The University College Dublin (UCD) is now officially one of EfD’s academic partners. The agreement was finalized at the beginning of June this year. The new partner is one of Europe’s leading universities with a great diversity of disciplines. It brings to the table a long history of working in the intersection of environment and development as well as extensive experiences from the policy sphere.
The UCD Environmental Policy unit at UCD has interacted with EfD for many years and started discussions of becoming an official partner in the fall of 2022. The newly formed UCD-EfD center will focus on a joint project for Ph.D. education in addition to research projects on topics such as climate change and adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa, energy poverty, behavioral economics, and well-being.
UCD Environmental Policy has an international reputation as a center of excellence for multidisciplinary research and teaching. Their faculty have held senior government advisory roles and their graduates serve as policy advisers in the public and private sectors across the globe.
“Will have more global impact”
“We have solid experience in bringing policy ideas to being realized,” explains Eoin O’Neill, Professor in Environmental Policy at UCD. He has, among other things. also worked as a Technical Specialist in Flood Risk Management at the UK Environment Agency.
“Our researchers are very focused on impact and we are well connected to the policy network. Many of our contacts are in Europe, though, so having access to a global network will help us have a more global impact.”
Great opportunities for collaboration
His colleague Liana Ricci, Assistant Professor at UCD Environmental Policy has, among other things, conducted studies on climate change adaptation and how to integrate climate change into policy and programs. She has also experience, working as an advisor for the European Commission.
The UCD researchers see several interesting opportunities to collaborate with EfD centers and collaborative programs on different projects. Liana Ricci is for instance leading a project funded by Irish Aid, addressing flooding and water scarcity in Dar es Salaam. It’s a very solution-oriented project with a lot of interaction with the local authorities and communities, and funding for the study as well as for implementing solutions.
“This is an example of a project that I hope we can develop further in collaboration with EfD,” says Liana Ricci.
Read more about UCD!
By: Petra Hansson
Partner webinar
Join this webinar to get acquainted with the Environmental Policy group at University College Dublin.
Liana Ricci, Eoin O'Neill, and Shane McGuiness will present an overview of their group, how they want to engage with EfD, and ongoing research in Rwanda (financing of conservation) and Tanzania (climate adaptation and urban planning). There will be room for questions and answers and a focused discussion on a tentative multidisciplinary Ph.D. network program on climate adaptation for East Africa.
Click for more information about the Environmental Policies Group at UCD!
Join the Zoom meeting on Friday 8th September 11-12 CET.
Meeting ID: 646 6824 5198