Student Climate Summit
Technological University Dublin is to host a national student summit on climate change in Higher Education in Ireland. Taking place on 31 October 2024, at TU Dublin's Grangegorman campus, the day-long summit is welcoming student representatives from all Irish Higher Education Institutions to attend.
Led by TU Dublin’s Sustainability Education Team, the summit is supported by N-TUTORR and follows on from the Climate Action Leadership Summit hosted by TU Dublin in May of this year.
The event will also see TU Dublin partnering with National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), and An Taisce to facilitate the summit.
We are delighted to welcome Change Clothes who will host a pop-up second hand clothes sale during the lunch break - you might find the perfect ensemble for your Halloween outfit!
This is a forum where students from Higher Education Institutions across Ireland will consider what direction higher education and higher education institutions should take in addressing climate change and climate change education. The summit will address issues of climate change education, climate activism, climate justice, working in a greening economy, food, and climate anxiety. As part of the deliverables students participating in the summit will draft a ‘call-to-action’ addressed to Higher Education in Ireland.
Secure your free ticket here
When: 31 October 2024,
Where: TU Dublin, Grangegorman Campus, Central Quad
Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm
Please complete this form to detail your preference for photo consent, dietary requirements, accessibility needs and to sign up to side events taking place during the day.
Schedule
| Time | Activity | Room |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 10:00am | Welcome breakfast and registration | Central Quad Foyer |
| 9:00 - 10am | Step into the Donut | CQ-105 |
| 10:00 - 10:05am | Welcome address Jennifer Boyer | CQ-009 theatre, Central Quad |
| 10:05 - 10:20am | Introduction Jennie Stephens | CQ-009 theatre, Central Quad |
| 10:20 - 11:00am | Student opening discussion | CQ-009 theatre, Central Quad |
| 11:00 - 1:00pm | World Café -Students addressing questions on themes | CQ-007 and CQ-008 rooms, Central Quad |
|
1:00- 2:00pm |
Lunch and stand activities | Central Quad Foyer |
|
12:00 - 2:00pm |
Change Clothes pop up second hand clothes shop | Central Quad Foyer |
| 2:00 - 3:00pm | Summarising feedback from World Café | CQ-007 and CQ-008 rooms, Central Quad |
| 3:00 - 3:45pm | Panel discussion of findings: Where do we go from here? | CQ-009 theatre, Central Quad |
| 3:45 - 4:00pm | Closing remarks | CQ-009 theatre, Central Quad |
Speaker Line-up
Student opening discussion
Panel Chair: Charlie Beaudelot, TU Dublin N-TUTORR Sustainability Champion
Jessica Dunne, Friday's for Future and TEDX speaker
Craig Douglas, TU Dublin student, Content Creator and Podcast Host, AKA Soil Boy - Feet on the Soil
Peter O'Neill, University of Galway, Student's Union Environmental Awareness and Sustainability Officer
Alannah Wrynn, Youth Climate Ambassador, Concern Worldwide
Asfand Bakht Yar, PhD candidate TU Dublin and An Taisce Environmental Education Officer
Speaker Profiles
Charlie Beaudelot is a second-year Human Nutrition and Dietetics Student as well as being a N-TUTORR Student Champion. They have been involved in sustainability promotion since they were thirteen, both on a local level and a national level as part of the National Youth Assembly of Ireland. They have worked with the National Youth Council of Ireland, SpunOut and as part of Airfield's Youth Board on various sustainability events.
Jessica Dunne is an activist and artist from Dublin. She began organising with Fridays for Future in 2019 and from there has branched out, working through an intersectional lens. She works on gender justice for Friends of the Earth International and engages in advocacy and action for Palestine. Her work combats the climate crisis but with the understanding that decolonisation is a necessary element of climate justice.
Craig Douglas is a nature educator and podcast host of Feetonthesoil - creating a space for conversations about the Irish environment and how we interact with it.
Peter O'Neill has been a Youth Activist for four years and is the current Environmental and Sustainability Officer in University of Galway's Students' Union.
Alannah Wrynn is a climate activist from West Cork and is currently serving as Concern Worldwide’s Youth Climate Ambassador. Alannah first became involved in climate activism through her participation in the Future Generations Climate Justice Project with YMCA Ireland and NYCI (National Youth Council of Ireland), where she assisted in the creation of Ireland’s first ever Climate Justice Charter.
Asfand Bakht Yar is a TU Dublin PhD scholar and an Environmental Education Officer at An Taisce's Environmental Education Unit. He is involved in developing and delivering workshops in schools in Ireland as a part of An Taisce SEAI Energy Workshops programme. With a strong background in environmental education, he strives to inspire the next generation to engage in climate action. His commitment to this cause was recognised with a gold medal from TU Dublin in 2021 for his contributions to environmental volunteering with Student Volunteering. In the past Asfand has also been associated with Crann-trees for Ireland and has been part of Pakistan's biggest Afforestation project The billion Tree Tsunami Project.
Discussion session
Panel Chair: Jennie Stephens, Maynooth University - "Jennie C. Stephens is a Professor of Climate Justice at Maynooth University. She is a feminist climate justice scholar-activist who has been advocating for higher education leadership on climate and energy for over three decades. She has recently moved back to Ireland from the United States where she was a Harvard-Radcliffe Climate Justice fellow and a Professor at the Policy School at Northeastern University in Boston."
Jennifer Boyer, TU Dublin - "Jennifer Boyer is the Vice President of Sustainability at Ireland’s first Technological University, TU Dublin. A member of the University Executive Team (UET), she is TU Dublin's nominated Climate and Sustainability Champion under the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate. She led the development and publication of Irish University Association (IUA) sectoral group white policy paper on Climate Action Roadmap Delivery white paper focusing on investment required to decarbonise the unique environments of University campuses through a portfolio of solutions to accelerate emissions reduction. Jennifer is a board member of the EAUC, the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education, which develops new global frameworks to advance the potential for Higher and Further Education institutions to lead transformative change to protect the planet for future generations."
Dr Clare Kelly, Trinity College Dublin - "Clare is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin. She is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist whose focus has recently broadened to include teaching, research, and advocacy on the climate and biodiversity crisis. Her most recent publication, “Rethinking Academia in a Time of Climate Crisis” applies Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics framework to reimagine academia in a way that works better for people and planet."
Mark Kelly, Atlantic Technological University - "Mark has 25 years’ experience working in higher education as a lecturer and researcher. In 2021, he was appointment Head of the ATU Galway-Mayo Centre for Sustainability and in August 2024, he was seconded as the HEA National Forum Policy Advisor on ESD."
Samantha Fahy, Sustainability at Dublin City University - "Working to inform and engage everyone on our collective sustainability predicament. Focusing on identifying holistic policies and practices to help navigate a pathway through this predicament to a fair, just and values-based future for all."
Dr David Ryan, Associate Vice President for Sustainability, South East Technological University (SETU) - "Dr David Ryan began his career with SETU in 2000 as a lecturer and researcher and has had a number of roles in the University since then including Head of Department of Science and Health, Assistant Registrar, Director of Planning and Research and Director of the SETU Programme Management Office. He was appointed Associate Vice President for Sustainability in May 2024. Dr Ryan’s research interests are applied, collaborative and focused on maximising impact towards sustainable environmental, societal and economic development, as part of the global effort to meet the commitments to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and include soil health and bioremediation, plant growth promotion and food safety and security."