BioBeo-BiOrbic Bioeconomy Education Workshop
From tackling the wicked problem of biodiversity loss to exploring groundbreaking ways to communicate complex research, the BioBeo Horizon Europe Project and BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy held a transdisciplinary bioeconomy education workshop in UCD Global Lounge on February 20th. The attendees included academic researchers, primary school teachers, student teachers, administrators, journalists, policy makers and Irish language officers.
The event showcased a new comic “Answering the Curlew’s Call” about the Curlew’s decline, blending heavy material and a hopeful tone; a board game about chocolate that unpacks life cycle assessment in an interactive way; and VR/AR technologies which transported participants to the Amazon rainforest with the help of Prof Lizbeth Goodman, UCD.
John Bell, Director Healthy Planet, DG Research & Innovation at European Commission, and Adjunct Full Professor in UCD School of Politics and International Relations, provided a powerful opening address, emphasising the essential nature of education and the need to provide hope for future generations.
Mary Colwell, founder of Curlew Action (UK), who launched the new comic, was utterly inspiring on the importance of our precious Curlew and how we must support protection. The comic was created by BioBeo project leader, Associate Professor Tom Curran of UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering; Associate Professor Barry McMahon of UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science; and Dr Laoise Ní Chléirigh and Associate Professor Máire Nic an Bhaird (both of Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University). Nathan T Wright illustrated the publication.
The comic can be downloaded from UCD Research Repository in English and Irish, and an animated video version is available on YouTube. The comic is also being promoted in schools by the Breeding Waders EIP-Agri project, a €25 million nationwide project, co-funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In addition, UCD and Maynooth University students worked across modules in engineering and education to transform the story into a puppet show by creating puppets and the show frame from recycled biological materials. A video of the puppet show was displayed at the final BioBeo event in Brussels with another showing at the UCD Festival.
In reviewing the comic at the bioeconomy education workshop in UCD, John Hughes, a primary school principal in Sligo, spoke passionately about engaging young minds with innovative resources such as the comic, which he described as ‘a triumph of subliminal messaging, so deeply interconnected’. Mary Colwell added: ‘these charming productions will help engage new audiences to the crisis the birds face’.
Jamie Murray (MU) and Sakshi Anand (UCD) had attendees participating in games that really made people think about the world in which we live. Aimée Gray and Conor Haugh were on hand to guide participants through the innovative work of BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy.
Janine Kennedy, Irish Farmers Journal and UCD Earth Institute journalist-in-residence, expertly chaired a panel of diverse speakers. Associate Professor Máire Nic an Bhaird (Maynooth University), Professor Patrick Paul Walsh (UCD School of Politics and International Relations), Matthew Halpin (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) and Fangting Bai (PhD Student, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering) provided an engaging discussion on how to move the bioeconomy forward and improve environmental sustainability for all.
Opening Address by John Bell, Director Healthy Planet, DG Research & Innovation at European Commission, and Adjunct Full Professor in UCD School of Politics and International Relations
Creators of “Answering the Curlew’s Call Comic: Associate Professor Tom Curran of UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering; Associate Professor Barry McMahon of UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science; and Dr Laoise Ní Chléirigh and Associate Professor Máire Nic an Bhaird, both of Maynooth University.
Discussion panel: Janine Kennedy (Chair), Irish Farmers Journal and UCD Earth Institute journalist-in-residence; Associate Professor Máire Nic an Bhaird (Maynooth University); Professor Patrick Paul Walsh (UCD School of Politics and International Relations); Matthew Halpin (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine); and Fangting Bai (PhD Student, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering)
Tom Curran introducing Mary Colwell, founder of Curlew Action (UK).
