TUS Athlone Campus was the central location for the hosting of the 2024 Arcadia Creative Climate Awards during which students exhibited their schools’ green initiatives to peers, teachers and the public.
The Arcadia Creative Climate Awards Exhibition 2024 featured the contributions of 10 primary schools and three secondary schools from across the Midlands region. Students proudly displayed their favourite climate-focused and environmental projects, showcasing the green initiatives undertaken by their schools.
This annual event serves as a platform for schools to highlight their efforts towards sustainability and environmental stewardship. It not only recognizes the dedication of young minds to making a positive impact but also inspires others to join in the movement towards a greener future.
The Arcadia Creative Climate Awards project is being run in conjunction with the Cllr.Frankie Keena, ‘Junior Mayor’ initiative, with its central theme of ‘giving young people a voice’.
The founder of the Junior Mayor Initiative, Cllr. Frankie Keena sincerely thanked the schools who participated in the Arcadia Climate event this year.
“It was fantastic to see the level of confidence and depth of knowledge of the students on the subject matter as they explained their respective projects to members of the public. The student voice was just exceptional on the day.
“These climate awards would not have taken place only for the marvellous sponsorship received from Fiachra McLoughlin of Arcadia Retail Park. The financial and hands on support from Fiachra is just fantastic and he was ably assisted by Katie Gleeson and Morgan Fagg.
“We were absolutely thrilled to host these awards for the second successive year on the TUS Athlone campus thanks to the endless support from Joanne Gillivan. This has enhanced the status of the event to a much higher level and created a ‘’wow’’ factor for the students and staff,” Cllr Keena said.
Joanne Gillivan, TUS Library Outreach, noted the diverse range of environmental themed projects on exhibition all of which addressed the issue of climate change.
“TUS Library was delighted to host the Arcadia Creative Climate Action Expo and to see such a diverse range of projects addressing climate change. It is inspiring to witness the passion and dedication of the students and their teachers who are actively working towards a more sustainable future.
“It was great to collaborate once again with Cllr Frankie Keena and Fiachra McLoughlin the sponsor of the ACCA Expo, increasing awareness among primary and secondary school students around the most defining issue of our time,” Ms Gillivan commented.
The event was opened by senior law lecturer Alison Hough from the Faculty of Business and Hospitality. Alison welcomed the students and their teachers and gave a brief insight into many of the exciting research and community engagement projects in all of our TUS Campuses, helping communities find pathways forward in a time of climate transition.
The students also heard from pioneering TUS postgraduate researchers Sheila Plunkett and Mairéad Quinn on their fascinating research in this area. TUS lecturer Dr Rita Scully from our Limerick Campus spoke on the Transdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Environmental Sustainability at School and Dr Maeve O’Reilly Lecturer in Veterinary Nursing and Bioveterinary Science spoke to the students on her voluntary role as vice chair of TUS Athlone Green Campus committee.
Fiachra McLoughlin, Director Arcadia Retail Park, stated that the TUS Athlone Campus provided an inspiring location for the students to exhibit their respective projects.
“We were delighted with the support of Joanne and all the team in TUS – the campus environment provided an inspiring area for the students to show off their projects in a third-level university campus, and there was a real buzz on the day.
“We would like to thank each of the schools for their participation, there was a tremendous amount of effort put in by all the teams and their teachers. The standard of work done by the students was exceptionally high,” Mr McLoughlin concluded.
