University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Campus Engagement
The UCC EmployAgility Awards, previously known as the UCC Works Award is a professional skills development programme, and demonstrates that you have engaged in, and developed professional skills through extra-curricular activities and work experience, all of which will help you to stand out from the crowd when applying for graduate roles and internships. Participants are awarded a Digital Badge and receive receive official recognition on their Diploma Supplement. There are a number of pathways to achieving this award including through contributing to student life (e.g. Clubs & Societies Activities), participating in UCC campus based internships or conducting research. A number of students from the UCC Environmental Society and UCC Green Campus committee have been awarded UCC Works awards for their contribution to enhancing student engagement with environmental and sustainability matters on campus, through society and committee activities, promoting environmental activism amongst students, running campaigns and representing the student body on committees.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/careers/areyouacurrentstudent/getexperience/awards/

Public Engagement
In 2021 a student of the BSc (Hons) Ecology & Environmental Biology degree programme conducted their final year research project in collaboration with local NGO Cork Nature Network, and local community group Douglas Tidy Towns. This project fulfilled academic credit for module BL4001- Ecology Research Project. The project investigated the ecology of invasive species in local green and amenity spaces, together with public perception of invasive species, and attitudes of urban green space managers. The project proposed management and eradication options for invasive species in the urban green space.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/carl/SadhbhHoranCARLreport2021.pdf

Air & Climate
A postgraduate student in the School of Chemistry is currently monitoring air quality on campus as part of a PhD research project. The project utilises an atmospheric monitoring station on UCC campus which provide real time reporting of ambient air pollution on campus and in Cork City, contributing to the EPA’s National Air Quality Monitoring Network.

https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/environmentalresearchinstitute/JohnWengerERIWebinar10July2020.pdf

Buildings
In 2019 a masters student in the Dept. of Sociology conducted research on student attitudes towards available learning spaces on campus. The findings show spaces already exist on campus that students find useful, but that they are not in supply enough for the needs of students. Students have little desire for extremely innovative spaces and technology but rather require more of what is already available. When it comes to the design of a space there is no one option that fits the needs of all students but there are general leanings of attitiudes. Students prefer overall natural lighting, quiet spaces, comfortable seating, warm temperatures, larger desk space, and uncrowded spaces. Recommendations for how we manage our buildings and space were made. The student was awarded an MRes in Sociology for their research.
https://cora.ucc.ie/handle/10468/10113

The Energy Manager co-ordinates with the Academic departments to make available live building energy data to students and post graduates as part of individual or group projects.
Through the Green Forum group and regular energy team meetings the Energy Manager also puts forward a number of projects that the students can undertake as part of their final year projects.
Two recent projects carried out by Final year students include ' Considering the role of ventilation in making rooms safe during the COVID pandemic and consideration of the energy implication' and 'Decarbonisng existing buildings, heat pump M&V on ORB with consideration for the EEOS scheme'
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/orb-heat-pump-project.html

In 2020 a student from the MSc Cooperatives, Agri-Food & Sustainable Development conducted her final research project on food sustainability matters in the UCC canteen setting. The project was entitled “Development of a methodology to create a system of Traffic Light Labelling for Meals, for the promotion of sustainable consumption in a canteen setting”. The focus of the project was the development of a methodology to create a traffic light labelling system for menu options in a university canteen setting. This methodology would be used to aid consumer decision making in establishing a more sustainable dietary consumption pattern, encouraging consumer food choices in line with more sustainable consumption. The student gained academic credit for this project as part of FE6308 Practice-Based Research.

In 2019 the UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Seed Fund ( https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/research/seed-fund/ ) funded the UCC Open Arboretum project. Using the UCC campus grounds and the historic tree collection the Open Arboretum Living Laboratory project established a knowledge platform based on the tree collection in order to scientifically underpin and demonstrate the use of the collection as an educational tool for teaching, research and as a visitor attraction. The use of the arboretum is emebedded within two undergraduate modules, one in the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences : PS3019; and another in the School of Pharmacy, PF3016. These two modules, focus on the medicinal and other industrial uses of bioactive plant compounds (e.g. in brewing, food production, etc.) and allow the arboretum to be directly embedded into the curriculum. The arboretum also plays a role in undergraduate and postgraduate research of students in the lab of Dr Eoin Lettice who has an active research group looking at the benefits of urban trees for sustainable development and mitigating the effects of climate change. In 2019 a student of the BSc (Hons) Applied Plant Biology degree programme undertook a research project entitled “UCC Open Arboretum Project: Trees as a teaching and outreach tool for environmental and plant education” in fulfilment for which they were awarded academic credit for the module BL3004 – Research Skills in Biology
https://www.ucc.ie/en/arboretum/

An masters student studying MSc Civil Engineering is currently undertaking their research dissertation entitled "Provision of active transport modes to enhance UCC commuter sustainability". The transport sector in Ireland accounts for a large proportion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (ca. 20%). Furthermore, UCCs transport emissions (Scope 3) are problematic due to the overreliance on the private vehicle. A key objective of the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS) is to improve mobility by supporting a modal shift towards more active and sustainable transport modes such as walking, cycling and public transport. The objective of this project is to assess the potential to enhance active transport modes within UCC and design elements of improved active transport infrastructure for commuters, encouraging the uptake of such transport modes. The potential for GHG emissions savings will ultimately be calculated in a sustainability assessment.

Waste
In 2019 the UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Seed Fund ( https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/research/seed-fund/ ) funded a project entitled ‘Plastic free UCC; Exploring Societal & Marketing Levers’. The research masters project builds on existing UCC transdisciplinary capacity, seeks to chart and understand progress (including opportunities, levers, obstacles, difficulties and problematic areas) on the journey towards a single-use plastics free UCC. This research examines how sustainable practices can be facilitated and supported within University College Cork to transition away from Single Use Plastics. The work will contribute to the university’s policy of realising a single-use plastics free campus by 2023. The student was awarded an MSc in Commerce for their work.
https://cora.ucc.ie/bitstream/handle/10468/11852/HughesA_MRes2020.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Coordination & Planning
In 2021 a student of the BSc (Hons) Environmental Science degree programme undertook an internship with the UCC Green Campus programme as part of their requirements to complete the academic module BL4003 – Work Experience for the Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences. The student led the organisation of ‘Build Back Better - UCC’s First Climate Assembly’, which took a citizen’s assembly approach to reviewing UCC’s progress against the UCC Sustainability Strategy. Following the Climate Assembly the student produced a report of the outcomes including recommendations for the next iteration of the Sustainability Strategy, and a guidance document of how to undertake Climate Assembly’s in the future.

https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/what-weve-learned-from-build-back-better.html

Wellbeing & Work
In 2019 the UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Seed Fund funded a project “Activity to Longevity (A2L)”. Based in the School of Education this project is co-led by a postgraduate student in the School of Education who will incorporate this work into their PhD research. The project aims to facilitate, and encourage physical activity as a normal component of University everyday life and as an integral part of sustainable living. The project developed a 10-week tailored ‘Physical Literacy’ intervention for UCC’s academic, research, and administrative staff. In terms of sustainable development, this project targets UCC staff through structured, environmentally led physical literacy episodes, specifically for those in pursuit of living a physically active life and developing physical literacy to promote sustainable active travel and mobility.