A quote from former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, in response to a question on the potential of Iraq holding weapons of mass destruction, was at first ridiculed as a non-answer. An attempt at diffusing the seriousness of the question. In reality, it was a shrewd response that…

Collectively, we are facing a global environmental challenge that stretches across regions, borders and cultures. To avert from catastrophic global warming and widespread ecological collapse, there is an urgent need to stabilise our damaged climate and to support the active conservation of the natural environment. To be effective, the management…

Without sounding like a contestant who’s just been voted off a reality TV show, it’s been a journey. My PhD has brought me to some beautiful places and has introduced me to a range of really interesting, caring and inspiring people and communities. In the time between submitting my thesis…

At current rates the world’s temperature is set to rise to 3.8C by 2100. Climate Central, an independent organisation of leading scientists and journalists, assert that urgent action is needed to prevent this rise of temperature from severely damaging large parts of Belfast. They suggest that within the next 80…

This is the first article of our Eco Centenary series, exploring how Northern Ireland can think more ambitiously about sustainability over the next 100 years and highlighting the importance of collaboration, public engagement and trust in science to achieve this. Northern Ireland’s impending centenary has, for the most part, been…

The need for large-scale collections of data on environmental changes in coastal and marine ecosystems has become imperative in recent years. With the scope and consistency of government monitoring programmes hindered by financial and resource limitations, there has been a rapid increase in the use of participatory research initiatives as…

In this blog — titled ‘forgotten structures’ — abandoned developments of the 20th century, littered across the globe, are brought back to life. With the aid of photography collections and archival memoirs, we explore the legacy of intriguing structural ruins which time has slowly left behind. Each time, a new…

In a moment of great technological innovation, how can we save our natural ecosystems from collapsing? And what part can concerned citizens play to encourage political and business leaders to radically change their climate priorities and actions? These are just some of the questions posed at this month’s TEDxStormont Countdown…

On Saturday October 10th 2020, TEDxStormont curated Countdown, a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The focus of this unique webinar was to examine how we can turn innovative ideas into action and establish a safer, cleaner and fairer future for Northern Ireland and beyond. …