Public Realm and Urban Regeneration Projects- Needed now more than ever
As we continue to deal with the effects of COVID-19, we see the changes it has made to our working and social lives. While mass gatherings have been suspended, the restrictions now in place have further highlighted the requirement for carefully designed public spaces in regional towns. Regional towns are very dependent on these public […]
The Housing Crisis for Irish Swifts
Irish Swifts are in swift decline and urgently need our help! All town planners, civil engineers and architects need to act quickly and decisively to help save this ancient, charismatic summer visitor to our towns, villages, cities, historic monuments and castles. Swifts head to Africa for our winter and they arrive in Ireland each May […]
Climate change and Water Conservation in Ireland
As we enter the latter stages of 2020 and attempt to reopen up our society the constant media reminder of what an awful year it has been only dampens any hope we have of returning to pre Covid times. Due to the vast amount of coverage Covid-19 has received in recent months, I begin to […]
How Can We Engage and Motivate Learners?
I’m not a big fan of terms like ‘millennial’ and ‘Gen Z’, because I think people are far more complex than the year in which they were born can determine. When we use terms like these, there is a risk that they somehow frame the way we, as teachers, are expected to approach teaching. For […]
Contaminated Land – Problem or Solution?
Land use and reuse are critically important for creating greener cities with a high quality of life. Brownfield sites are both a challenge and an opportunity. With a growing demand for land, the reuse or repurposing of previously used land, known as brownfield sites, is of increasing importance in Ireland. Contaminated brownfield sites may be […]
Delivering Sustainable Engineering Solutions
Sustainable development is driven by the three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental, and economic. As engineers we have seen a marked shift towards delivering sustainable engineering solutions, not just on account of the current world climate crisis, but also for moral, legislative, and financial reasons. Delivering sustainable development requires innovative design, lower impact construction methods, […]