University of Limerick-based sustainability challenge hopes to tackle climate change

Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD has launched a competition at the University of Limerick which aims to tackle climate challenges.

Minister Smyth, responsible for public procurement, e-government and the circular economy, was at the Bernal Institute at the University of Limerick to launch the sustainability challenge.

He was attending an event at the Bernal Institute as part of UL Research Week 2022 to deliver a keynote at “AStruM 2022 – Towards a Circular Economy”.

Speaking at the launch of the challenge at UL, Minister Smyth said:

“Achieving a circular economy requires a radical departure from our current take-do-waste model. New materials and products designed to maximize reuse in a closed-loop system will play a critical role in this transition.

The concept of the Sustainability Challenge was born out of a partnership between the Bernal Institute, Kemmy Business School, and UL’s Buildings and Estates department to empower and encourage students to contribute to sustainable development.

The challenge seeks ambitious proposals from teams of UL undergraduate and graduate students to address climate change, with ideas or proposals applicable to the campus, city or Midwest region or even further.

It is also part of a program of events taking place this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the University of Limerick.

Submissions are meant to inspire and guide future investment in the Castletroy and City campuses or can be used as ideas for further development.

Student teams are invited to submit their ideas by 5 p.m. on Monday, August 1, 2022.

Five finalist teams will be selected by an independent panel of experts made up of representatives from industry and academia.

The five most promising project proposals will be shortlisted, each will receive support and up to €10,000 to prepare and deliver a working pilot or demonstration of their proposal by March 2023.

The result will be evaluated based on the objectives, the feasibility plan, the societal impact and the delivery.

The winning team will be announced in April 2023.