Innovation for Sustainability

As we face historic challenges of climate degradation, biodiversity loss, geopolitical instability and technological displacement the overall aim of this module is to develop your ability to build community, develop creative approaches and explore new ways of living to ensure a better future for us all. The challenges of sustainability are increasingly urgent, inherently complex, and beyond the remit of any one discipline, sector or community. Over the course of this module you will develop your trans-disciplinary thinking via a series of activities, projects and real-world challenges. You will travel off-campus to visit and engage with a community organisation and a sustainable business to observe and explore how sustainable approaches work in practice and are conceived, launched and scaled in the real world. You will learn about the key challenges in sustainability and contribute to the circular economy pilot (mushroom farm) based at UCD Greenacre, while developing your hands on skills and innovation and sustainability mindsets. "I have learned you are never too small to make a difference." Greta Thurnberg UCD INNOVATION ACADEMY At the UCD Innovation Academy, we are Educator Practitioners with extensive real-world experience as academics, business and social entrepreneurs, tech thinkers, creative professionals and design practitioners. Our teaching is grounded in academic rigour. Our focus is on ‘learning from doing’ in a real-world context. Classes include a combination of individual and team tasks and activities, along with discussions, presentations and reflection. Enrollment on an Innovation Academy module means a commitment to active participation and engagement, which necessitates attendance at all scheduled classes. Notes: Class Size : We limit our class size to 36 students or less. We require a minimum of 16 participants to ensure enough people for teamwork and a dynamic classroom environment. On very rare occasions, if fewer than 16 registered students register, we will offer students the opportunity to join another class. For further information about the UCD Innovation Academy see www.innovationacademy.ie