Biodiversity & the Built Environment Community of Practice – Meeting #9 Launch of Irish Case Studies

About the event

At the second meeting of the Community of Practice, coinciding with National Biodiversity Week, the IGBC will launch the first set of Irish Case Studies on protecting and enhancing biodiversity in various building typologies and infrastructure. Read more at: Biodiversity and the Built Environment in Ireland – Irish Green Building Council.

The launch of the case studies will be followed by a panel discussion on current barriers and challenges in protecting and enhancing biodiversity in our built environment, and on what is required to address them.

Agenda

9:15 | Registration & Networking
9:30 | Welcome – Susan Vickers, Chair, Biodiversity & Built Environment Community of Practice
9:35 | Launch of the case studies on protecting and enhancing biodiversity in various building typologies and infrastructure in an Irish context*.

• Christopher O’Sullivan TD, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with special responsibility for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity. TD for Cork South–West.
• Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, chair of the Advisory Committee for Ireland’s Nature Restoration Plan

9:50 | Panel Discussion

The panel discussion will be chaired by Catherine Cleary, Journalist, Author and Co-founder of Pocket Forests.

• Eimear Fox, Landscape Architect, TII
• John Stack, Senior Executive Engineer, Dublin City Council
• Aebhin Cawley, Vice President, CIEEM Ireland
• Ciara Zhi‑Yi MacDonald, ESG Consultant, Catalyst

10:40 | Q&A

11: 15 | Ends

*In early 2024, the Government published the National Biodiversity Action Plan -2023-2030 , highlighting the importance of continuing to work on nature protection and enhancement.

Thanks to the support of Construct Innovate and the Land Development Agency, we are now working to mainstream biodiversity in the construction industry and stimulate concrete actions. The IGBC Biodiversity Team with the support of members of the Biodiversity and Built Environment Community of Practice, is working on creating a catalogue of case studies on protecting and enhancing biodiversity in various building typologies and infrastructure in an Irish context.

The steering group for this initiative includes:

• Eimear Fox, Senior Landscape Architect at Transport Infrastructure Ireland
• Dr. Úna FitzPatrick, Chief Scientific Officer at National Biodiversity Centre
• Michael Goan, Urban Design and Sustainability Manager at Land Development Agency
• Oisin Griffin, Head of Landscape and Urban Design at Cairn Homes
• Maryann Harris, Environmental Planning Manager at the Department of Housing
• Fran Igoe, Manager at Local Authority Waters Programme (Lawpro)
• Patrycja Kochaniuk, Sustainability Lead at STW Architects
• Neil Menzies, Director of Sustainability at Hibernia
• Elizabeth O’Reilly, Project Officer (Ireland) at Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)
• Fiona Patterson, Senior Ecologist
• Ruth Saurin, Sustainability Manager at Glenveagh
• Lorcan Scott, Biodiversity Officer at Office of Public Works (OPW)
• Susan Vickers, Head of Environmental Sustainability at Cluid Housing (Chair)
• Ricky Whelan, Biodiversity Officer at Offaly CoCo

The initiative is funded by

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