Quantifying burnt areas, habitats burned, and emissions from wildfires in Ireland 2015-2021

Dr. Fiona Cawkwell, Department of Geography, School of the Human Environment & Environmental Research Institute

Impact: Local, National

Information on wildfires in Ireland is incomplete and inconsistent, and the atmospheric emissions and loss of biodiversity caused is poorly known. Satellite images can provide an objective approach to mapping burn scars, and identifying the habitats that burned, from which the emissions can be calculated using standard values. Information on wildfires is important as both an indicator of changes in climate, e.g., vegetation becoming drier and more combustible, and as a contributor to climate change, e.g., release of greenhouse gases from vegetation burning.

This research provides objective information on spatio-temporal trends in wildfires in Ireland and how wildfires can be better managed and integrated into national climate change and land use policies and planning. With more information on their location and timing, people can be better informed about air quality issues arising from fires, how to mitigate against fires occurring, and how to protect vulnerable habitats. The work to date provides information on wildfires from 2015-2021, but to understand spatio-temporal trends in their behaviour, and how these relate to land use and climate change, research covering a longer period is essential. This will inform how Ireland and other temperate regions can mitigate against future destructive wildfires.

“ This interdisciplinary project involved experts in satellite data analysis, air quality, and land cover from geography, chemistry, and physics backgrounds - such collaborative approaches are essential in doing research on issues that affect global sustainability and development”

- Dr. Fiona Cawkwell

SDG 13 - Climate Action

• Target 13.2 - Integrate climate change measures into national policies and planning
• Target 13.3 - Build knowledge and capacity to meet climate change

SDG 15 - Life on Land

• Target 15.5 - Protect biodiversity and natural habitats
• Target 15.9 - Integrate ecosystem and biodiversity in governmental planning

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

• Target 3.9 - Reduce illnesses and death from hazardous chemicals and pollution
  

Co-developing pathways to a low carbon and climate resilient future 

Imagining 2050 Project, Environmental Research Institute

Impact: Local, National

Concerns and uncertainty about climate change disruption are growing across the world. The Imagining 2050 project (Engaging, Envisioning, and Co-Producing Pathways for a Low Carbon Climate Resilient Ireland) is a transdisciplinary research consortium hosted by the Environmental Research Institute in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast. The team draws from the disciplines of sociology, engineering, government, politics, geography and planning. The project looks at the importance of involving a wide range of communities and stakeholders to co-develop future visions of, and pathways to, a low carbon and climate resilient future.

A toolkit has been developed to help guide engagement with members of the public about climate mitigation, climate adaptation and societal transitions, and will be used by local community organisations, social enterprise partnerships, environmental activists, local decision makers, and educators and researchers. The project was awarded the inaugural President’s Award for Research Impacting the Sustainable Development Goals in the UCC Research Awards 2022 in recognition of its impact.

SDG 13 - Climate Action

• Target 13.3 - Build knowledge and capacity to meet climate change

SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

• Target 16.7- Ensure responsive, inclusive and representative decision-making
  

Eco-Humanities Research Group

Professor Caitríona Ní Dhúill, Department of German, School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures

Impact: Local, National, International

The Eco-Humanities Research Group's research aims to build resilient activist communities through dialogue and reflection, facilitated by shared reading and viewing on ecological destabilisation and climate breakdown. The research confronts communication around difficult emotions connected to environmental disruption, such as climate anxiety and ecological grief. The Group’s work will strengthen activist networks and the coping strategies of activists to address activist burnout. This research will also build capacity for communication around the difficult emotional realities of ecological crisis and strengthen emotional responses and resilience in the face of climate breakdown. Research on these topics will be showcased and disseminated through screening, publications, readings and teaching. This research is changing the research landscape by mainstreaming questions of climate breakdown and ecological anxiety into humanities research, particularly languages, literatures and cultural studies; strengthening researcher networks around these topics; and building partnerships between academic research and civil society organisations (in this case Friends of the Earth Ireland).

“The horizon of climate breakdown and ecological disruption transforms the context of humanities research and teaching. The Eco-Humanities Research Group aims to strengthen the ability of humanities scholars to respond more effectively to this transformed context through their research and teaching.”

– Prof. Caitríona Ní Dhúill

SDG 13 - Climate Action

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

SDG 15 - Life on Land

Enhancing the Integration of Disaster Risk and Climate Change Adaptation in Irish Emergency Planning 

Dr. Dug Cubie, MaREI SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute & School of Law

Impact: Local, National

Climate research tells us that extreme weather events and disasters, which are a key focus of several targets within the SDGs, will become more frequent and severe in the coming years. In Ireland, there are a range of important policies, strategies and reports that address climate change and emergency planning. This research project, led by Dr. Martin Le Tissier and Dr. Dug Cubie, brought together academics and practitioners from across Ireland to examine current and future risks from extreme weather events, and to identify pathways to promote an integrated approach to climate and emergency risk management. This project aimed to help relevant institutions to further climate-proof the emergency planning and risk management systems in Ireland to the increasing risks of extreme events.

The research addressed the national policy and decision-making processes, as well as the local and regional planning and response mechanisms. Drawing on examples of European good practice set out in the Horizon2020 ‘ESPREssO’ project, this research developed a roadmap for increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate-related risks, alongside a series of guiding actions for Government, local authorities, first responders, and civil society. Read the EPA report here.

“Climate change adaptation policies focus on the chronic long-term impacts likely to occur across multiple sectors, such as transport, housing and communications; while emergency planning and disaster risk reduction primarily aim to address the acute short-term impacts of emergencies. Reflecting Ireland’s commitments under the SDGs and the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, this research produced a roadmap and a series of guiding actions for key stakeholders in Ireland to more effectively integrate these two fields in a holistic manner.”

– Dr. Dug Cubie

SDG 13 - Climate Action

• Target 13.1 - Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related disasters
• Target 13.2- Integrate climate change measures into policies and planning

SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Target 11.5 - Reduce the adverse effects of natural disasters
• Target 11.b - Implement policies for inclusion, resource efficiency and disaster risk reduction

SDG 1 - No Poverty

• Target 1.5 - Build resilience to environmental, economic and social disasters
  

Climate Communication in Ireland

Dr. Kian Mintz-Woo, Department of Philosophy, School of Society, Politics and Ethics & Environmental Research Institute

Impact: National

Ireland's nationally binding climate action plan requires support and action from citizens. This work helps to explain to the public how their actions can matter, especially in the context of the 26th Conference of Parties. This work consisted of extensive media engagement (e.g. The Conversation, RTÉ, Irish Examiner, Irish Times, The Ryan Tubridy Show and The Last Word) aimed at explaining how to mitigate individual climate actions and to engage with groups trying to develop social solutions to climate change. This outreach was recognised with the 2021 Andrew Light Award for Public Philosophy. Much of the outreach was contributed from COP26 at Glasgow whilst engaging in official Observer status with UCC. This climate ethics research led to being invited to be part of a project on social and political threats from climate change, which was recently selected for funding from the Canadian national five-year Insight Grant. This team is already generating publications.

“As researchers, our knowledge of how to live in accordance with the SDGs is something we owe to society. My view is that communicating this is amongst the most impactful things I can do for changing our behaviour.”

– Dr. Kian Mintz-Woo

SDG 13 - Climate Action

• Target 13.2 - Integrate climate change measures into policies and planning
• Target 13.3 - Build knowledge and capacity to meet climate change

SDG 12 - Responisble Consumption and Production

• Target 12.8 - Promote universal understanding of sustainable lifestyles
• Target 12.c - Remove market distortions that encourage wasteful consumption

Climate Change Assessment: Realising the benefits of transition and transformation

Dr. Róisín Moriarty, Environmental Research Institute

Impact: National

The purpose of this research is to provide an assessment and synthesis of key findings from Irish research programs and wider related research activities to inform policy making at national level. In particular, examining how best to capitalise on the benefits and opportunities associated with climate action. The Climate Change Assessment Report: Volume 4 Realising the benefits of transition and transformation will be the primary planned output of this research. Policy makers are the target audience for the report, which will suggest how climate change measures can be integrated into national policy, strategy and planning so that Ireland can take advantage of the myriad benefits and opportunities that come with taking climate action so that the lives of people living in Ireland today, and in the future, can be healthier, safer, fairer, and happier. This would have a wider impact on the SDGs other than SDG 13. This cross-cutting work has sustainable development at heart, but particularly the SDGs related to wellbeing, equity, sustainability and resilience. Delivering Ireland's climate ambition will require transformative change in society and the systems that support society eg. energy, land, urban and infrastructure and industry. This work will highlight research gaps related to how we enable climate action and achieve transformative change across these systems to help funders prioritise research topics and investment in this area.

“This work is expected to inform the Climate Action Plan 2023 and the development of a long-term strategy around climate action in Ireland.”

– Dr. Róisín Moriarty

SDG 13 - Climate Action

• Target 13.2 - Integrate climate change measures into policies and planning

SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Anthropocene Austria

Department of German, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures & Environmental Research Institute

Impact: National, International

This work contributes to the urgent task of refocussing third- and fourth-level education, humanities scholarship and trans- and international cultural analysis on the challenges of climate change and ecological destabilisation. The purpose of this research is to discover the ways in which literary and cultural discourses and forms can deepen understanding and raise awareness of climate crisis and ecological breakdown; to localise these general findings within the context of contemporary Austrian culture and its historical antecedents since the late 19^th century; and to probe the contradictions within the term 'Anthropocene' as a short-hand intended to refer to multiple interlocking crises of energy, biodiversity, climate, and global social justice.

Research impact includes the production and dissemination of original scholarship, analysis and discussion of the aforementioned issues; closer collaboration between international researchers (UK, Germany, Austria, Ireland) to address these issues; development of approaches to teaching these issues in the context of German Studies, literary studies, cultural studies and environmental humanities programmes, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As a result, there will be closer international co-operation between researchers in the environmental humanities; and greater awareness and visibility of these issues within German studies, literary and cultural studies, and the humanities (through conference presentations, workshops, public lectures etc.)

“In the effort to decarbonise our disciplines and research practices, it helps to focus thematically on the wider questions of climate breakdown and ecological crisis, to raise awareness of why transformation is necessary, and what it might look like. Coming from German Studies with a focus on Austrian literature and culture, I wanted to showcase new writing that tackles these themes head-on: in novels, poems, plays, films, but also in scholarship and research. The resulting volume will be a resource for teachers and researchers who want to give more space to these issues in their work, within German Studies and beyond.”

SDG 13 - Climate Action

SDG 15 - Life on Land