Project resources
DStream Newsletter October 2025
The DStream (Dairy Sustainability through Regenerative Experimentation and Mindsets) project investigates how Irish dairy farmers’ practices can foster pro-environmental mindsets and sustainable behaviours. Through farmer interviews, biodiversity mapping across 16 farms, and community events such as a biodiversity walk, DStream highlights the importance of small, meaningful changes in promoting ecological resilience. The project provides evidence to inform policies and initiatives supporting regenerative, self-sustaining dairy systems in Ireland.
- Authors
N. Byrne, and S. Bersa.
- Year
- 2025
- Category
- Newsletter
- Keywords
- dstream dairy agriculture regenerative farming mindsets
- Project
The DStream (Dairy Sustainability through Regenerative Experimentation and Mindsets) project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and led by Dr. Noreen Byrne of University College Cork, explores the role of farmer practices in fostering pro-environmental and experimental mindsets within the Irish dairy sector. Initiated in April 2024, the project aims to understand how on-farm behaviours and attitudes can create self-sustaining environmental improvements at both farm and landscape levels. Recent activities include biodiversity mapping on 16 dairy farms across West Cork and Waterford/Wexford, yielding an average biodiversity score of 13.3%, and a biodiversity farm walk led by Donal Sheehan (BRIDE EIP). Farmer interviews revealed a strong appreciation for ecological health and incremental change, highlighting both challenges and motivations for sustainable practice adoption. DStream’s findings contribute to building evidence-based frameworks for policy and practice that promote regenerative, resilient dairy farming systems in Ireland.
- Link to Publication
- /en/media/research/centreforco-operativestudies/docs/_DStreamnewsletterno.2(1).pdf