Sustainability research and innovation need to be Ireland specific

Research and innovation have a vital role to play in tackling the sustainability problems facing the world today, according to Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) deputy director general Dr Ciarán Seoighe. “We need to protect our biodiversity, maintain healthy ecosystems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimise waste and pollution,” says Seoighe. “Scientific research can provide solutions to those needs.”

SFI’s activity in the area covers three broad areas: the research activity it supports, the environmental impact of that research activity and informing policymaking in relation to sustainability.

“The research we support is helping to generate new ideas, new knowledge and new solutions, and is developing the new talent that will work with companies to be innovative and solve the sustainability challenges facing us now and in the future,” says Seoighe. “One of the most encouraging aspects of this is that we are seeing sustainability research taking place across all the areas we support, including collaborations between research and industry, our large research centres, challenge funding and among individual researchers.”

One example is the circular-economy-related research being undertaken by the Biorbic SFI Bioeconomy Research Centre. Led by Prof Kevin O’Connor at University College Dublin, Biorbic brings academia and industry together to focus on the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy.

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More than 100 researchers at the centre are working on separating and extracting valued compounds from renewable materials, converting those resources into novel bio-based products and processes, and delivering market and industry-scalable sustainable resources. “These researchers are working with food producers and industry to create valuable and sustainable bio-based products and services from natural resources,” says Seoighe.

The Terrain-AI project aims to share insights and models with other countries to help reduce carbon outputs. Led by Prof Tim McCarthy at Maynooth University, with funding from Microsoft Ireland and SFI, Terrain-AI gathers data from a variety of sources and uses it to improve our understanding of the impact of human activity on land use and how it relates to climate change.

Grain-4-Lab focused on developing a solution to tackle plastic usage in Irish research laboratories by using waste produced from the brewing and distilling industry

Hosted by the UCD Energy Institute in partnership with nine industry co-funders and a philanthropic donor, Next Generation Energy Systems (NexSys) is an all-island, multidisciplinary energy research programme involving more than 40 leading academics working in partnership with industry to tackle the challenges of energy decarbonisation, developing evidence-based pathways for a net-zero energy system.

Challenge-based funding is an important means of enabling Irish researchers to address the big issues facing society in the years ahead. SFI continues to develop its approach to challenge funding through the Future Innovator Prize which offers a structured way for researchers to tackle particular problems and develop innovative and tangible solutions to them.

Challenge winners have included Grain-4-Lab, undertaken by Dr Jennifer Gaughran, Dr Brian Freeland, Ms Samantha Fahy, Dr Susan Kelleher and Dr Keith Rochfort from Dublin City University. The project focused on developing a solution to tackle plastic usage in Irish research laboratories by using waste produced from the brewing and distilling industry in Ireland. The research team has been working in partnership with organisations such as Waterford Distillery, Murphy & Son, Smallwares and Key Plastics to develop, test and trial the solution.

The Leaf No Waste team won the Food Challenge and is continuing to develop novel solutions that have the potential to address food waste by combining plant fortification with sustainable compostable packaging to enhance the shelf life of fresh produce. The team is led by Lorraine Foley of TU Dublin along with team members Prof Jesús Frías Celayeta of TU Dublin and Dr Lael Walsh and Dr Shivani Pathania of Teagasc. The societal impact champion on the team is Stephen McCormack of McCormack Family Farms.

Research-informed public policy is critically important. “We want to take the knowledge being created by our top-notch researchers and feed that into data-led policymaking,” Seoighe explains. “Climate action is a global problem but we also need Irish solutions to Irish problems. We need Irish researchers to advise Irish policymakers on issues specific to Ireland. For example, we need to work out how to sustainably manage and recover our peat bogs.”

One of the ways that is achieved is through the SFI Public Service Fellowship Programme which offers researchers a unique opportunity to be temporarily seconded to government departments and agencies to work on specific projects where they can add value, resulting in mutually beneficial outcomes. “Embedding researchers in public-service organisations gives them access to the latest thinking and ideas on sustainability,” Seoighe notes.

Finally, the environmental impact of the manner in which research is conducted must also be taken into consideration. “We are very conscious of the fact that research has a carbon footprint,” he points out. “We have some really interesting and exciting solutions in the pipeline which will support more sustainable research.”