Cois Coiribe catches up with Dr Richard Manton, Director of Sustainability and Michelle O’Dowd Lohan, Sustainability Officer to mark 10 years of Community and University Sustainability Partnership (CUSP) at University of Galway. A story of progress, partnerships, belief, and a shared willingness to drive change, the journey highlights friendships formed, the innovations sparked, and the collective impact made in shaping a more sustainable University campus and community.
Richard Manton (RM): My journey really began during my undergraduate and PhD studies here at University of Galway, where I specialised in civil engineering. I was drawn to how to integrate engineering with sustainable development. I had the opportunity to work in Haiti and Zambia, focusing on development projects that highlighted the intersection of engineering, human rights, and community well-being, as well as how engineering can drive positive change in underserved communities. Then my PhD and postdoc research was centred on sustainable transport and energy systems, which gave me a better appreciation for a wider span of sustainable practices.
Michelle O’Dowd Lohan (MODL): For me, I was fortunate to be surrounded by nature, protected habitats, protected language, and a rich cultural landscape as a child. Studying environmental science at University of Galway deepened my appreciation too. Being an alumna of this University, being on this sustainability journey, ensuring that students and future generations can enjoy the same environment that I experience; it’s a golden opportunity and certainly drives me.
MODL: I’m delighted to be here to share the story of CUSP. In early 2015, sustainability was frequently discussed, and Prof Pól O Dochartaigh, then Deputy President and Registrar, recognised its importance in the educational landscape. He tasked Prof Colin Brown, then Director of the Ryan Institute, with initiating a university-wide conversation about the future of the University of Galway and the role sustainability could play. It was around this time that a separate research collaboration between Prof Diarmuid O’Donovan and myself, focused on sustainability in healthcare settings, that caught Colin’s attention. He saw an opportunity to build on that work and broaden the conversation to sustainability across the entire University.
After securing a small amount of funding, we established a project team and came up with the name ‘Community and University Sustainability Partnership (CUSP)‘.
We examined best practices and explored sustainability strategies in Ireland and beyond. We drew inspiration from Penn State and Harvard University’s Learn-Live-Lead Model, which still guides us today. From this, we developed a bold vision for the University of Galway to become one of the greenest, smartest, and healthiest universities worldwide. To realise this vision, we launched three new sustainability initiatives: first, the University of Galway becoming the first in Ireland to join the SEAI Sustainable Energy Communities Network an effort to create a more sustainable energy system through community collaboration; second, the Battle of the Buildings energy competition, which encourages students and staff to cut energy use through friendly competition; and third, establishing a sustainability platform on the University’s website, which Bríd Seoige helped develop.
These initiatives set the foundation for our first sustainability strategy, introduced in 2017.
Many of our colleagues contributed to this effort back in 2017, including John Hannon, then Director of Student Services, Anne Marie Forde from Buildings and Estates, Campus Sustainability; Martina Prendergast then with the Ryan Institute, academics such as Prof Marcus Keane, Prof Jamie Goggins, and Prof Frances Fahy; Ruth Hynes, and Bríd Seoige, then based in the Marketing and Comms Office, and Prof Diarmuid O’Donovan and Prof Martin Cormican, bringing a strong health perspective to the table. CUSP was an inclusive and diverse group centred on sustainable teaching, learning, and research, and on building a strategy around these areas. Our later strategy in 2020 built on what CUSP has become today.
Now, in 2025, we are developing our third strategy. All of this started with that bold declaration in 2015 and the transformation of CUSP into a comprehensive sustainability plan.
RM: A strength of CUSP right from the very start was that it is truly interdisciplinary, and we had expertise right across the four colleges, bringing together the social, environmental, and economic perspectives of sustainability. This was a whole of community effort. We had professional services staff, academic staff, students, and then wider community partners.
The other key ingredient, I think, has been Michelle O’Dowd Lohan’s drive. In the past 10 years, she has truly championed CUSP’s mission. Also, the stewardship of the previous chairs of CUSP has been instrumental – those were Prof Colin Brown, Prof Pól Ó Dochtaraigh, and Prof Jamie Goggins.
Dedicated sustainability resources are critical to our success. We are very proud that we have established a Sustainability Office now, with four core staff and two lecturers in education for sustainable development in CELT. The trajectory is one of belief and determination going forward.
MODL: The launch of CUSP in 2015 coincided with the global adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, marking an important milestone. However, a true turning point came in 2020 when the University President formally signed the SDG Accord, signalling an institutional commitment to integrating the SDGs across all aspects of university life.
The SDG framework explicitly recognises the leading role that universities play in achieving the goals. It recognised that without the active involvement of higher education institutions, global progress on the SDGs would be limited. We know that universities are central – through our teaching, research, and engagement – in equipping students to become informed, responsible, and active global citizens who can lead and drive sustainable change. Our students are our future role models and change-makers.
Students played a particularly influential role in shaping and advancing the University’s sustainability agenda, especially in advocating for action on the SDGs and engaging with international climate discussions, such as the Conference of the Parties (COP) and leading the campaign for divestment from fossil fuels. You can see the momentum when you look at our University’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan, where sustainability was mentioned three times. By contrast, the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan positions sustainability as a core value with 10 flagship actions and, notably, the student voice was central in shaping this progress.
University of Galway is continuing to punch above its weight in addressing sustainability and responding to global challenges across areas such as energy, marine, climate action, and food security, embedding sustainability in our operational policies and our governance structures. We are in good company with our colleagues across the higher education sector in driving meaningful progress towards a more sustainable future.
RM: This is where I believe the Learn-Live-Lead framework becomes especially valuable.
As Michelle mentioned earlier, we’ve drawn inspiration from institutions like Harvard and Penn State. At its core, the fundamental role of a university is to be an institute of learning, through teaching and research and so on. There is already a lot of excellent sustainability-related teaching and research happening in the University. However, we also need to recognise that we must practice what we teach.
We are a large campus community, with over 20,000+ students and staff, and are one of the largest employers in the region. We generate a lot of travel, consume substantial energy, and purchase a wide range of goods and services. That gives us a responsibility and an opportunity to put our sustainability principles into practice.
I believe we should be using our campus as a living lab, applying our research and teaching in real-world context. Beyond that, we should aim to be leaders, not just creating a sustainable oasis behind closed walls but actively encouraging others to join with us and, indeed, learn from them in kind.
So, in that sense, the Learn-Live-Lead framework is particularly useful for capturing our role and living our values on campus; for leading by example in the wider community.
RM: Our current governance structure includes a General Board made up of around 40 members, representing students, academic staff, professional services staff, and community partners. This General Board is organised into four working groups, each aligned with our Learn-Live-Lead framework.
Under the Learn pillar, we have the Research and Learning Working Group. This group focuses on embedding sustainability into the curriculum and aligning our research activities with sustainability principles and the UN’s SDGs.
In the Live section, the Nature and Ecosystems Working Group leads our efforts around biodiversity and the implementation of our Biodiversity Action Plan. Additionally, the Sustainable Living and Well-being Group addresses behavioural change related to energy, water, waste, and travel, and it also promotes health and well-being on campus.
The Lead area is covered by the Governance and Leadership Working Group, which oversees sustainability related governance and institutional leadership.
Together, these groups form the core of our governance structure for sustainability, which then reports into the University’s Sustainability Advisory Board, chaired by the Deputy President and Registrar, Prof Becky Whay. We are privileged to have Prof Whay as our Climate and Sustainability Champion, acting as a voice for sustainability at the most senior levels of the University.
It is important to say that this formal structure sits alongside the many contributions made by our wider university community. Staff, students, and community partners continue to support a range of sustainability related projects and initiatives.
To support this body of work, we established a dedicated Sustainability Office last year. Our team includes myself as Director of Sustainability, Michelle O’Dowd Lohan as Sustainability Officer, Derek Whelan as Sustainability Accountant, and Lorraine Leahy as Sustainability Administrator. We work closely with Dr Alma Clavin and Dr Elizabeth Hurley from CELT, who lead on education for sustainable development.
When we look back over the past decade, it’s been truly inspiring to witness the dedication and conviction of those involved in CUSP, most of whom took on this work voluntarily, alongside their main roles. From students engaging in extracurricular sustainability projects to staff going above and beyond their job descriptions, and community partners supporting our mission despite not being formally part of the University, this collective effort has been essential.
MODL: Maybe just to add, in terms of bringing sustainability to life across the University, I think having a Sustainability Strategy in place has been a really strong foundation. It’s a strategy that was agreed at University level, and we consulted with students, staff, and community partners. In essence, it’s not a CUSP strategy; it’s very much a university-wide strategy, where our community feel a sense of ownership in helping to deliver it.
Sustainability is broad, but I feel our Strategy unites the campus with a clear plan, defined actions, and measurable, reportable outcomes.
RM: Something worth mentioning here is that I think it’s important that we avoid greenwashing. We need to be accountable, transparent, inclusive, and able to measure our progress.
That doesn’t mean reducing everything to quantitative metrics to three decimal places, but it does mean, as Michelle said, having a strategy with KPIs and reporting frameworks that let us benchmark ourselves against peers.
Most notably, we are especially proud to be ranked the number one university in Ireland in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which assess over 2,500 universities worldwide against their progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
These rankings are based on four dimensions: teaching, research, stewardship, and outreach, each with specific metrics. For example, for water-related SDGs, we not only report on our courses and research on water technologies and environments but also our water use on campus and community engagement projects funded through our Sustainability Engagement Fund.
We’ve held the number one spot in Ireland and remain in the top 100 globally – number 64 in the world – consistently for the past four years.
MODL: Beyond external visibility and recognition, achievement in ranking gives us an opportunity to capture our progress, identify gaps, and benchmark ourselves against global peers. They also support not just student recruitment and our public reputation, but also our HR strategy. We’re increasingly looking to attract staff who are passionate about sustainability and the SDGs. Having strong performance in these sorts of rankings reinforces our commitment and enhances our ability to attract likeminded individuals with similar values.
RM: We don’t rely on just one reporting system. We also use other frameworks like Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), which is widely used in North America. We currently hold a ‘gold’ rating. This requires a very detailed submission every four years, based on providing extensive data on how sustainability is embedded in operations, the curriculum, outreach and so on. With over 70 individual metrics to report on, it takes a lot of effort to complete.
In addition, we participate in the Green-Campus Programme, which is renewed every three years. I am pleased to say that we have now earned a Green Flag under six different themes: Energy, Water, Waste, Travel, Biodiversity, and Green Labs.
Beyond external reporting, we also carry out our own internal sustainability reporting, including the publication of a detailed annual sustainability report. And not least, the University carries out mandatory national reporting on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, which is done through the SEAI Monitoring and Reporting (M&R) system.
Through the efforts of our award-winning Energy Team within the Buildings and Estates Office, our University has successfully reduced fossil fuel related emissions by roughly 38% over the past decade, which is against a national target of a 51% reduction by 2030; we’re well on our way to surpassing that goal. While the Buildings and Estates Office leads this work, it’s important to acknowledge that it’s a campus-wide effort to reduce energy use.
MODL: To circle back to the benefit of student involvement, back in 2015 we had a sustainability stand at Societies Day, and only a few students came by. We were trying to gather feedback through a short survey, but the level of engagement was limited. Since then, student involvement has grown enormously, and we’ve developed several initiatives that recognise student leadership, including the Sustainability Champion digital badge as part of the University Passport Skills project and the Student Sustainability Leadership Awards programme. The Student Sustainability Champion is in on-campus accommodation, and again recognising the vision of our students, a dedicated SU Sustainability Officer role has become part of the Student Union Executive.
We like to think that one of the drivers of this progress has been the creation of a dedicated sustainability platform for students as part of CUSP, ensuring that students are meaningfully represented within our governance structures, including our CUSP General Board meetings. That voice at the table is helping to drive and shape real change.
In terms of reporting, we’ve also come a long way. While data gaps still exist, we are in a far stronger position than we were 10 years ago. For example, in 2015 we didn’t have the comprehensive energy consumption data that we have now; there was limited water metering in place, no Green Labs programme , no biodiversity action plan, no curriculum scan of modules to determine SDG alignment. We didn’t have frequent mobility and travel surveys, nor a centralised system for measuring waste management across operations. Now we can build action plans based on real-time data and insights where the remaining gaps are.
Of course, we still face sustainability challenges. Funding constraints and staff capacity, building and infrastructural needs to upgrade to a high-efficiency standards, and perhaps most significantly, cultural change. Shifting long-standing habits and practices is always a challenge. That said, we have made meaningful strides in this area too. One recent example is the complete removal of single-use cups on campus.
While we have more work to do, progress – especially in student engagement and data-driven planning – has been a major highlight of the past several years.
RM: If I were to highlight one major challenge, it would be the intersection of housing and commuting. Although the housing crisis is far bigger than us as a single institution or even our region, it does have a very real impact on our students and our sustainability goals.
From travel surveys, we have seen that the average distance students are commuting to campus has increased significantly in recent years. As result, the proportion of students walking or cycling to campus has halved. This shift has environmental implications. Even if students are using public transport, it’s still more emissions-intensive than walking or cycling from within the city.
Also significant beyond the environmental impact are the serious social and financial consequences. Longer commutes can make it harder for students to fully participate in campus life, and they often carry extra cost and stress. While the University has taken some steps to address these issues, I think there’s room for us to do more, particularly by strengthening partnerships with local authorities and public transport providers. Coordinated efforts could make a real difference in improving transport infrastructure and accessibility for our students and, in turn, support broader sustainability goals.
RM: We are using the campus as a living lab, not just for energy projects but for other sustainability initiatives. This presents a valuable opportunity for researchers and students to work directly with real-world systems.
A good example of this approach is the Waterways Project, which is a partnership involving the University, the Galway City Council, and several local community groups. The project involves refurbishing an existing hydroelectric turbine located beneath the McLaughlin Building – one of the University-owned properties on Nun’s Island – and installing additional turbines along Galway’s canals.
We are not just generating renewable electricity for campus use and wider community benefit; these installations can be used as educational and research tools. We’re planning to embed the project into relevant programmes like Energy Systems Engineering, Geography, and others, where students can study and interact with real-life sustainability infrastructure.
MODL: Yes, absolutely. Being on the edge of Europe in such a stunning natural setting inspires our work and grounds our sustainability efforts in a real sense of place and purpose. And actually, one of the ways we promote engagement in sustainability among our community partners is by showcasing our beautiful campus environment as a living lab. Initiatives like the SDG Trail and Biodiversity Trail make our natural setting a visible, interactive part of our sustainability story.
RM: To answer your question on location, yes, I think Galway is in a uniquely strong position when it comes to sustainability. Just looking at our natural surroundings; the city is framed by beautiful and unique landscapes, such as Connemara, the Burren, and the Aran Islands, not to mention it’s Ireland’s only bilingual Gaeltacht city. We are also a city shaped by water, nestled between Galway Bay and Lough Corrib, with the River Corrib running right through the centre. This natural setting creates a strong environmental context for sustainability. When you combine this with our long-standing commitment to human rights with Ireland’s only Irish Centre for Human Rights here on campus, it introduces a powerful social dimension, particularly around issues of equity, inclusion, and justice.
Galway has a well-established track record of addressing sustainability from a holistic perspective; environmental, social, and economic. I believe that rich context has definitely strengthened and supported the sustainability work we do as a University.
MODL: Our designation as Ireland’s national SDG Champion for 2023-24 definitely contributes to this. We’re now transitioning into the role of SDG Ambassador, and that visibility has positioned us as a peer to reach out to.
For example, I have received emails from other universities or institutions asking about our approach to SDGs and seeking advice on specific initiatives. From the Student Sustainability Leadership Awards, to how we recruit student and how we eliminated single use cups.
Being named a national champion comes with a responsibility to advocate, promote, and lead on the SDGs, and we’re always happy to share our experience and collaborate with others.
On a European scale, we participate in the ENLIGHT network, where we’re part of the Green Network. We’re currently working on developing a Sustainability Staff Week, where we’ll host colleagues from other ENLIGHT universities to share the work we’re doing here at the University of Galway.
RM: I think Michelle summed it up well. We are regularly contacted by people wanting to visit or learn from us. Just last month, I heard from three different US universities. We often give campus tours and meet with others to share insights on various aspects of our sustainability efforts. We’ve built strong partnerships, and in the spirit of SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals, we know real progress comes from collaboration across our sector, both in Ireland and internationally.
We’re proud to be ranked number one, but it’s really a collective effort.
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