Prof Frances Lucy to lead EU Green Alliance programme at ATU

7 Jun 2023

From left: John Andy Bonar, Frances Lucy and Orla Flynn. Image: ATU

The EU Green Alliance brings together ‘a wealth of expertise and talent’ from nine European universities for sustainability-focused projects.

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) announced today (7 June) that Prof Frances Lucy has been appointed as co-ordinator of the university’s EU Green Alliance, a multimillion-euro programme which aims to build strategic alliances between universities in the EU.

Based in the west of Ireland and established last April, ATU is one of nine universities from across Europe to take part in the EU Green Alliance programme to increase international competitiveness within the European higher education area.

The alliance is one of only four winners of the European Universities Alliance initiative in 2023 to start their collaborative journey and received funding of more than €14m over 4 years from the European Commission.

Together with universities from France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Germany, Spain and Portugal, ATU is part of a ‘supercampus’ with more than 158,000 students and 18,000 staff.

Lucy, who is a renowned environmental scientist, currently heads the Department of Environmental Science at ATU. She is also director of CERIS, the Centre for Environmental Research Innovation and Sustainability at the university.

Last October, Lucy received an honorary doctorate from Mid Sweden University for her outstanding achievements in science. She is an internationally recognised researcher in the field of invasive species.

“Environmental science, to me, is the world around us and everybody is invested in it,” Lucy told SiliconRepublic.com in December. “We’re very keen to say to people, if you’re doing geography at school, that’s fantastic because that’s a science really, and biology, that’s about the environment.”

The latest EU Green Alliance network brings together “a wealth of relevant expertise and talent” across the staff and students of nine universities, Lucy said. “Our consortium will engage with industry, agencies and society across Europe on solutions for a sustainable future.”

Outside of her research, Lucy is also a member of the advisory committee of the EPA and former chair of Inland Fisheries Ireland, a position she resigned from earlier this year.

“With her extensive knowledge, leadership skills and dedication to environmental research, Prof Frances Lucy is well positioned to drive the EU Green Alliance’s efforts towards a sustainable and greener future for Europe,” said Dr Orla Flynn, president of ATU.

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Vish Gain is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com