09.05.2011
The 21st Irish Environmental Researcher’s Colloquium (ENVIRON 2011) was held in UCC from April 6th-April 8th (photo of Mr. John Mullins, CEO of Bord Gais, who spoke at ENVIRON 2011 Plenary Session).
Dr Paul Bolger (ERI Manager) was the Conference Convenor for the colloquium which is the largest (and longest running) annual meeting of environmental researchers in Ireland. The colloquium in UCC was well attended with over 250 delegates over the three days. There were over 150 oral and poster presentations at the colloquium under the themes of:
Water Quality Energy & Climate Change
Marine and Coastal Research Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Environmental Management Environmental Technologies
Environment and Health
Professor Michael Depledge (former Chairman of the UK Science Advisory Committee on the Environment & Climate Change) delivered a thought provoking colloquium keynote address on the topic of “Health and the Value of Nature”. Professor Depledge, who has recently established the European Centre for Environment and Human Health in Cornwall, talked about the importance of the natural environment to human health outlining evidence from his research that close interaction by people with their natural environment (whether it be a walk on the park, cycling in the countryside or a swim at the beach) has demonstrable beneficial health effects.
The colloquium was officially opened on Thursday morning by the Dr Michael Murphy, President of University College Cork. The colloquium’s plenary session had a number of high profile speakers who discussed the colloquium theme of “Towards 2020: Environmental challenges and opportunities for the next decade”. Professor John Sweeney (NUI Maynooth) spoke of the challenges for Ireland in adapting to climate change emphasising that local and global action is vital to increase resilience to future climate change impacts focusing on water resource management, biodiversity, building and construction, coastal flooding and governance. Ms. Laura Burke (EPA Director) discussed the contribution of environmental research to informing environmental policy in Ireland particularly in the areas of climate change and water protection, and emphasised the importance of maintaining capacity and investment in environmental research. John Mullins (CEO of Bord Gais) spoke about the opportunities presented by the climate change challenge in terms of the green economy and renewable energy.
The ENVIRON 2011 colloquium closed on Friday afternoon with a prize giving ceremony and an announcement that the 22nd Irish Environmental Researcher’s Colloquium (ENVIRON 2012) is to be held in University College Dublin on March 7th-9th, 2012 to coincide with the Dublin City of Science festival.