MaREI won the 2022 “SFI Engaged Research of the Year Award” for the Dingle Peninsula 2030 initiative. The winner was revealed at the November 20th SFI Science Summit, which celebrates the contribution researchers have made to Irish society and the Irish economy. The event was held in person for the first time in two years.

“It’s a real honour to receive this award and I congratulate SFI for recognising and valuing engaged research in this way. Collaborating with our partners on the Dingle Peninsula has been such a privilege in building a new understanding of the technical and societal elements of sustainability transitions, as well as highlighting the role of multi-stakeholder collaborations. Integral to all of this has been hugely valuable community participation across all stages of the research cycle, which we were humbled by and are especially grateful for.

We found evidence of a rich diffusion of sustainability on the Dingle Peninsula and we were really anxious to share this with the outside world. By co-producing learning briefs we were able to document and share the learnings that are informing research, policy, state agencies and community groups working on climate action initiatives.”

Prof Brian Ó Gallachóir
Director
MaREI

MaREI’s transdisciplinary research group at the University College Cork is harnessing the community spirit on the Dingle Peninsula to advance a groundbreaking engaged research initiative called Dingle Peninsula 2030. This initiative is co-producing solutions with the community to address critical energy and climate challenges while also building societal resilience and capacity. MaREI has established a diverse multi-disciplinary research team combining expertise from energy engineering (Prof. Brian Ó Gallachóir, Dr Connor McGookin), sociology (Dr Clare Watson, Dr Evan Boyle), and community engagement (MaREI Public Engagement Manager, Aoife Deane), who work in a deeply embedded way with the community partners in the Dingle Peninsula 2030 team.