Emer Byrne
Enterprise Academy Fellow Spring Summer 2025
Email: emer.byrne@tudublin.ie
Emer Byrne, Enterprise Academy Fellow, Lecturer in Property, Real Estate and Sustainability in the School of Surveying
Emer is a lecturer at TU Dublin's School of Surveying and Construction Innovation, where she also serves as the Partnership and Engagement Coordinator. With a strong foundation in science and a Chartered Surveyor qualification, Emer began her career in the surveying and real estate industry before transitioning to academia in 2005.
Emer holds a Masters in Sustainable Development, completed in 2012, which significantly influences her teaching, industry engagement, and research within the School of Surveying. She lectures on commercial valuations, real estate, and sustainability in the built environment, bringing a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to her students.
Since joining the Faculty of the Built Environment, Emer has developed numerous modules, programmes, and academic reviews, while actively engaging in sector-specific research and industry collaboration. She has co-created modules with industry partners to address current issues in the built environment, with a strong emphasis on sustainability.
Emer's innovative approaches include:
- Collaborative learning funded by Creative Ireland and Building Change in TU Dublin, supported by internal partners in the School of Architecture and external partners like Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), IPUT, Irish Life Investment Managers and Bannon.
- Integrated projects, work placement models, and industry-linked case studies to enhance student learning and adaptability.
- Utilising the city as a teaching lab and bringing industry professionals into the classroom to co-create and assess projects.
Her efforts in promoting sustainability and industry engagement have been recognised with the Sustainability Champion award from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI). Emer leverages social media to engage with industry, promote her students, and highlight the achievements of her school and university.
Enterprise Academy Fellowship Project
Construction and Built Environment Sector
During her fellowship, Emer Byrne aims to create a series of collaborative modules and short courses using a cross-disciplinary approach to address sustainability issues in the built environment. This initiative targets both students and professional learners in the construction and built environment sector.
The primary objective is to develop collaborative learning modules that prioritise multi-disciplinary approaches, essential for tackling the complex challenges of sustainability in the sector. Emer is committed to driving a radical shift in educational methodology to support the sector in achieving the 2030 and 2050 climate action goals.
Key steps in this initiative include:
- Engaging with an extensive network to assess detailed needs in the sectors of surveying, planning, and architecture.
- Consulting within TU Dublin to identify successful models within the enterprise academy.
- Co-creating the structure and content of the modules, with plans to offer micro-credentials and short courses at the postgraduate level in the new academic year.
- Integrating these modules into existing undergraduate programs undergoing programmatic reviews to efficiently embed sustainability.
This fellowship project addresses the need for greater collaboration in education, involving enterprise partners in the design, development, and delivery of these modules. By leveraging the collective expertise of educational and enterprise perspectives, Emer aims to create a more integrated and effective educational model that addresses the cross-sectoral challenges of sustainable development within the construction and built environment sectors.
