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UCC researchers awarded €1m for new research to address climate and environmental challenges
Analysing the effect of climate change on Ireland’s forestry carbon stores and exploring the reuse of municipal wastewater to irrigate grassland in Ireland are amongst the University College Cork (UCC) projects to receive a combined €1m in funding under the annual Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Research Call.
The EPA Research Programme has an established focus on policy-relevant research addressing identified knowledge gaps relevant to environmental and climate policy. The outcomes of the EPA Research Call 2025 will contribute to the evidence base for environmental policy in Ireland, strengthen connections between the research and policy communities and deliver positive environmental outcomes.
Announcing the funding awards, Dr Eimear Cotter, EPA Deputy Director General said: "We face complex challenges in becoming a resilient, competitive and sustainable society. Research, such as that funded through the EPA Research Call, will play a vital role in supporting robust policy- and decision-making while ensuring the protection of our environment and climate. The projects announced today will support targeted, policy relevant research and build connections with policy-makers and practitioners, and ultimately support more effective action. I congratulate the successful teams and look forward to seeing the positive impacts of their work."
The four funded UCC awards are:
Dr Róisín Moriarty, Sustainability Institute
Project title: Exploratory analysis of the effect of climate change on forest carbon stores in Ireland (ENDURANCE)
Funding amount: €440,572
This project will look at the vulnerability of Irish forests, and the carbon they store, to storms and other events that might damage them. This work will help us to better understand the risks associated with this type of climate action, that is, storing carbon in forest ecosystems. It is important because right now achieving the Climate Council’s carbon budgets depend, in part, on the carbon stored in forests. Project findings will help guide national climate action, helping Ireland to play its part in achieving the global temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
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Dr Timothy Sullivan, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences
Project title: Pasture Irrigation with Treated Wastewater: Challenges, Risks and Opportunities (PiTCROP)
Funding amount: €329,181
The PiTCROP project explores how treated municipal wastewater could be safely reused to irrigate pasture, grassland, and other non-food crops in Ireland. This multidisciplinary project combines stakeholder perspectives from Ireland and abroad to examine attitudes, opportunities, and best practices for wastewater reuse. PiTCROP aims to develop a practical, risk-based framework to support evidence-based decision-making on wastewater reuse in Irish agriculture, particularly in the face of growing water scarcity and climatic extremes.
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Dr Tomás Mac Uidhir, Energy Policy and Modelling Group, Sustainability Institute
Project title: Indicators for Measuring Policy Actions and Climate Trends (IMPACT)
Funding amount: €164,573
The IMPACT project will develop a practical framework to measure the real-world results of climate policies across sectors such as energy, transport, buildings, and agriculture. By combining national emissions data, modelling tools, and stakeholder collaboration, the project will create clear indicators to help track what is working and where improvements are needed. This will strengthen transparency, accountability, and evidence-based climate decision-making in Ireland.
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Dr Karen Ray, Department of Planning, School of the Human Environment
Project title: Determining environmental impacts on landscape – understanding landscape sensitivity in the assessment of strategic plans and programmes (LANDSENSE)
Funding amount: €139,409
This study explores the scope for the effective incorporation of landscape values, sensitivity, and capacity for change into decision-making and strategic assessment at different scales in Ireland. It examines how a system for a deeply values-based classification of landscape sensitivity can be developed nationally, for both urban and rural landscapes, to improve assessment of environmental impacts on landscape of development plans and programmes. The outputs will inform the development of future national planning statements, actions and measures, and will include sample maps, guidance documentation, and toolkits.
Professor John Cryan, UCC Vice President for Research and Innovation said: "These awards further strengthening UCC’s position as a recognised global leader in the field of Sustainability research. The funding will enable the UCC researchers to support environmental policies in Ireland, address key societal challenges caused by climate change, and help deliver a healthier environment for all."