Centre for Academic Practice awarded National SATLE Impact Award

Posted on: 01 April 2026

The Centre for Academic Practice (CAP) has been awarded a 2025 SATLE Impact Award by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. The award recognises CAP’s initiative, ‘Embedding Education for Sustainable Development across the Disciplines at Trinity", which supports the integration of sustainability into teaching, learning and curriculum design across the University.

Led by Dr Pauline Rooney, Head of the Centre for Academic Practice and Dr Claire McAvinia, CAP’s Strategic Initiatives Lead, the initiative brings together an interdisciplinary team including academic developers and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Fellows, Dr Cuisle Forde, Dr John Gallagher, Dr Jonathan Hodgers, and Dr Cicely Roche. The initiative supports staff across disciplines to embed ESD principles into their teaching, strengthening student engagement with key global challenges.

SATLE Impact Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and demonstrable impact arising from projects supported through Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement funding, delivering tangible benefits for students, staff and institutions. 

The review panel commended the structured approach to curriculum mapping and enacting responses to ESD goals. They praised the well-developed and comprehensive enabling strands including professional development, pedagogy, mapping current curricula, and developing student competence.

Dr Pauline Rooney, Head of the Centre for Academic Practice commented: ‘We are delighted to receive this national award, and we look forward to continuing to work with colleagues across the University as we progress our ESD work and share insights within Trinity and across the wider higher education sector’

Prof Vincent Wade Senior Lecturer and Dean of Undergraduate Studies said: “Trinity is committed to empower our staff to better support student learning. We are delighted to welcome this recognition for our commitment to innovate in our educational programmes and for our embedding of sustainable development into our curricula.”

Prof Jane Stout, Vice President for Biodiversity and Climate Action, added: “As a university, the biggest positive impact we can have is by embedding sustainability into our educational programmes. Thus, a key part of Trinity’s Sustainability Strategy is to empower our students and staff to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to act as agents of change toward sustainable development. This award recognises work across the whole college community to progress embedding ESD throughout our teaching, learning and curriculum.”

Find out more about ESD work on the Centre for Academic Practice website.

Find out more about the SATLE Impact Awards on the HEA website 

• Tags:
• Awards and Funding
• Sustainability