E3's Balanced Solutions For A Better World Online Webinar Series 2025-2026

Friday, 17th of October, 2025

13.00-14.00 hrs

Integrated solutions for the climate and biodiversity crises

Discover how the climate and biodiversity crises are interconnected and explore the latest research on aligning climate action with biodiversity protection. Prof. Buckley will delve into the complex relationship between climate change, land use, and biodiversity, highlighting both shared solutions and potential trade-offs.

• Prof. Yvonne Buckley, School of Natural Sciences 

Friday, 24th of October 2025

13.00-14.00 hrs

International Climate Action Day 2025

Join us in a virtual event to celebrate the International Day of Climate Action on October 24th. This event features a panel of distinguished speakers, including Prof. Anna Davies and Dr. Silvia Caldararu from the School of Natural Sciences, Stephen Treacy from the EPA, and Dr. Gemma Donnelly-Cox, Director of the Centre for Social Innovation. They'll share their insights and discuss the urgent need for action on climate change.

• Prof. Anna Davies, School of Natural Sciences,
• Dr. Silvia Caldararu, School of Natural Sciences,
• Stephen Treacy, EPA,
• Dr. Gemma Donnelly-Cox, Centre for Social Innovation

Friday, 7th of November, 2025

13.00-14.00 hrs

Cross-sectoral themes and collaboration to support circular material and product innovations

A circular economy keeps products in use for as long as possible and avoids waste generation, moving from a take-make-dispose model of consumption into a closed reuse loop. Sharing of resources across sectoral boundaries can facilitate the development of the highest value materials and products with the greatest performance and impact potential. This talk will detail the principals, supporting strategies and guidance of a circular economy which are common across disciplines and will include a number of examples of circular material and product innovations which take waste and low-value materials from one sector and reuse them in others.

Friday, 14th of November 2025

13.00-14.00 hrs

Urban Wilding for Systems Transformation: An Approach to Co-Designing Urban Wild Spaces

Urban wilding offers opportunities to reimagine cities as shared habitats, but achieving this requires more than ecological planning; it demands collaboration. This presentation presents findings from PhD research on co-design in urban wilding, exploring how participatory workshops in Australia, Ireland, and the USA foster multispecies awareness and transformational learning. By examining how co-design processes influence stakeholder narratives and align social values with ecological outcomes, the talk highlights the potential of participatory approaches to shape sustainable and resilient urban ecosystems.

Mairéad O'Donnell recently submitted her PhD research, which explores co-design in urban wilding. Her work investigates how participatory and multispecies methods can foster collaborative approaches to sustainable urban ecosystems. As a Fulbright-EPA scholar with experience in international development and sustainability, her research bridges theory and practice to support ecological resilience and community engagement within cities. 

• Mairéad O'Donnell,    School of Natural Sciences

Friday, 21th of November, 2025

13.00-14.00 hrs

Multidisciplinary approaches to the biodiversity crisis 

The global biodiversity crisis is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. It's a complex problem that can't be solved by a single discipline alone. In this exclusive webinar, Dr. Brian MacSharry, Head of the Group of Nature and Biodiversity at the European Environment Agency, will explore how a multidisciplinary approach is essential to tackling this critical issue.

Dr. MacSharry brings over 20 years of experience in conservation, working at local, European, and global levels. He will share his unique insights into the current state of biodiversity and discuss the innovative strategies needed to protect and restore nature.

This is a unique opportunity to learn from a leading expert in the field. Dr. MacSharry will touch upon key topics such as:

• The interconnectedness of the biodiversity crisis with climate change, food systems, and human health.

• The role of policy, data, and technology in effective conservation.

• How systemic and transformative changes are necessary to move beyond traditional conservation efforts.

Whether you're a professional in a related field, a student, or simply someone passionate about environmental issues, this webinar will provide you with a deeper understanding of the challenges we face and the solutions we must pursue.

• Dr. Brian MacSharry,      Head of Group of Nature and Biodiversity, European Environment Agency

Friday, 23rd of January, 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs

Build it and they will come

In this talk Prof. Caulfield will explore the decade of construction that is ahead for Irish cities in order to achieve our climate goals in transport. Ireland has the legally binding target of reducing transport emissions by 50% by the end of the decade. This talk will explore how mega public transport projects (Metrolink, Luas and DART+) can help achieve an emissions reduction but also an improvement in quality of life.

• Prof. Brian Caulfield                                 Professor in Transportation,                   School of Engineering

Friday, 13th of February 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs 

Knowing Me, Knowing You: The Scrutability of Proactive Intelligent Personalised Agents

• Prof. Owen Conlan, School of Computer Science 

Friday, 27th of February, 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs

OurKidsCode: Developing a Sustainable Family-led STEM-learning Ecosystem for Rural Ireland

Dr Bresnihan will discuss how Parental involvement in Computer Science Education is crucial to promoting participation and greater diversity in STEM. In particular, she will describe how the RI-funded OurKidsCode Project has leveraged Parental Involvement to develop a successful model for the provision of informal computing education in rural areas and explore how the project has addressed the urban-rural digital divide through the development of self-sustaining family-led creative coding clubs embedded within local communities.

• Dr. Nina Bresnihan, School of Computer Science & Statistics 

Friday, 27th of March 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs

Smart Cities, Wise Governance: Crafting Policies for Equitable Urban Development

Dr. Philip Lawton's work focuses on the intersection of urban geography, planning, and social change. His presentation likely highlights how "smart city" initiatives, while often promoted for efficiency and growth, can exacerbate social and spatial inequalities if not guided by "wise governance" policies that prioritise equitable urban development and social inclusivity.

• Dr. Philip Lawton, School of Natural Sciences

Friday, 17th of April, 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs

Environmental Engineering - Balanced Solutions to Complex Environmental Challenges 

Environmental Engineering has grown rapidly over the past few decades, burgeoning to meet the stresses of an ever-growing population on a planet with finite resources. The discipline fosters a multidisciplinary knowledge base with creative thinking to understand the problems caused by humans on the natural environment and then develop appropriate and sustainable solutions. 
This talk will highlight the role that environmental engineers play in society in meeting contemporary challenges, covering areas of using sunlight to treat water, the impact of pollution from septic tanks on the environment , the complex underground nature of how water moves through karst cave systems and the role that wetlands play in carbon capture and hydrology and approaches that are being taken to retire these unique ecosystems.  The talk will show how the research has fed through and led to real innovative solutions for society, either in terms of technology development or policy. 

Friday, 27th of April, 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs

Transforming Education for Sustainable Development: From Classroom to Practice

Join us for a stimulating roundtable webinar that delves into the lessons for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) emerging from a recent book on the Global Association of Masters in Development Practice (MDP).

This session will explore how the MDP experience can inform and enhance sustainable development education worldwide, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge acquired in the classroom and its practical application in the field. Our distinguished panel will discuss key findings, best practices, and innovative approaches to equipping the next generation of development leaders with the skills needed to tackle global challenges.

What you will gain:

• Insights into the structure and impact of the Global Association of Masters in Development Practice (MDP).

• Concrete lessons for integrating sustainability principles into higher education curricula.

• Understanding of the challenges and opportunities in translating ESD theory into actionable development practice.

• Opportunities to engage with leading experts in the fields of sustainable development and education.

This webinar is essential for educators, students, practitioners, and policymakers interested in the future of sustainable development education.

• Dr Glenn Galloway, University of Florida

• Dr. Karen Brown Thompson, University of Minnesota

• Professor Pádraig Carmody, Trinity College Dublin

• Dr. Lucia Rodriguez, Sustainable Development Solutions Network

• Professor Larry Swatuk, University of Waterloo

Friday, 22nd of May, 2026

13.00-14.00 hrs

Antinomies of urban decline: (Re)reading development (failure) in Dublin through the lens of vacancy and dereliction

In recent years, “Derelict Dublin” is once again in the news. Why has vacancy and dereliction have persisted as features of Dublin’s urban landscape and discourse, despite periods of significant urban redevelopment? In this presentation by Dr. Cian O'Callaghan, he will aim to answer this question by tracing debates about vacancy and dereliction in Dublin from the late colonial period to the 2008 crash.

• Dr Cian O'Callaghan, School of Natural Sciences