DCU to play key role in new international climate research co-centre
Climate+, the new €41.3 million research co-centre will bring together multidisciplinary research expertise to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and water degradation in Ireland and the UK.
The Climate+ project is due to commence on 1st January 2024 and will initially run for six years. It is funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, and UK Research & Innovation.
Dr Torney, who also heads DCU’s Centre for Climate and Society, will shape the social sciences strand of the centre's research along with principal investigators Dr David Robbins, Dr Goran Dominioni, Dr Aideen O’Dochartaigh.
Dr Diarmuid Torney said:
“The urgent challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and water degradation don’t respect territorial boundaries. Climate+ brings together leading researchers from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain from a range of disciplinary perspectives.
Along with colleagues in DCU’s Centre for Climate and Society, we will work with researchers from across the co-Centre to bring cutting-edge social science perspectives on how we can ensure just and fair transformations.”
Much like the Centre for Climate and Society, this team brings together expertise from DCU’s School of Communications, School of Law & Government and DCU Business School to tackle the societal dimensions of climate change, energy and biodiversity. The Centre for Climate and Society is Ireland’s first academic research centre devoted to promoting perspectives on climate change from the social sciences and humanities.
Vice President for Research Prof John Doyle said:
“DCU’s prominent role in this new co-centre is indicative of our commitment to sustainable development, both in leading influential research in this field and in how the university is run.
The challenges this new initiative seeks to address will define the coming decades, and DCU researchers have a contribution to make.”
The centre will operate out of Trinity College Dublin, with Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Reading joining as the other leading partners. It will bring together over 60 leading researchers from 14 academic partner institutions in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Other partners include: Maynooth University, University of Galway; University College Cork; University College Dublin; Atlantic Technological University; University of Limerick; Ulster University; Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute; University of Reading; Newcastle University; UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.