HEA Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Spotlight Series – Munster Technological University

A University Wide Approach for an Inclusive Curriculum for a Sustainable Future
Dr Niamh Power, Lecturer in Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, MTU and Chairperson of the Environmental Science association of Ireland

Dr Niamh Power is the current Chairperson of the Environmental Science Association of Ireland. She is a Lecturer and Researcher, in Munster Technological University, Ireland. She received an honours degree in Civil & Structural Engineering coming top of her class, before pursuing her PhD in the area of waste management, anaerobic digestion and biogas as a transport fuel. Her interests focus on the area of sustainability with particular expertise in waste management, anaerobic digestion, renewable energy from wastes & crops, nutrient recycling, nutrient recover from wastewater, life cycle analysis and policies & drivers for change and the circular economy. She is involved in a number of large national and EU research projects on the circular economy and sustainability. Dr. Power also worked on the N-TUTORR project as the sustainability lead for MTU and looked at embedding education for sustainable development within higher education. She led out on the Universities curriculum framework ‘An Inclusive Curriculum for a Sustainable Future’.

CARES: Curriculum Advancements & Rapid Embedding of Sustainability

Maria Cullinane, Programme Coordinator for Sustainable Energy Engineering at MTU

Maria is a Mechanical Engineer and Programme Coordinator for Sustainable Energy Engineering at Munster Technological University (MTU), Cork, and a lecturer in the Department of Process, Energy & Transport Engineering. She is passionate about embedding sustainability, global citizenship, and the UN SDGs into engineering education. Her work spans curriculum development, staff and student engagement, and national and institutional initiatives aimed at transforming higher education for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future.

Dr Aisling O’Gorman, Programme Coordinator & Lecturer Chemical & Biopharmaceutical Engineering, MTU

Aisling is a chemical engineer and is the Programme Coordinator for the B. Eng.(Hons) degree in Chemical & Biopharmaceutical Engineering in MTU. She teaches across all four years of the degree programme and is interested in integrating sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship into the engineering curriculum. She has completed projects enhancing module content, redesigning assessment methods, and evolving programme design in collaboration with student partners. She is currently working with a student-staff team on a Learning Enhancement Project in MTU focused on curriculum advancements and the rapid embedding of sustainability (CARES).

‘A Healthy MTU‘: Leveraging universities as settings for health, wellbeing, and sustainable development.
Dr Andrea Bickerdike, Lecturer in Health & Wellbeing and Director of ‘A Healthy MTU‘ 

Dr Andrea Bickerdike is a Lecturer in Health & Wellbeing at Munster Technological University (MTU), Co-Director of ‘A Healthy MTU‘ (MTU‘s designated Healthy Campus programme), Principal Investigator within the HEX-SPO (‘Health, Exercise & Sport Sciences’) Research Group, and MTU Director of an interinstitutional MSc programme in Health and Wellbeing (delivered jointly the College of Medicine & Health at UCC and Dept. of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies at MTU). Andrea’s research interests encompass the implementation and evaluation of health promotion interventions, measurement/monitoring of population health and wellbeing indicators, and leveraging the unique potential of universities as settings for health, wellbeing, and sustainable development. Of note, she participated in the early co-creation process of what would later evolve into the HEA ‘Healthy Campus’ Charter, and currently sits on the HEA Student and Staff Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group.

A Design Thinking approach to implementing Sustainability Thinking in teaching practice
Lisa Zimmermann, Assistant Lecturer in Visual Communications at MTU

Lisa Zimmermann is an Assistant Lecturer in Visual Communications at MTU. She has researched Sustainability in Design through three Masters theses–using the lenses of Design Practice, Environmental Science, and Education. Her current PhD research at UCC explores how Sustainability Thinking can be taught and implemented effectively in the Irish Design industry.