Webinars, Opinion and Analysis

What can we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic to create a more sustainable world?

15 Jun 2020

In this 2020 summer lecture series, the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork has invited four of its affiliated academic staff to reflect on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our environment, and the possible lessons we can take forward to create a more sustainable society. We hope that you can join us on Fridays at 1 PM throughout the month of June and July. 

The COVID 19 pandemic has unleased humanity’s instinct to transform itself in the face of a universal threat and it can help us do the same to create a liveable planet for future generations”  - Christina Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC

The world, the EU and Ireland are now rightly fully focused on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate public health and economic consequences.  The pandemic has had an abrupt impact on how we work, move about, play, and consume. This sudden and dramatic shift has however provided us with a living and ongoing experiment in what happens when humans have to stay at home. It has inadvertently produced less greenhouse gas emissions, cleaner air, and re-emerging wildlife.

It has been argued that the pandemic provides us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift onto to a zero carbon and climate resilient pathway, and catalyse our transition towards a sustainable society. In this 2020 summer lecture series, the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork has invited four of its affiliated academic staff to reflect on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our environment, and the possible lessons we can take forward to create a more sustainable society.

We hope that you can join us on Fridays at 1 PM on the month of June and July, where we will hear from Professor Gerry Killeen on the topic of pandemic prevention (June 19), Dr Hannah Daly on the topic of emissions reduction during the lockdown (June 26), Dr Eoin Lettice on rediscovering green spaces (July 3) and Professor John Wenger on the topic of air pollution reduction due to reduced traffic emissions (July 10).

Please join us on the day or watch playback using the links provided below – no need to register in advance

 

PANDEMIC PRREVENTION

Date: June 19 @ 1pm via MS Teams Live

Presenter: Prof Gerry Killeen, AXA Research Chair in Applied Pathogen Ecology, Environmental Research Institute and School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University College Cork.

Play Back: Available of ERI website here

 

EMISSIONS REDUCTION DURING LOCKDOWN

Date: June 26 @ 1pm via MS Teams Live

Presenter: Dr Hannah Daly, Energy Policy and Modelling Group, The SFI MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and the Marine, School of Engineering, and the ERI

Play Back: Available of ERI website here

 

COVID-19 AND THE ENVIRONMENT - REDISCOVERING NATURE IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

Date: July 3 @ 1pm via MS Teams Live

Presenter: Dr Eoin Lettice, Plant Science Lecturer and PI, ERI and UCC School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES)

Link to Join: https://bit.ly/2NGqd6a

For more on this story contact:

Dr Aoife Corcoran, Environmental Research Institute 

https://www.ucc.ie/en/eri/

Civic & Community Engagement

Comhpháirteachas Cathartha agus Pobail

Top