instalment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to UCC lecturers Dr Angela Flynn (School of Nursing & Midwifery) and Dr Catherine Forde (School of Applied Social Studies).

The podcast begins with a discussion around the connection between sustainability and healthcare and how a person's environment (home, transport options, socioeconomic status) influences their health and well-being. Catherine talks about her work with colleagues which aims to bring environmental perspectives into their disciplinary practices, referencing a module on social work and the environment that is delivered as part of the Masters of Social Work for the past two years, developed by Mary Hurley and Dr Fiachra Ó Suilleabháin.

Following this, Angela discusses the issue of single use waste production in healthcare, particularly in recent years due to the Covid pandemic. Catherine moves on to talk about the response of students when integrating sustainability into her modules and programmes, and the importance of learning from students involved with environmental campaigns and groups. Next, the role of social workers as activists and agitators is explored alongside the rise in engagement with environmental education. Finally, Catherine and Angela finish the podcast by discussing how they’re working to equip educators with the necessary tools to integrate environmental education into their teachings.

The 12th instalment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to beekeeper and assistant to the Academic Secretary & Assistant Registrar, Gretta McCarthy. 

Gretta begins the episode by telling us about what first inspired her get involved with beekeeping and how beekeeper Pat Keane influenced her journey. She goes on to speak about the importance of bees as pollinators, their essential role in our food production and ecosystems, giving a harrowing example of how in parts of China, people have to hand-pollinate trees due to severe declines in pollinator populations. 

Next Gretta discusses what the everyday person can do to support pollinators such as rewilding and planting native species. She gives tips on how you could start beekeeping and the most common challenges people face when setting up hives. She finishes the episode by talking about the role that flora and fauna play in beekeeping and honey-production.