Our Purpose

With the active support of UL’s Executive Committee, a newly appointed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Working Group has been established to bring together expertise from multiple disciplines and functional areas across UL and beyond. Its aim is to guide UL in actively working towards the UN SDG’s and ultimately the journey towards becoming a more Sustainable University. The first task of the group is to craft a holistic strategy for January 2022 centered around a series of ambitious missions with clear measurable, targets. This strategy will map an agile path forward and enable the wider UL community to make active and transparent progress towards the SDGs. 

The Working Group

The working group are currently engaging in a series of online participatory design ‘workathons’. These sessions are designed to collectively identify and craft a ‘Sustainable University Strategy’ across four key areas: 1) Learning, Research and Students, 2) Leadership, Governance and Staff, 3) Campus Community and Operations, 4) Partnership, Society and Engagement. Broadly speaking UL’s SDG Working Group are committed to:

  1. The principles of the United Nations SDGs.
  2. Pioneering educational experiences for our students to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to promote sustainable development.
  3. Undertaking research that provides insights and potential solutions to the sustainable development challenges.
  4. Contributing to the achievement of the sustainable development goals by ensuring our campus is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.
  5. Building on a shaping our interactions with external stakeholders to support the implementation of the SDG’s across our region and beyond.
  6. Reporting on our activities in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Team

The UL SDG team currently includes Ann MacPhail (Chair), JJ Leahy (Deputy Chair), Andrea Deverell (Lead), Vicky Kelly (Coordination) Maura Adshead, Jennifer McMahon, Anca Minescu and Chris Fogarty have kindly stepped up as (thematic leads). The wider group is constantly growing and currently includes membership of 30+ individuals from across every walk-of-life on campus. This group has an open-door policy and has grown organically over the last few months.  Membership to date is featured below.

SDG Steering Group Membership 2021

Getting Involved

If you would like to get involved or participate in the ongoing work of this group in UL, please reach out to vicky.kelly@ul.ie and make yourself known.