Fellow, Lecturer, School of Food Science & Environmental Heath, TU Dublin

Email: graham.oneill@TUDublin.ie

Graham is Assistant Lecturer in the School of Food Science and Environmental Health at TU Dublin and Programme Chair – BSc Food Innovation

 

Responding to the Education Needs of the Bioeconomy

The bioeconomy represents a sustainable approach for the future production of food, feed, biobased products and bioenergy. The growth of the Bioeconomy in Ireland is supported by policy at national and EU level, the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation and the Bioeconomy forum. However, there is a limited number of educational offerings to support the growth of the Bioeconomy in Ireland. At present, it is not clear from an education provision perspective, how best to meet the needs of the bioeconomy sector in terms of course content, course delivery and skills requirements.

 

Through the fellowship, Graham engaged with companies in the Agri-food and Bioeconomy sector to understand their education and training needs. One-to-one interviews with representatives from the sector was the approach used, with people from a variety of roles including those engaged in corporate social responsibility, sustainability, innovation and sales. These interviews offered an opportunity to discuss specific challenges and skills needs for each company, with the ambition to identify common themes, around which educational offerings can be developed.

 

A number of interesting trends emerged:

1. Sustainability is a big item on the agenda for most companies. Many, are unsure how to embrace the bioeconomy and us it as a means to becoming a more sustainable business.
2. Bioeconomy education needs to focus on professional services and the general public, to support the growth of the bioeconomy and drive demand for biobased products.
3. Educational offerings need to be agile, to respond to the changing needs of the sector.

In response, TU Dublin has developed a “spin in” innovation lab for bioeconomy practitioners and are developing a number of educational offerings to support the growth of the sector. The ambition is to develop an educational offering that is dynamic and responds to the needs of the sector, to support this we want continued input from enterprise partners.

 

An undergraduate module has also been developed, "The bioeconomy, a model for sustainable food & drink production". The module will provide students with an understanding of the bioeconomy, the interconnected relationship between agriculture and the environment as well as techniques the food & drinks industry can use to underpin a transition to a circular economy. The bioeconomy model will be introduced and the drivers for its adoption presented. Students will investigate the relationship between agriculture and carbon production and link this to current National / European policy such as the European Green Deal. Students will learn about sustainable food & drink production, green energy and the potential of biomass as a sustainable source of energy and products.

Graham O"Neill Fellowship Report.