Researchers at the new technological university are collaborating with several other European stakeholders on a €1.7m climate action leadership project.
Ireland’s newest technological university is leading a collaborative project that aims to address the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, as set out in the EU’s Green Deal.
The €1.7m Remarkable project was proposed by the development unit at Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS) and is being funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Partners from a mix of universities, government and energy agencies from Austria, Croatia, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Spain travelled to Ireland recently to officially launch the project in Thurles, Co Tipperary.
Remarkable, which will run until 2024, aims to identify climate action leaders in the seven partner countries and develop a suite of tools including consortiums and digital tools to support existing and new leaders.
The leadership programme will facilitate the creation of 60 roadmaps for public authorities to help them achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. These roadmaps will provide climate leaders with clear policies and disruptive far-reaching measures, which researchers said could stimulate €300m in investment by 2030.
Remarkable’s programme will create an EU climate leaders circle, and plans to reach up to 320 members by 2024. Efforts will be made to involve young people in climate action also.
“Our project partnerships are integral to continuing TUS’s leading role in climate action and it was wonderful to meet our partners from across Europe here in Thurles for the launch of this extremely important project,” said senior project officer at TUS, Darren Barry.
“The Remarkable project is directly in line with the TUS strategy to be a leader within the sustainable development goals. We are leading the way by highlighting the importance of sustainable climate action within all our activities,” he added.
Seamus Hoyne, dean of flexible learning and work-based learning at TUS, added that the project is particularly timely with the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, which is being held in Glasgow in three weeks, placing the climate crisis “to the forefront of everyone’s agenda”.
TUS, Ireland’s third technological university, was officially opened on 1 October.
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