University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
EN-3: Student Life

Student organisations related to sustainability and the environment in UCC include the student led Green campus committee, the Students Union and a variety of student clubs and societies. The Green Campus Committee is the core student representation for sustainability activity at UCC. The university is home to 105 student societies and 49 clubs. These clubs and societies bring together students with common interests and encourage active participations, activism and social activities under the organisation theme. Details of organisations with activities directly and indirectly related to sustainability and environment are described here :
1- UCC Green Campus Programme is “Student Led, Research Informed, Practise Focussed”. The Green Campus Committee is co chaired by the Deputy President of the Student’s Union and the Chair of the Environmental Society. The committee is composed or students and staff, who collaborate on sustainability activities across the institute.

2 - UCC Students’ Union (SU) is the democratically elected, representative body for students in UCC. The students union executive includes a welfare officer, campaigns officer and an environmental officer.

3- UCC Environmental Society: Envirosoc are primarily concerned with student activism, appreciation and conservation of the environment, through the promotion of sustainability.

4 - Animal Welfare Society: For UCC students interested in the area of animal welfare and/or people who want to get involved in the area of animal welfare. Promotes animal welfare in agriculture, and meat reduced diets.

5 - Archaeology Society: Includes themes of society, culture, built and human environments and natural heritage.

6 - Community Garden: A student group that run a community garden on campus, the garden houses three polytunnels, courses and training events on growing your own food.

7 - Co-Operative Society: A society for students interested in promoting the use of Co-Operatives, in tackling social and environmental issues.

8 - Enactus Society: Enactus is the social entrepreneurship society where students use entrepreneurial skills to do societal good - developing projects, ideas and businesses that directly impact humanity.

9 - Engineers without Borders: Aims to educate students about and contribute to sustainable development globally. Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is an international organisation attempting to bridge the gap between academia, industry and NGOs.

10 - Failte Refugees: Dedicated to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to UCC, Cork and Ireland, working on ensuring understanding, solidarity and basic human rights in our communities

11 - Friends of MSF: International humanitarian organisation that aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters or exclusion from health care.

12 - Geological Society: Physical geography, earth science, geology and the processes that shape the natural world.

13 - International Development Society: Works closely with the Centre for Global Development in UCC to run campaigns around global sustainability.

14 - Planning Society The UCC Planning Society is a society dedicated to the issues of spatial planning and its associated fields including sustainable development.

15 - Vegan Society: Provide a social and educational environment for students who are vegan, or curious about veganism,

The UCC Community Garden is a student led initiative that been in existence for 14 years. The garden is next the the main UCC Campus site and holds three polytunnels, raised beds and composting facilities. Students and staff can congregate to grow their own food, using the principals of organic food production and permaculture.

The gardens host parties and training activities throughout the year that are open to all students and staff.

https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/practice/landscape-heritage-and-natural-resources/ucc-community-gardens/

https://www.facebook.com/ucccommunitygarden/

UCC Enactus is a local branch of a worldwide organisation for student entrepreneurs. Enactus aims to make the world a better place by bringing bright students together to create projects that help people.
https://www.facebook.com/UCCEnactus/

Members of this society have established a variety of student run social enterprises including:

Precious Plastic UCC a student run social enterprise which focuses on the re-use of waste plastic as a valuable resource. Supplying plastic to ReFRAME UCC

https://community.preciousplastic.com/u/precious-plastic-ucc

ReFRAME UCC a student run social enterprise focussed on reuse of plastic to create a fleet of moulded bicycles.

https://www.facebook.com/reframebikes/

UCC Green Campus, in collaboration with UCC EnviroSoc, UCC Students Union and UCC Societies runs an annual green week with a week long line up of gues speakers, workshops, and social events with sustainability themes. In 2021 over 30 events were held which included speakers and panel discussions on fast fashion, SDGs in the curriculum, Sustainable Agriculture, Ecological Architecture, Climate Justice, Ecology in Society, Eco-Social Futures, Nature Conservation, Sustainability in Latin America, SDGs in the Community, Climate Science, and Student Activism. These ran in tandem with social events, practical workshops, social media campaigns and film nights.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/ucc-green-week-2021.html

UCC EnviroSoc also run an Annual Climate Conference. In 2021 the Conference theme was ‘Lessons from COVID-19 in Transitioning to a Climate Resilient Society’. The conference is a day long event run by students, with invited speakers from the world of research, activism and sustainability practitioners.
https://twitter.com/uccenvirosoc/status/1371804537493798912?lang=en

The Glucksman Gallery in UCC hosts numerous exhibitions themed around environmental and sustainability, which are open to all members of the campus community, including students. The gallery is free of charge. For the past number of years the museum has partnered with UCC Green Campus and worked with communities and schools from across the region on creative projects that explore topics such as biodiversity, urban sprawl, climate change and individual responsibility. In 2020 The Glucksman held an exhibition called Creativity and the Climate. This exhibition showcased artworks by children who have participated in projects such as A Greener, Brighter Future (2016), Blueprints (2017), People and the Planet (2018), and Future Forms (2019). In 2021 the gallery commissioned local a local artist to produce a collection of paintings depicting the rare and ecologically valuable biodiversity of UCC campus. This will form part of an exhibition on Urban Green Spaces which will open 2021-2022.
https://www.glucksman.org/events/creativity-and-the-climate

In 2019 UCC hosted na event called ‘Global Water Dances’ which is a global, integrative and cross-generational performance project that has been implemented every two years since 2011. GWD is an artistic initiative with the vision to draw attention to the manifold problems around "water". The special focus is the elixir of life, drinking water. GWD is a wonderful opportunity to remind us of the power of water that moves through our lives in so many different ways. This event combines youth theatre, music and choral performances and participation with environmental activism.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/news/global-water-dances-cork-2019-.html

The UCC Mountaineering Club organises regular hikes for students throughout term time. The Club follows and promotes the "Mountaineering Ireland" LLeave No Trace guidelines on safety and environmental responsibility while in the mountains.

https://mountaineering.ucc.ie/about/

https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/mountaineering-ireland-integrates-leave-no-trace/

For Academic Year 2021-2022, Semester One, The Green Campus Programme ran a social media campaign along the theme of climate justice. This featured regular infographs and student blogs on Climate Justice themes including:
What is Climate Justice:
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/introduction-to-climate-justice-what-is-it-and-how-can-we-achieve-it.html

Food security & Climate Justice:
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/food--climate-justice.html

Waste & Climate Justice:
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/waste--climate-justice-.html

Energy & Climate Justice
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/news/energy-and-climate-justice.html

UCC's student residential services prepare a rent book for students that contains information on waste reduction and segregation and energy saving tips.

In 2020-2021 UCC EnviroSoc & UCC Green Campus published a monthly booklet series called The Clime, each issue addressed a different sustainability theme. Issue 5 was a booklet of information and local resources for sustainable living. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ySBnwIhAb1LbxSeopMLl9LIcqqxpP9EM/view

The UCC Students' Union ran the Union of Students Ireland Student Switch Off campaign from 2017-2020. ‘Student Switch Off' is an energy saving competition open to all students living in halls of residences at the University of UCC. The hall/residence/college that saves the most energy per person by the end of the year when a prize.

EnviroSoc have also recently produced resources including:
- "A Student's Guide to Greener Living"
- "A Zero Waste Guide to Cork"
- "Sustainable Shopping in Cork"

https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/resources/green-guidelines/

UCC Green Campus Programme offers both paid and accredited internships through the “UCC EmployAgility” (Formerly known as "UCC Works") programme. The Buildings and Estates office employ interns to work on Green Campus activities. The UCC Works interns work a minimum of 40 hours on the programme, while paid interns work longer term, undertaking projects in the areas of transportation, carbon footprinting, behavioural change projects, engagement and communications. The students produce a reflective report at the end of the internship and receive a certificate as part of the overall "UCC Works" end of year ceremony.

Please see the News section of the UCC Green Campus Website for updates on activities, events outreach and engagement.

https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/