Four University of Limerick research projects seeking to tackle sustainability issues have been awarded €10,000 each following their selection at the first UL Citizens’ Assembly.
The UL50 Citizens’ Assembly brought together 100 community stakeholders and citizens from Limerick city and county on May 25 to select four UL projects that they felt “will best contribute to building a sustainable future” for the region.
The four winning project teams are ‘Safety and the City: Mapping gender equality in public spaces’, ‘Green energy project’, ‘Inclusive play and leisure activities for youth (I-Play): Parent/community engagement’ and ‘Small but mighty: Nanocomposites for sustainable water and soil treatment’.
The Assembly was a collaboration between the University, Limerick City and County Council, Limerick Public Participation Network (PPN) and Limerick Comhairle na nÓg, supported by the Limerick Community Education Network (LCEN).
The event was designed to provide a platform for further engagement between UL and the surrounding community as part of the University’s fiftieth anniversary year.
Each team was presented with a €10,000 award by UL Vice President for Global and Community Engagement, Professor Nigel Healey, to support the engaged research projects, which all focused on addressing issues relating to the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals.
With Limerick’s own Mike Finn acting as the Master of Ceremonies, this all-day event at the Engine, Cecil Street, Limerick comprised of six presentations in the morning and six in the afternoon, with teams being given 10 minutes each to tell the Assembly about their proposed project.
From microplastics to ethical investing to singing your way to health as you get older, project proposals were drawn from across the University and selected according to their capacity to address an identified UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
The teams had to show in detail their plans to engage with the people of Limerick and their projects potential for positive impact in the city and county.
Professor Healey said: “As part of UL’s fiftieth anniversary year, we were anxious to do something that would engage with the wider Limerick community and, perhaps, reverberate beyond next May when our Jubilee concludes. An event that would provide an opportunity for academics to develop their public engagement skills and experience and where citizens would gain insight into who we are and what we do, seemed like the answer.”
Project details:
Safety and the City: Mapping gender equality in public spaces
Submitted by the inter-disciplinary team: Emma Dolan, Politics; Kellie Morrissey, Design; and
Breandán Anraoi MacGabhann, Geography.
“Text when you’re home. Walk holding your keys. Cross the road if you hear footsteps. Either you know these feelings, or you know someone who does. There’s a huge gender disparity in how safe we feel in public. This interdisciplinary, community-based project will deploy a map-based survey to quantify the problem and explore the issue in-depth at pop-up design events. Through these participatory methods, we will envision a safer, more sustainable Limerick city.”
Submitted by the Mathematics & Statistics team, led by James Sweeney, David O'Sullivan, Norma Bargary, Aoife Hurley, Eamonn Organ, Kevin Burke.
“The purpose of this project is to produce real-time estimates for electricity generation from solar panels for every premises in the Limerick area via the building of statistical models of data collected from smart Internet of Things (IOT) devices in residential solar installations. Through an open source online interface, individuals will be able to input their eircode, and their property orientation, to estimate accurately what the potential electricity generation profile for their dwelling will be at a real time level. This will allow accurate and refined estimation of the benefits of a switch to solar from a cost perspective. Day ahead predictions will also be provided, allowing homeowners with panels installed to identify when their panels are most productive and to plan their daily energy consumption around it. This project will showcase Limerick city as an Irish region leading the transition to green electricity generation.”
Inclusive play and leisure activities for youth (I-Play): Parent/community engagement
Submitted by PESS colleagues Daniel Tindall, Brigitte Moody and Seán Healy.
“This project is intended to expand the remit, reach, and impact of the i-PLAY program and its current services to the local Limerick community. Specifically, this proposal looks to facilitate information sessions and workshops as well as additional physical activity, health, wellness, and leisure opportunities for children and youth with disabilities as well as any other needs identified by the various stakeholders (e.g., parents, community service providers, PE teachers, and the i-PLAY participants themselves).”
Identification of Microplastic in Shannon River using SEM, spectroscope and Machine Learning
Submitted by the cross-institutional team led by Michela Ottaviani and Mehakpreet Singh
“Due to its small size, microplastic pollution has a significant impact on the health of all living organisms in the Shannon River. Sources of this pollution include textile and industries. In order to reduce the primary sources of microplastics, it is necessary to categorize them.
This project proposes an accessible and effective protocol for microplastic categorization, which involves the collection of samples by primary schools and guidance for future actions by river-related associations.”
For more information, see www.ulcitizensassembly.ie.