What impeccable timing! 🌳 🐝 It's Insect Week 2026 (June 22 - 28) and the tree bumblebee has been sighted for the first time in UCD by members of associate professor and ecologist Dr Dara Stanley’s research team. Read all about it: www.ucd.ie/sustainabili... #InsectWeek2026 @ucddublin.bsky.social

UCD's Main Lake is a focal point on campus, surrounded by key buildings like UCD James Joyce Library, O’Reilly Hall and the O’Brien Centre for Science. Here Ciaran Beattie of UCD Estate Services explains the lake's history and popularity with students and wildlife. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh6R...

Swans, ducks and seagulls on University College Dublin's Main Lake

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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UCD students have upcycled bookshelves and doors from the latest University College Dublin James Joyce Library refurbishment to create a very cool new public outdoor space on campus. youtu.be/E0DzGVg069g

UCD students upcycle old library furniture to make new outdoor seating on campus

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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According to the supplier it is the first machine of its kind in an Irish university. University College Dublin has installed an organic digester to help reduce waste on campus. Read more, including what the end-material compost smells like (you'll never guess!) www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

Our latest UCD Sustainability Future Leader is Kendra Paleczny. How did growing up on an ostrich farm in Ontario, Canada, influence her decision to enrol in the BSc Sustainability? How has she helped students with climate anxiety and dressing right for interviews? Read: www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

We've closed the loop! UCD is now making mushrooms from discarded coffee grounds from UCD University Club - and then delivering them back for use on the same menu. Read the full story, which features AI, robots, quiche, linguine - and a five year collective effort! 🍄🤖 www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

Is there more rain in Ireland now than in the past? Met Éireann is asking citizens to help ditigise historical Irish rainfall data from our old weather records. Last week UCD welcomed Dr. Rhonda McGovern, a postdoctoral researcher at Met Éireann, to show us how. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUja...

Met Eireann Weather Rescue project asks citizen scientists to help digitise historical rainfall data

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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University College Dublin has moved up two places to 47th in the world in the 2026 QS World Rankings for Sustainability. This marks the University's third consecutive year in the top 50 universities worldwide for Sustainability. Read more: www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

Should global music tours like Taylor Swift and Coldplay be required to offset their carbon footprint even if ticket prices rise? UCD students applied doughnut economics model to modern problems at the Doughut Debate today with Sandesh Burada from EY. #GlobalDonutDays

Join Dr. Dorota Kolbuk as she shows how #CitizenScience can support marine & coastal research efforts Topics incl how to get involved in coastal citizen science & the benefits this brings to environmental monitoring & community engagement Register at buff.ly/JsSYwwu @ucdsustainability.bsky.social

Thank you all so much for hosting and/or attending our 40 UCD SDG Week events throughout last week. We are thrilled to say we had 1,245 event registrations and amazing participation and engagement across the week. We hope the video captures a sense of the diverse programme :) youtu.be/IEiq6mV6VHY

UCD SDG Week 2025 montage

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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🌊🧑‍🎓 "There is a real pressure on us to raise our game." Ireland has committed to protecting 30% of its waters by 2030 under the UN biodiversity framework, aimed at halting species decline and restoring marine ecosystems. @ucdsustainability.bsky.social #SDGweek

UCD is moving away from single-use coffee cups. Instead, you’ve got two great options... www.youtube.com/shorts/j-B3S...

University College Dublin launches returnable and reusable cups campaign

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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UCD SDG Week 2025 takes place September 22 - 26 with 40 events across campus highlighting the Sustainable Development Goals. Eco-artmaking, a 2050 role-playing game, workshops on everything from greenwashing to upcycling your jeans - and more! Read and register: www.ucd.ie/sustainabili... #SDGsIRL

After our Ash for Future workshop and campus 'ash walk' last week, our brilliant UCD Sustainability summer intern Kendra Paleczny did this Q&A with UCD landscape architect Sophia Meeres and Teagasc tree improvement researcher Dheeraj Singh Rathore. youtu.be/hYXoxNakZUs

UCD Sustainability summer intern in Q&A with Ash for Future speakers

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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The decimation of Ireland’s iconic ash trees is heartbreaking - but you can help bring them back. Ash for future workshop and 'ash walk' on UCD campus last week helps citizen scientists identify and report healthy trees. Teagasc is breeding and growing these tolerant trees. youtu.be/HdGSvTBoweY

Help the fight against ash dieback disease - by reporting healthy trees to Teagasc

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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We had great fun yesterday at the eco-artmaking workshop at UCD Greenacre Sustainability Hub with UCD Innovation Academy artist-in-residence, Madeline Schmidt. We made clay stepping stones with recycled, found and organic materials from Greenacre - and these will be used to decorate the site.

What happened when UCD Services stopped mowing a patch of grass between the car park and the road behind the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science? In this video, ecologist Dr @darastanley.bsky.social talks about her work monitoring the ensuing wild orchids. 🌸 🦋 #SDGsIRL youtu.be/0vl2cymp0Nw

Monitoring pyramidal orchids on rewilded area of University College Dublin

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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🌳 Ash for Future workshop with Dheeraj Rathore (Teagasc) and Sophia Meeres (UCD), Thursday, July 31st, 10.30am - 12.30pm, UCD James Joyce Library Link 3 for presentation, followed by an ‘ash walk’ on UCD campus. 🥐 Refreshments provided 📝 Register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

UCD Sustainability recently funded cycle training workshops on campus, organised by UCD Smarter Travel Group and delivered by Colm Sevastopulo, Dublin Bay Cycling. Participants said it improved their cycling confidence and general knowledge about bike maintenance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j8a...

Cycling training workshops in UCD

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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Fast fashion is the world's greatest polluter after oil and gas. Last week at NovaUCD’s annual Student Enterprise Competition, these students pitched ThreadLightly, an app to help people check how sustainable a garment is at the point of purchase. www.youtube.com/shorts/_JiHL...

UCD students pitch ‘ThreadLightly’ app to tackle fashion waste at NovaUCD enterprise competition

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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Global Wind Day is on Sunday - and Omega is a new tool funded by UCD Sustainability to optimise wind farm design (and to help account for turbine 'wakes' like those visible in this photo of Denmark's Horns Rev 2 offshore wind farm thanks to low-lying fog!) Full story: www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

Two Irish Hares relaxing in the dawn sunshine in the west of Ireland

"Climate change is a disability justice issue.” Sinéad Burke, writer, academic and disability activist, in conversation with Roe McDermott at the UCD Festival on Saturday. Audience Q&A covered great topics like how to manage “the rage”. Heartfelt session. Read more: www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

University College Dublin has officially joined the Race to Zero, a United Nations-backed global campaign uniting institutions across the world in a shared mission to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. www.ucd.ie/sustainabili...

UCD’s beautiful Upper Lake used to be a car park. Here UCD Estates Operations Manager Ciarán Bennett explains that the lake is not just a beautiful amenity teeming with wildlife, but a sustainable urban drainage system too. PS Featuring Dr Adam Kane's bird identification group youtu.be/Ph4hkFoH2xo

Biodiversity Week 2025: Celebrating UCD’s beautiful Upper Lake - formerly a carpark.

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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As part of National Biodiversity Week (May 18 - 23) we spoke to Ciaran Beattie of UCD Estate Services about the remarkable work undertaken to preserve the lime tree next to UCD Village, the award-winning student education and amenity building completed in October 2021. youtube.com/shorts/ZOY7h...

Protecting legacy trees on a busy university campus

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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UCD campus is looking great in the sun this week. Lots of evidence of implementation of the #pollinatorplan @ucdsustainability.bsky.social @ucd-chas.bsky.social #biodiversity

As UCD nears its digital storage limit, Laura Toby of IT Services gives easy tips for reducing your digital carbon footprint. PS Deleting just 10 unwanted emails makes a measurable difference. PPS UCD Innovation Academy students have built a helpful app called DigiFoot.eco. youtu.be/YPQ4nL8YXag

Easy steps to reduce your digital footprint

YouTube video by UCD Sustainability

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Look what has arrived in UCD just in time for Biodiversity Week next week! 😍 😍