TU Dublin showcases innovation at first Green Campus Open Call Gathering event
TU Dublin hosted its first Green Campus Living Lab orchestration event yesterday at the East Quad, bringing together innovators and internal and external stakeholders to highlight innovative sustainability projects developed through the Green Campus Open Calls 2024 and 2025.
The event featured 17 projects and welcomed over 25 attendees, including representatives from Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council, alongside key university stakeholders from TU Dublin Student’s Union, TU Dublin Student Volunteering, Campus & Estates, Campus Decarbonisation, and members of the Green-Campus Committee.
During her opening remarks, Jennifer Boyer, Vice President for Sustainability said:
The projects presented here today are a testament to your commitment, and to the role that a university can play as an agent of positive environmental, social and economic change.
The event featured lightning presentations of completed projects that focused on the challenge addressed, solutions developed and impact achieved to date, highlighting alignment with the characteristics of the living lab approach.
The 17 projects presented reflected a wide range of sustainability themes, including waste reduction, circular economy, energy efficiency, climate action, climate justice, biodiversity, and health and wellbeing. All five campuses were featured at the event, with project leads from TU Dublin Student’s Union, TU Dublin students, and the Faculties of Engineering, Built Environment & Apprenticeships, Sciences & Health, Arts & Humanities and Business.
Attendees included students and both operations and academic staff, who shared achievements and practical challenges encountered during project implementation. Projects featured on the day include the following:
| Open Call 2024-2025 | Open Call 2025-2026 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Project | Project Lead | Project | Project Lead |
| The Forest Bathing Garden | Gerard Ryder, lecturer at the School of Mechanical and Design Engineering |
The TU Dublin Bioblitz and Photo Competition |
Gerard Ryder, lecturer at the School of Mechanical and Design Engineering |
|
Soil Sense Eco-Acoustics |
Gerard Ryder, lecturer at the School of Mechanical and Design Engineering |
Reconnect the Disconnected - outdoor micro-garden at Aungier St |
Lucia Walsh, Sustainability Education & Innovation Lead, Sustainability Education |
|
Smart Energy Monitoring at TU Dublin Lab |
Damien Doheny, lecturer at the School of Electrical and Electronical Engineering |
Reconnect the Disconnected - biodiversity awareness & appreciation |
Lucia Walsh, Sustainability Education & Innovation Lead, Sustainability Education |
|
Eco-High Performance Computing |
Tania Malik, lecturer at the School Of Informatics and Cybersecurity | Sustainability Charters for Student Societies | Charlie Beaudelot, Student Union PTO Sustainability |
| Materials Intelligence Lab - Exploring Material Narratives in Design Practice | Ceri Almrott, lecturer at the Shool of Art and Design |
Inside Disposable Tech: Exploring Material Circularity |
Ceri Almrott, lecturer at the Shool of Art and Design |
|
The Little Free Library |
Hilda Burton, lecturer at the School of Marketing and Entrepreneurship |
re:model |
Laura Carroll, Assistant lecturer at the School of Architecture, Building and the Environment |
|
Greener Bakery practices - Reducing Food and Packaging Waste |
Sheona Fole, lecturer at the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology | Reusable Packaging for Bakery Students | Sheona Fole, lecturer at the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology |
| Re-Turn Heroes | Aleksander Biegalski, Cosmin Clopotaru and Alex Siedlok, students at the School of Mechanical Engineering | Clean Campus Challenge | Hilda Burton, lecturer at the School of Marketing and Entrepreneurship |
| Veganuary | Mina Eusebio, SU VP for City | ||
Head of Societal Engagement, Helena Fitzgerald, highlighted:
The project teams have explored challenges, co-created solutions, and tested and evaluated these in the real-world — bringing together different disciplines and engaging internal and external stakeholders.
Attendees from South Dublin City Council and Dublin South County Council highlighted the potential for aligning green campus solutions with broader city-level sustainability goals, particularly in areas such as urban resilience, climate action, and community mobilisation.
The inaugural Green Campus Living Lab orchestration event marks a significant step in strengthening TU Dublin’s Green Campus Living Lab. By providing a platform for knowledge exchange, collaboration and living lab evaluation. Trough the Green Campus Living Lab, Societal Engagement is fostering a growing network of students and staff committed to engaging society in collaborative innovation to address sustainability challenges.