Tadhg O’Donovan, Science Teacher, Limerick ETSS
At Limerick ETSS, we are committed to embedding sustainability into every aspect of our school community, and we’re seeking collaborators to help turn these ambitious plans into reality.
Innovation and Sustainability Hub
Our top priority this year is to build an Innovation and Sustainability Hub—a space dedicated to highlighting the importance of sustainability and providing practical resources for incorporating it into every subject. This hub would be an incredible asset for teachers delivering the new Climate Action and Sustainable Development Leaving Certificate course, as well as for developing reusable lesson plans for educators across the network.
If you know of any schools that have successfully built gardens or similar facilities, we’d love to connect with them for guidance. We’re also actively seeking funding or leads on potential funding opportunities to help bring this transformative vision to life.
School Sustainability Audit and Roadmap
We’re also developing a digital School Sustainability Audit and Roadmap tool, which has the potential to revolutionise how schools approach their sustainability goals. By answering a series of targeted questions across key areas—waste and litter, water, energy, travel, and biodiversity—schools can establish a “sustainability baseline.”
This baseline will highlight areas needing attention and provide a clear roadmap with actionable targets. Similar to SEAI’s M&R monitoring and reporting tools created in response to the School Sector Climate Action Mandate 2023 but tailored for schools to use to monitor their progress beyond electricity and gas consumption, this software would simplify sustainability planning and tracking.
We are seeking schools to collaborate with and, more importantly, individuals who can help transform this concept into a digital tool or app to simplify the process. If you’re interested in collaborating, please reach out to todonovan@limericketss.ie.
