TU Dublin raise the Green Flag at all campuses
TU Dublin’s Green-Campus Committee celebrated achieving the prestigious Green Flag at a ceremony on TU Dublin’s Blanchardstown campus on 07 March 2024. TU Dublin is the first multi-campus University in Ireland to be awarded the prestigious Green Flag under a single application for all campus locations by An Taisce’s Green-Campus programme. Achieving Green Flag accreditation was a strategic milestone for the University. Now as an official Green-Campus institution, TU Dublin is delighted to join the many campuses nationwide who are already flying the Green Flag.
Before the establishment of TU Dublin, Green-Campus Committees were operating at Dublin Institute of Technology, the Institute of Technology Tallaght, and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, dating back as far as 2014. Following the merger of the three institutions, the Green-Campus Committee reformed and undertook a new and ambitious approach to achieve their first Green Flag for all five University campus locations of Aungier Street, Bolton Street, Blanchardstown, Grangegorman and Tallaght.
During the recent three-year Green-Campus cycle, the Green-Campus Committee, together with the wider Green Team and over 50 external partners, progressed environmental action on campus under the major themes of Litter & Waste, and Energy, and minor themes of Transport & Travel and Biodiversity. As well as fostering a culture for pro-environmental behaviour, the committee were challenged to undertake an environmental review across five diverse locations, with 185 acres of campus grounds and 204,300 m² of accommodation in 47 buildings.
Speaking at the event, Green Campus Programme Manager, An Taisce Education Unit, Deirdre O'Carroll, said:
TU Dublin is to be greatly commended for its leadership in adopting a ‘one TU Dublin approach’ to implementing the Green-Campus programme under one university-wide group with membership drawn from all campuses – it is hoped that the example set by TU Dublin will inspire other sites to adopt a similar approach. Throughout the assessment process it was evident that the Green-Campus programme is supported from the top down and across all sectors of TU Dublin. This level of support is critical if the programme is to continue to grow and develop over the next three years. I would like to congratulate TU Dublin's Green-Campus on achievements to date culminating in the award of a first Green Flag. Comhghairdeas mór le gach duine a bhí páirteach.
Speaking at the event, TU Dublin’s Vice President for Sustainability, Jennifer Boyer said:
An Taisce’s successful Green-Campus and Green-Schools programmes, pioneered the grassroots movement of environmental education across academic institutions in Ireland. Student and staff led committees have instilled passion and commitment within young people to advance environmental and climate action, long before the current Climate Act of 2021 or any public sector mandate for climate action. At TU Dublin, our long-standing committee members, together with new members, bring passion and commitment to advancing the Green-Campus programme and our sustainability agenda which has been critical to providing a strong support network across the University. The creation of our University-wide Green-Campus Committee enables TU Dublin to deliver a coherent approach to creating a culture of responsibility for the environment with central support to deliver on local level requirements.