News

University of Galway has announced the appointment of leading environmental geographer Professor Frances Fahy as the new Director of the Ryan Institute. A Fulbright Scholar, Frances Fahy was previously Head of Geography at the University and is the past President of the Geographical Society of Ireland.   Professor Fahy currently leads several international research teams on sustainable consumption and energy citizenship research. [Read]

In an exclusive interview with Horizon Magazine - the EU Research and Innovation Magazine, published on behalf of the European Commission - Discipline of Geography, University of Galway's Dr Maura Farrell discusses the work being done on the FLIARA project and the vital role of female farmers in sustainable agriculture. [Read]

PhD candidate, Tomy Ncube and supervisor Dr Una Murray presented at the ECMN24 Conference in Liège - Belgium (9-12 July 2024). The conference brings together a specialized network of climate change and migration scholars. See the link to the conference: https://www.climatemobilities.network/ecmn24-agenda/ 

Discipline of Geography's Dr Kevin Lynch working in collaboration with partners Leave No Trace Ireland, the CARO ASBN and the MSLETB just completed the project  ‘Beaches & Dunes for Climate Adaptation: Community Training’. The project worked at 5 dune locations in the north west, with 100+ participants. A final event, on June 25th  at the National Surf Centre in Sligo, drew in additional national stakeholders including the NPWS, OPW and local government. The event featured presentations, an exhibition and a field trip focused on addressing threats to coastal dunes along with agreement on the top priorities for coastal action. Arising from the project is dunes.ie: a national "one stop shop" for our sand dune resources.

Dr Eugene Farrell was invited by the European Commission as an expert panel speaker for coastal and marine ecosystems to the 1st EU-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) conference on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) with the aim to initiate a Policy Dialogue between the two regions (June 27).

Dr Eugene Farrell received the 2024 Presidents Award for Research Excellence from the University of Galway in recognition of his sustained and impactful research in coastal resilience and engaged research with coastal communities and key government stakeholders.

Dr Eugene Farrell has recently presented his ongoing NbS research at numerous conferences and workshops (Mary Robinson Climate Conference in Ballina, Mayo, June 05; Nature-Based Solutions to Protect and Restore Urban, Rural, Coastal and Riverine Environments Conference in Dundalk Institute of Technology, May 16; World Sand Dune Day, Neart Na Machair Workshop with Community Partners, Maharees, Co. Kerry, June 29; 7th Irish Sea Level Meeting, TCD, Dublin, June 14).

Dr Eugene Farrell was invited - with a selection of university colleagues - to briefly present his coastal and marine research to the visiting Dutch Ambassador Maaike Van Koldaon on June 25 and to Ireland’s new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) on June 27 to determine potential opportunities for marine researchers in the Ryan Institute in University of Galway to support and/or collaborate with these organisations.

Yuhan Zheng recently returned from the 78th session of the Executive Council (EC-78) at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva: https://wmo.int/events/constituent-body/78th-session-of-executive-council-ec-78 , where she contributed to the launch of the WMO & Youth Strategy (https://wmo.int/media/update/wmo-executive-council-empowers-youth ) (The EC-78 has made a landmark decision to acknowledge the critical role of youth as future leaders and decision-makers. With 1.8 billion people worldwide aged between 15 and 24, this demographic represents a quarter of the global population but remains underrepresented in decision-making processes, projects, and expert teams.). This strategy is designed to empower young scientists and early career researchers in meteorology, earth science, and sustainability-related fields.  She has also joined the steering committee responsible for developing a platform to support these young scientists, in collaboration with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), and the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW). Their goal is to leverage the research capacities within academic institutions and organize scientific committees and partnerships that will empower young scientists and early career researchers in the field of meteorology, earth science, water, energy and climate change. This initiative invites scholars in meteorology, earth science, and sustainability to collaborate with them, applying to be part of the science committee and engaging in further development. An example of successful collaboration is the YESS community: YOUNG EARTH SYSTEM SCIENTISTS community ( https://www.yess-community.org/aboutus/partners/). Yuhan Zheng looks forward to continuing her contributions to the development of a self-sufficient ecosystem for young scientists dedicated to addressing climate change, and to see how the science of uncertainty can help predict and understand our chaotic world. [Further info]

New publication from Geography staff members Professor Frances Fahy, Dr Benjamin Schmid and Dr Michael Lydon in Cois Coiribe, Global Impact Edition, titled Island inspiration: Irish communities lead the way in restoring people’s sense of agency in the energy transition [Read]  

Dr Kathy Reilly represented the CCC-CATAPULT Irish team at the recent ENLIGHT Impact Awards hosted by the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain on June 11th. Following Dr Reilly’s presentation to an expert international panel she was awarded an ENLIGHT Impact Award. The awards are bestowed as part of the ENLIGHT University Alliance, of which University of Galway is a partner – along with nine other universities in Europe. The awards recognise and give visibility to research endeavours at ENLIGHT universities that are exemplars in planning for, and achieving, impact. Dr Reilly works on the CCC-CATAPULT project in Galway with Professor Frances Fahy and PhD Candidate Bronagh Dillon, along with partners in Finland, Italy and the UK. CCC-CATAPULT is a JPI Climate and EPA Research funded project.

MIDP students attended The Mary Robinson Climate Conference in Ballina, Co Mayo, which is delivered in partnership with the University of Galway @krgeography. With Mary Robinson in this photo are some of the MIDP international students - Morton (Malawi), Xilia (Timor Leste), Macarena (Chile), Glory (Nigeria), Claudia (Italy) and Karli (USA) who really enjoyed the Conference which was co-organised by Dr Kathy Reilly from Geography.

Although early, on Saturday morning, some Geography MA students with an interest in International Development and Global Food Security met the Director General, Qu Dongyu, of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (one of the UN specialised agencies)  when he came to visit on 8 June. Glory Omomase who is doing her research project with Misean Cara asked an interesting question about gender, as did Phu Pham who asked about skills need to work with FAO. FAO signed a letter of intent with the University of Galway. FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide with the aim of achieving food security for all. Dr Murray from Geography began her international career at FAO in the 1990s and still regularly works with FAO.

Geography (Dr Una Murray) and Political Science and Sociology (Dr Hanna-Kaisa Hoppania) joined forces again to run the second ENLIGHT Summer School on Equity and Sustainability Transitions, with 30 participants from across the ENLIGHT universities. Contributions included a very active session on planning with Dr Therese Conway from Geography, an urban walking tour of Galway (Dr Mike Hynes) and a field trip to Inis Oírr to observe issues pertaining to equity and sustainability transitions. Five students from the MA in International Development Practice (MIDP) took the 5 ECTs module (photo), and other MIDP students joined for the field trip.

Tuesday 25th June Time: 9:30 – 15:30 National Surf Centre, Strandhill, Sligo   This event aims to celebrate Ireland’s beaches and dunes.    Why Attend: To make others aware of your work (or that of your agency, group or organisation). To hear about and interact with other people concerned about the future of their local dunes.   The day will be scheduled into 3 sessions: Morning 5-min talks and discussion: You will hear from community groups that undertook the 2-day Beaches and Dunes for Adaptation training. And from state agencies and local authorities responsible for our beach & dune systems. An exhibition and networking session: this is your chance to highlight your work and see what others are up to. Afternoon Field trips: Optional field trips around the local beach dune environment to observe and discuss the many issues we all face, and to discuss the ways we can work together to improve things.   Join us for a day of celebration, learning and collaboration as we highlight the importance of protecting our coastal environments. We will also be launching our National Dune Campaign for 2024.   Spaces are limited and prior registration is required.   Registration  To register please visit https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/training-event/world-sand-dune-day-25th-june-2024/

Geography PhD student Emily Gray attended the final onsite week of the blended learning ENLIGHT course, Connecting cultures: sustainability, travel, translation and migration at the University of the Basque Country from 13-17 May 2024. The module brought an interdisciplinary group of students from across the ENLIGHT network together for a lecture series and challenge-based education workshop to address some of today's most pressing sustainability issues. 

The Rural Studies Centre, chaired by Associate Professor Maura Farrell, held its Twenty First Seminar on April 30th, featuring Dr. David Meredith, Teagasc, who spoke on Farming Futures: Envisioning Continuity and Change in Uncertain Times. 

Dr Therese Conway has been invited by the Academy of Urbanism to speak at their conference in Galway the 29th and 30th May. Therese will be a panelist in the European Planning Exemplars session on Wednesday 29th  May and will be the rapporteur in the Irish Emerging Solutions session on Thursday 30th  May The theme of the conference is Lifelong Neighbourhoods: Planning, designing, and delivering the 21st century neighbourhood. The conference programme and registration link is: https://www.theaou.org/events/21st-century-neighbourhood

Associate Professor Maura Farrell was the invited Expert Coordinator for the EU CAP Network, Rural Gender event in Krakow, Poland on the 17th and 18th April. Louise Weir, EU FLIARA Project Manager, also attended and presented the FLIARA project.  

University of Galway MA in International Development Practice Student Macarena Montero and the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins at the Dóchas Sustainable Development in a Time of Climate Crisis Conference on May 9th.  President Higgins provided the Keynote address at the Conference which also marked 50 years of Dochas, the network which connects 58 non governmental organisations working for global justice. Dochas has contributed to the MA and students conduct their research projects with some Dochas members.   Macarena told President Higgins that she was studying on the MIDP in Geography, Galway and he answered in Spanish indicating that in the past he advocated for human rights in Macarena’s home country Chile. https://www.dochas.ie/whats-new/dochas-coference-2024/

The MA in Environment, Society and Development class had a wonderful fieldtrip to Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. The students carried out a range of fieldwork activities with the UNDP, OSCE, EU Delegation and other partners, under the supervision of PhD student, Maeve McGandy, and Programme Director, John Morrissey. They are pictured above outside UN House in Sarajevo after meeting with the UNDP Good Governance Team, before embarking on a post-conflict community development project which they presented at the end of their fieldwork.

Geography PhD Student Georgia MacMillan along with, Dr Hannah Dalgleish, Dr Therese Conway and Dr Marie Mahon have written a chapter which is part of latest book from Nick Dunn and Tim Edensor entitled "Dark Skies: Places, Practices, Communities".  Open Access: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003408444-20/tread-softly-dark-georgia-macmillan-hannah-dalgleish-therese-conway-marie-mahon

EuroDark2024(The European Conference for Dark Skies) took place in Groningen 14-17 March, well attended by interdisciplinary researchers from all over the world who gathered to discuss the growing impact of light pollution and its impact on society and the environment.  IRC Employment based scholar, Georgia MacMillan (Geography , University of Galway) presented an update on her research on dark skies, with insights on walking interviews in the dark as a methodology.  Also as part of the winning conference bid team, Georgia presented an update on the plans for ALAN2025 (Artificial Light at Night Conference), ALAN2025 is the next major international dark sky conference and will take place in Westport in October 2025.  

Dr Kathy Reilly will Chair the 2nd Mary Robinson Climate Conference. This year’s event will take place in Ballina from June 5th – 7th; the theme for the conference is ‘A Shared Response to a Shared Responsibility’. The call for session proposals is currently open; more details on the conference and the link to the submission portal can be found here: http://www.maryrobinsoncentre.ie/mrcc24.html This event is Co-Chaired with Professor Peter Croot and Dr Gesche Kindermann (Natural Sciences, University of Galway).

Dr Una Murray represented Ireland and the University of Galway at a recent EU Mutual Learning Programme looking at the synergies between gender equality and climate action (The Netherlands 21-22 February 2024). Member countries prepared comments papers on climate and gender. Una prepared the Comments Paper for Ireland, which is available on the European Commissions Website:https://commission.europa.eu/publications/eu-mutual-learning-programme-gender-equality-synergies-between-gender-equality-and-climate-action_en Comments Paper Ireland:https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/bdb015b6-c628-43ce-8f3f-e157d74f3811_en?filename=mlp_ie_comments%20paper_february_2024_en.pdf

A reflection by Yuhan Zheng, Discipline of Geography, University of Galway on COP 28: Far-Reaching Impacts of Climate Change on Well-being, Food Security, Energy Transition, Nature, Diversity and Equality [Read]

On Friday, March 22nd, the university hosted a visit from the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Joe Hackett. Mr Hackett was welcomed by University President, Prof. Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, and University Vice-President, Prof. Becky Whay, after which he participated in a Q&A event introduced and moderated by Prof. John Morrissey. The Q&A engaged a number of core areas of Ireland’s foreign policy principles, with the Secretary General fielding questions on topics ranging from gender, peace and security to hunger, inequality and human rights, to more specific questions on Irish Aid’s programmes, Gaza, Ukraine and Northern Ireland. The event was attended by a wide range of students from Geography, mirroring our commitment to research and teaching on vital global concerns, from climate change to sustainable development, from migration to human security. Pictured in the photograph are Prof. Becky Whay, VP-International, Joe Hackett, Secretary General of the DFA, Emma Madigan, Director of Policy Planning Unit at the DFA, and Prof. John Morrissey, Geography.

MA in International Development Practice students have learned a lot from Development Practitioners this semester. Some of the guest speakers and visitors to Geography they engaged with include: UNHCR, the UN International Labour Office (ILO), Irish Aid, GIZ Malawi (German government development agency), World Vision, Trocaire, The Irish League of Credit Unions Foundation, the Global March against Child Labour and Misean Cara.

Chris Pain from Irish Aid visited the MA in International Development Practice students on Wednesday 13 March 2024 - great discussion on Irish Aid overseas development strategy and programmes. Chris and also discussed the IRC/COALESCE project on migration climate change and social protection with key researchers on the project.

Prof Frances Fahy, Dr Benjamin Schmid and Dr Michael Lydon of the University of Ireland Galway, were in Sofia last week to meet with partners of the Horizon 2020 EnergyPROSPECTS project, led by the University of Galway. The partner meeting took place alongside a scenario-building workshop, which was arranged by the Applied Research and Communications Fund. 

The final conference of Climate CAMPAIGNers will take place in Brussels this March. Prof Frances Fahy, Dr Natasha Keenaghan (GAL) and Dr Kathleen Stokes (DCU) are involved in this multinational collaborative project and helped with the development of an app to facilitate sustainable lifestyles.  The event will showcase the app and present the key project results.   Register for the event HERE. The app can be downloaded HERE. 

The Climate Campaigners project team are hosting an event aimed at preparing for the European elections in 2024. The primary goal of the event, ‘The right to have a choice to live sustainably with Climate Campaigners Amplifier Cities’, is to spearhead a "Go Vote" campaign advocating for a robust European Green Deal with collective action at its core. Climate Campaigners project aims to be the mechanism for citizen-driven change in a way that is fully immersed in behavioural research and integrated with local, national and EU-level policy goals. Event Details: Date: 20 February 2024 Time: 4-6 PM CET Platform: Zoom (Will be sent upon registration) Register here.

Last week (1-3 March), Geographers from the Discipline of Geography, University of Galway, Dr Gordon Bromley and Dr Martin Nauton co-hosted with our Earth & Ocean Sciences colleagues the 67th Irish Geoscience Research Meeting (IGRM), an all-island congress for all things geoscience. We had a full house for two days of talks and posters, including keynotes by our colleagues Kathryn Fitzsimmons (U. Tubingen) and John Walsh (UCD) and prizes for best student talks/posters. 

Prof Frances Fahy, Dr Michael Lydon and Dr Benjamin Schmid took part in the final event of the EnergyPROSPECTS project ‘Energy citizenship in the making’ in Brussels on March 5. The event was organized in collaboration with three other H2020 sister projects (EC² - Clean Energy Transition, DIALOGUES, ProjectENCLUDE), which all address the critical role of energy citizenship in the context of a European Green Deal. A key contribution at the event was the presentation of a Joint Strategy Paper on ‘Ways to support civic engagement in the European energy transition’ (link: https://encludeproject.eu/sites/default/files/2024-03/Joint_Policy_Brief_FINAL_print.pdf). More information about EnergyPROSPECTS can be found here: https://www.energyprospects.eu/”

Ireland’s Foreign Policy in a Rapidly Changing World The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) works on a number of core areas of Ireland’s foreign policy, including: orientating an active and principled membership of the UN, EU and other international fora; delivering a high-quality international development programme; and expanding Ireland’s presence and influence abroad. Joe Hackett, the Secretary General of the DFA, will visit the University of Galway on the 22nd March to meet with students and faculty and discuss ‘Ireland’s Foreign Policy in a Rapidly Changing World’. Mr. Hackett will be welcomed by University President Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, and both will make short initial remarks, with Mr Hackett setting out the current priorities of the DFA’s work, followed by a Q&A moderated by Prof. John Morrissey. The Q&A will give colleagues and students the opportunity to engage on a range of urgent global security and development concerns. O’Donoghue Centre, University of Galway Friday, March 22nd, 12-1pm

As part of SHARED GREEN DEAL (a five-year, European Union Horizon-2020-funded project), members of the Clean Energy experiment team led by University of Galway’s Prof Frances Fahy met in Jaywick, the United Kingdom for a study tour. They exchanged experiences with facilitating community visioning for clean energy futures in different locations and learned about the challenges of future visioning and community energy in Jaywick. Postgraduate researcher Emily Gray represented the University of Galway at the study tour. 

Hear about the collaborations developed to date, the successes of last year's sand fences, and help plan Grattan Beach 2024. Everyone is invited to come along to this free and exciting event. Galway Business School, An Halla MórTuesday February 27th 7:30pm to 9pm

Dr Eugene Farrell is a contributing author to Irelands Climate Change Assessment report published by the EPA. Dr. Farrell contributed to Volume 3 'Being prepared for Ireland’s future' (290pp) that provides knowledge on (1) research and policy gaps in Ireland, (2) cross-cutting issues framing adaptation in Ireland, and (3)  practical steps required to build community involvement and participation to deliver a more climate resilient Ireland. Access the 4 volumes of the ICCA here. Link: https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring--assessment/climate-change/irelands-climate-change-assessment-icca/