News and Events

'Environmental Policy Making and the Circular Economy', 13th October

Webinar hosted by the ISS21 REACT Research Cluster & the UCC Civic and Community Engagement Committee:

'Environmental Policy Making & the Circular Economy: the Roles of the EU, Ireland and Civil Society'

Presenter: Cillian Lohan, Vice-President for Communications of the European Economic and Social Committee

Respondent: Dr Barbara Doyle-Prestwich, UCC

13 October, 11.30-1 p.m.

Abstract

Cillian Lohan will present a brief outline of the history and evolution of Circular Economy policies as developed at an EU level. He will examine the establishment and implementation of a Stakeholder Platform for the Circular Economy at EU level and beyond, using the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform to describe how this works. He will explore the challenges in ensuring that the voices of civil society and stakeholders are heard and describe how structures like the Stakeholder Platform and the European Economic and Social Committee are designed to ensure bottom-up feedback results in policy change. Cillian will also explain how the link between research and policy is made through the various infrastructures that exist as vehicles for participatory democracy.

In response to Mr Lohan, Dr Barbara Doyle Prestwich will focus on a number of case studies in the area of sustainability, climate change and the circular economy and examine how various fora can be instrumental in engaging civil society in these matters. She will examine the value of the SDGs and how they can be enacted at local level. In addition, she will discuss some of the limitations of public consultations, by way of example.

A recording of the seminar is available here

Speaker Biographies

Cillian Lohan has been vice-president for Communications of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) since October 2020, and an active member of the institution since 2015. He has worked extensively in the corporate and environmental sectors. He is a leader in the field of the Circular Economy and was the inaugural chair of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, which he helped to establish. Cillian has extensive experience as a delegate to the United Nations, working on initiatives such as the COP climate negotiations and the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. As CEO of the Green Economy Foundation, he has overseen ambitious projects including the planting of over one million trees in Ireland and the establishment of a wildlife reserve in Tobago. Cillian graduated from University College Cork and the University of Ulster with a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Science.

A TED Talk by Cillian Lohan on the circular economy is available HERE

Follow him on Twitter: @CillianLohan

Dr Barbara Doyle Prestwich is Head of Plant Science & Principal Investigator in the School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences. She is a Plant Biotechnologist whose broad research interests include the use of biotechnology for sustainable agriculture, crop improvement and the use of plants for the production of medicinal compounds. She has previously worked with beneficial soil microbes for plant growth & disease resistance incorporating principles and tasks highlighted in the European Green Deal, particularly in the Farm to Fork Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. More recently she has become interested in urban farming practices, specifically aeroponics and runs a number of outreach activities which opens science up to a broad audience. She is funded by the Irish Research Council, Horizon Europe, Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. She is currently working with a start-up looking at climate-resilient genome edited crop plants.

Dr Barbara Doyle-Prestwich, UCC

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