Celebrating the awarding of UCC's fifth Green Flag are Mark Poland, UCC Director of Buildings and Estates, Deirdre O'Carroll, An Taisce Green-Campus Manager, UCC President Prof. John O'Halloran, Dearbhla Richardson, UCCSU Environmental & Sustainability Officer, and Dr Maria Kirrane Head of Sustainability and Climate Action.

• Ravens nesting on UCC's campus become part of nationwide conservation project.

High above the ground on University College Cork's campus is an active raven nest in a large monterey pine tree, and recently these striking birds became part of a nationwide conservation project.

Ravens are the largest member of the crow family, which also includes rooks and jackdaws, and are the world’s largest songbird. They are intelligent and charismatic birds often appearing in popular culture and literature. Charles Dickens famously had a pet raven, they are believed to guard the Tower of London and they feature as pets in the Harry Potter series of books and films. Their ecology is closely linked with human activity, and they have adapted well to urban landscapes where they nest in very tall trees and buildings, exploiting local food sources including small mammals and insects. They also eat carrion, effectively fulfilling the same role in Ireland as vultures do in other countries.

Lots of Green Shoots Events coming up in March including the opening of the Cavanagh Way BiodiversityTrail. Be sure to take the time out to enjoy some of these events.

UCC is privileged to host a variety of green and blue spaces on its grounds. On main campus, we have numerous places where you can enjoy the benefits of time spent in nature. Some spots to note are:

1. The Lower Grounds, which house the Glucksman Gallery
2. UCC’s Wildflower Meadow, established in 2017
3. The President’s Garden, which is manicured but hosts an interesting diversity of trees
4. The Hawthorn Sensory Garden, adjacent to the O’Rahilly Building
5. UCC Community Garden on College Road, behind No. 6 Carrigside
6. The River Lee, which is bordered by walkways across main campus

UCC's reassessment took place on 18th October 2023 by the following panel of experts from an Taisce:

1. Deirdre O’Carroll, An Taisce, Green Campus Programme Manager.
2. Joanne Scott, An Taisce, Green Schools Programme Manager.
3. Tracey Lydon, An Taisce, Safe Routes to School Programme Manager.
   
   
   
   

In support of the implementation of UCC’s new Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (2023-28), the UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Fund was once again opened for applications in July 2023. This is the third round of Funding for this programme since 2017. Previous successful projects have included UCC Open Arboretum and Nature and Wellbeing study. The call was announced in July 2023 with projects assessed and notified October 23. 4 demonstration Projects and 1 MSc. Read on for more information. 

Registration is now open for the 2024 UW0005 /CPD1640 University Wide Module in Sustainability, a recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Sessions will take place online on Thursdays from 6-8pm, commencing Thursday 25^th January 2024. The theme of the module is “Putting Sustainability in its place, putting yourself in the picture” and it is open to students, staff and the general public.  The module can be taken for additional credit (5 Credits), Digital Badge, or Interest Only. 

At UCC we are focused on continuous improvement for sustainability across our activities and became Plastic Free UCC’  from the beginning of 2023. UCC eliminated all single-use plastic in its operations throughout on campus dining, shops and vending machines. 

We are thrilled to have reached the 1 million mark of saved disposable coffee cups as a result of this initiative. Your coffee doesn't have to cost the earth, bring your own cup!

University College Cork (UCC) is ranked today as one of the most environmentally friendly universities in the world, according to an assessment of 1183 third-level institutions, across 85 countries.

UCC has been placed 6^th in the world in the UI Greenmetric World University Ranking which was announced today at COP28 in Dubai.

Climate Action Week is nearly here! To mark the significance of Ireland’s 7^th Climate Action Week, a schedule jam-packed with events will take place from the 16^th-19^th of October. This was a labour of love between:

UCC’s Greenshoots Coordinator, STAND, UCC Enactus Society, UCC Students Union, Fáilte Refugees Soc., Enviromental Soc., Vegan Soc., Folklore Soc., Scribble Soc., Engineers Without Boarders Soc., Music Soc., FASHforward, Climate Ambassadors Ireland, Dúlchas, UCC Sustainable Futures Lab, UCC Folklore Academics, UCC Office of Climate Action and Sustainability and multiple wonderful UCC staff!

Colleagues,  UCC Green Campus' first meeting of the semester is being held on Wednesday 27th Sept @ 1pm in Room G19, Aras na Laoi. All staff and students are welcome. 

• The award recognises exceptional sustainability initiatives at UCC, encouraging the entire community to take action on sustainability.
• The award was announced as part of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

On Wednesday the 12^th of July, a "pitch-in" day was held in UCC Community Garden.

UCC Library presents a conversation between Katie Holten and Dr Maria Kirrane about The Language of Trees.

This in-person event is open to everyone. It is free of charge but registration is essential. Registration closes 24 hours before the event. The Creative Zone is on the ground floor of the Boole Library.

Register Here

The UCC Community Garden is embracing Spring, with hard work being done by garden volunteers. Irene Ní Shúilleabháin, UCC’s Greenshoots Coordinator, organised an Introduction to Permaculture workshop at the garden in March. This was led by Dónal Chambers of Kinsale College, who provided a vast amount of knowledge and enthusiasm for workshop attendees.

Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD will launch the University College Cork’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan 2023-2028 on Friday, 30 June 2023 at 9am in the Dr Dora Allman Room, the Hub. 

The Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (2023-28) builds on the successes of UCC’s Sustainability Strategy (2016) and sets out how UCC will continue to embed sustainability goals and targets across all aspects of the University’s educational, research, ancillary operations, infrastructural developments and interactions with the community.

UCC joins UMassLowell and university presidents from Massachusetts and Ireland to talk about growing our climate research at the Climate Tech, Energy and Sustainability higher Round table held in Dublin. 

Dr Maria Kirrane, Head of Sustainability & Climate Action Office, invites the UCC community to come together to call for a better and more sustainable future. 

Foraging workshops, biodiversity walks, debates and discussions are among the events for staff and students taking place as part of UCC Green Week which occurs all this week. It is a week of climate activism designed to raise awareness and spark conversations.

Held annually, UCC Green Week invites our staff, students and wider community to celebrate innovative research and initiatives underway whilst inspiring us all to take further action to protect and restore our environment for future generations.

As part of UCC Green Week Niamh Guiry is hosting a symposium in The Shtepps in The Hub building on Monday the 13th of March at 5:30 pm. 

To download the programme click UCC Green Week Programme

You can download the full book of abstracts GwS Book of Abstracts

The Greenshoots programme focuses on student engagement with green spaces on campus, in addition to climate action and sustainability, for the benefit of students' wellbeing and the environment of which they are a part. Irene will collaborate with students to encourage greater awareness of the benefits of green spaces amongst the student community. It is hoped that the Greenshoots programme will lead to an increase in the number of students using campus green spaces to improve their wellbeing, in addition to adopting and championing pro-environmental behaviours (highlighting issues such as sustainable food production, biodiversity conservation and holistic solutions to environmental problems).

University College Cork (UCC) and Queen’s University Belfast (Queen’s) have established Ireland’s first all-island network dedicated to delivering on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sustainable Development Solutions Network Ireland (SDSN Ireland) launched today at an event in Dublin, will work with local authorities, NGOs, civil society organisations and policymakers to bring the latest research and best practice to bear on producing solutions for the SDGs. It is the first time a university in Northern Ireland and in Ireland have formed a partnership to develop an all-island approach to sustainable development goals.

Registration is now open for UW0005 University Wide Module in Sustainability, a recent recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Sessions will take place online on Thursdays from 6-8pm, commencing Thursday 26^th January. The theme of the module is “Putting Sustainability in its place, putting yourself in the picture” and it is open to students, staff and the general public.  The module can be taken for additional credit (5 Credits), Digital Badge, or Interest Only. 

Here's a glance at some of UCC's sustainable highlights and achievements in 2022, covering topics such as energy, digital badges, Plastic Free UCC, community and awards. 

An international ranking which examines sustainability practices in universities across the world, has ranked University College Cork (UCC) today at seventh, the only Irish university to make the top 10 of the ‘greenest universities’ in the world.

• ‘Plastic Free UCC’ will save more than 140,000 plastic bottles and 370,000 coffee cups per year.
• It will save 560,000 plastic bottles and 1.4 million coffee cups during a graduate’s four-year degree.

University College Cork (UCC) has launched a report highlighting the action researchers are taking to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges.  

University College Cork (UCC) won the THE DataPoints Merit Award at the 18th annual Times Higher Education (THE) awards last night.

University College Cork (UCC) has been recognised as the top university for sustainability at a prestigious awards ceremony celebrating sustainability in higher education.

On May 30^th 2022, members of the UCC Community gathered on the Shteppes in the Student Hub for the launch of UCC’s brand-new Digital Badge course, Learning & Teaching With The SDGs. The event consisted of a speech by UCC President John O’Halloran who officially launched the Digital Badge, followed by presentation to attendees which outlined the rationale behind the course and provided an overview of the course contents.

We the Green Campus Team would like to welcome our students and staff as we embark on a new Academic Year. We've compiled a some ideas to help kickstart your Green journey while at UCC. Read on for ways to reduce your waste and carbon footprint and ideas to take your activism even further. 

UCC wins Best Student Experience, Best Student Campus, Best Green Campus and Overall Excellence in Education at the 2021 Education Awards!!

University College Cork has become the first institution outside of North America to achieve a gold star rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

UCC now joins Princeton, Cornell and UC Berkeley in receiving the highest standard, Gold ‘Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System’ (STARS) for excellence in sustainability.

UCC’s position as a globally leading “green” university has once again been recognised with a top ten position in the UI Green Metric World University Ranking.  Achieving an impressively creditable 9th out of a total of 619 universities worldwide, UCC’s position in the UI Green Metric represents a global ranking of sustainability activities across operations, research, education and engagement.  The result reflects both the commitment and action in UCC to advance sustainability across the entire university. In addition, UCC was again the top ranked Irish university for the 7th year in a row, endorsing our reputation as Ireland’s “green” university.

UCC played host to the 2019 Annual International Workshop on UI GreenMetrics which addressed the theme of “Sustainable University in a Changing World: Lessons, Challenges and Opportunities.”

Read more about how UCC recieved it's 4th Green Flag.

UCC retains 2nd place in University of Indonesia Green Metric University Rankings 2015

UCC’s efforts in the area of sustainability have resulted in the Universitas Indonesia (UI) Greenmetric World University Ranking awarding a second in the world ranking for the second year in a row.

On Friday 17th June, President Michael Murphy launched the 2016 UCC Sustainability Strategy.  UCC is regarded as Ireland’s ‘Green University’ and in combination with the University’s Strategic Plan 2013-2017 the implementation of this Sustainabilty Strategy will further enhance this reputation and performance.

UCC Green Campus Greenshoots Programme is looking for Greenshoots Interns. These paid roles are available to current UCC students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and graduates of up to one year. The roles on offer are Greenshoots Garden Intern and Greenshoots Communications Intern.

We’re delighted to bring you the UCC Sustainability Research Seminar as part of our ongoing research event series with the Environmental Research Institute.

2023 Timeline