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Save the date! 11 October 2022 we will host a launch event of our drain water heat recovery system Penrhyn Castle. In person and on-line options available. More details coming out soon!
Nodwch y dyddiad! Ar yr 11eg o Hydref 2022 byddwn yn cynnal digwyddiad i lansio ein system i adennill gwres o ddŵr gwastraff yn Castell Penrhyn. Digwyddiadau yn y cnawd ac ar-lein ar gael. Mwy o fanylion yn fuan.
Interested to know more about the system? Click here.
Nathan Walker
Research is currently underway on how COVID-19 effected the UK and Ireland water sectors. The unprecedented scale and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic required organizations to adapt all facets of their operations, and the water sector was no exception. There was particular difficult for the water sector since they had a shift in demand from business to residential and an increase in overall consumption due to the emphasis on washing and hygiene to combat the virus.
We wanted to analyse how resilient the sector has been across the UK and Ireland to evaluate how previous policy and regulation prepared them, and how they can prepare for any future obstructive events. To do this evaluation, data was collected and analysed for 18 indicators from 19 companies for the years 2018 to 2021. We incorporated a variety of metrics to measure the resilience of the water sector, including economic, environmental, and service based data. Initial rudimentary assessment has taken place by averaging the data for the 3 years leading up to the pandemic and comparing it to the first year of restrictions.
Initial results, presented in Table 1, suggest the water sector had a mixed response to the pandemic, where eight indicators are marked red, nine are green, and one is amber. This is nearly an even split of positive to poorer performance over 18 indicators, particularly since even the amber result of treatment works compliance was still performing at a high-level sector-wide despite the lack of change.
The largest positive changes were exhibited by unplanned outage, which reduced by 36.83%, this was closely followed by risk of sewer storm flooding with a decrease of 32.12%, and water quality compliance, which had its measurement of compliance risk reduce by 26.73%. These are significant reductions and improvements to the service and security of water to consumers, despite an increase in total and residential water demand. The significant improvement in water quality compliance could partly be attributed to the lack of residential sampling opportunities caused by government-imposed restrictions, although alternative sampling was sought from staff homes, commercial premises, company property, and when these options were unavailable, surrogate samples at service reservoirs. The most negatively affected aspects of the UK water sector were revealed by the indicators: interest cover ratio, which suffered the largest negative impact of -21.20%, followed by post-tax return on regulated equity with -20.60%, and operating profit with -18.15%. These results were likely the result of an increase in costs incurred by the rise in volume being delivered to households, health and safety costs, and increase of unpaid bills.
Work is currently being undertaken on diving deeper into some of these perceived performance changes, with a view to highlight specific excellence in resilience at the company-level. This research is under development and thus, results are subject to change.
Daniele Novara
Founded in 1935, the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) is a well known worldwide association combining together researchers and practitioners from various fields related to water management and hydraulics.
Its 2022 World Congress saw the participation of over 1,200 delegates that came together for a week in Granada, Spain, to present their latest research and network with other professionals.
Among them, Daniele Novara presented a new research paper describing how submersible Pumps As Turbines (PATs) can be utilized as energy storage devices to absorb the excess of electricity generated by renewables and balance the electric grid. In short, at times when excess electricity is available a submersible PAT is capable of operating immersed in a lower water body (reservoir or river) and pump water into an upper reservoir. Then, when the solar or wind electricity stops being generated the same device can operate as turbine and produce power by letting the same volume of water to flow back into the lower reservoir.
The concept was backed by a laboratory test campaign and by a case study of its application to an Irish countryside estate. The results showed that, when coupled to a significant installed photovoltaic generation capacity, a submersible PAT working as an energy storage device can reduce the overall grid energy import needs of the estate by over -55%.
The IAHR congress was an excellent opportunity to present such research to a varied and multicultural audience of water engineers and environmental experts. In fact, several other presentations were centered on various hydropower technologies: from maintenance issues of large dams to small-scale energy recovery from water and irrigation networks by means of different devices (PATs, water wheels, hydrokinetic turbines).
All in all, the feedback received and the contacts established will allow for a stronger and more informed continuation of the research work being carried out.
Isabel Schestak
Our team member Dr Isabel Schestak from Bangor University presented at the SDEWES conference end of May, which for the first time was held in Vlorё, Albania. SDEWES stands for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems and the conference brought together academics from various disciplines involved with sustainable solutions in water and energy use or waste management. Session topics of the conference included circular economy concepts for cities and industries or waste and wastewater treatment technologies. Innovation in research and policy and management strategies were also part of the focus, including economic implications from the European Green Deal.
Isabel presented her work on the calculator for commercial kitchens, which enables kitchen owners to estimate their individual potential for recovering heat from drain water and the associated environmental and economic benefits. She specifically explained the background data and how the tool is going to include further European countries soon, expanding the Ireland-UK based version of the tool and increasing attraction of the tool to users around all of Europe. For the first time, Isabel also had the opportunity to chair a conference session, which covered presentations on waste(water) treatment and reuse. Isabel said: “It was a great new and enjoyable experience for me to facilitate the scientific discussion around topics outside my area of research by chairing the session.” The conference was organised in a hybrid mode, enabling participants to both present and comment contributions online or in person. Though rather a small conference in terms of participants with around 200 international researchers joining online or in person, it was a great opportunity to disseminate the work of the Dŵr Uisce project and especially suitable for networking with researchers from all over the globe.
A big thank you to the funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg Ireland-Wales Cooperation Programme for the opportunity to present at the latest SDEWES conference!
Richard Dallison
Dŵr Uisce research conducted by researchers in our Bangor team, and published last month in Hydrological Sciences Journal, has used hydrological modelling to characterise and quantify the potentially implications of worst-case future climate change on river systems in Wales. The work uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model to project daily streamflow in five Welsh catchments (Clwyd, Conwy, Dyfi, Teifi, Tywi) between 2021 and 2080. The analysis has characterised changes in future average, high, and low streamflows, as well as water quality impacts for key indicators. The work takes a worst-case scenario approach in terms of future climate change, with pessimistic global emission forecasts (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5), using the latest projections from the UK Met Office.
Nowhere will escape the impacts of future climate change, with one of the key implications of this being alterations to rainfall pattern characteristics, in turn impacting river flows. Not only problematic in terms of available water resources, these alterations in precipitation and streamflow regimes will all also have an impact on water quality. In Wales, surface waters (rivers and lakes) are relied upon for a variety of purposes, so understanding how changes in rainfall will impact on river systems is crucial. In addition, as recent events have shown, living in close proximity to our waterways brings about hazards, so gaining greater clarity on change in future high flow event characterises in particular is especially important.
While the results show that annual average flows see only a small decline in the catchments studied (4% to 13% reduction), the results of seasonal analysis of extreme flows are more concerning. As Figure 1 shows, the modelling work suggests that the severity and frequency of very low river flows will increase in Wales under future climate change, especially in summer and autumn. This could potentially cause problems for organisations and people who abstract water directly from rivers. In addition, the severity and frequency of very high streamflows, those most likely to lead to flooding, is set to increase in the winter and spring (Figure 1). Both of these alterations will likely require adaptation measures, in terms of ensuring sufficient water resource supplies, and protecting against flood damage, respectively.
Figure 1: Overview of the direction, magnitude and significance of annual and seasonal trends in projected future (2021–2080) extreme streamflows, as detected by Mann-Kendall trend analysis.
When looking at the water quality findings (shown in Figure 2), nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment concentrations are all shown to increase across almost all catchments and seasons, suggesting a marked decline in future water quality. Dissolved oxygen levels, important for healthy aquatic life, are shown to markedly decrease, with this being linked to increasing nutrient levels in rivers and increased water temperatures, due to warming air temperatures. The findings have economic and environmental implications, for water abstractors in particular, as water resources could become more unreliable, seasonal, and polluted.
Figure 2: Overview of the direction, magnitude and significance of annual and seasonal average trends in projected future (2021–2080) water quality concentrations, as detected by Mann-Kendall trend analysis.
The results demonstrate that although perceived to be a country abundant in water resources, Wales will not escape the impacts of climate change induced streamflow reductions, especially in summer and autumn. Conversely, in winter and spring it is likely that high flow events will become larger and more frequent. This exaggeration of current seasonal streamflow patterns will require careful management moving forward, especially when combined with water quality deterioration.
The full open-access article can be found on the Hydrological Sciences Journal website, while more information on the implications of the climate change work being conducted by the Dŵr Uisce Project can be found on the Future Water Resources page of our website.
Richard Dallison, Roberta Bellini, and Aisha Bello-Dambatta
Entrance to the EGU Conference, Vienna (Photo by R. Bellini)
Last week Dŵr Uisce researchers Dr Roberta Bellini, Dr Richard Dallison, and Dr Aisha Bello-Dambatta attended the European Geosciences Union’s (EGU) 2022 General Assembly (EGU22), also presenting and discussing their work. Held as a hybrid event for the first time this year, the conference attracted many scientists and researchers from across the globe both to Vienna, as well as virtually online. Indeed, the event is one of the largest gatherings of geosciences related researchers in Europe, with EGU22 attracting some 12,400+ abstract submissions to over 770 sessions.
This new conference format provided a fantastic opportunity to disseminate Dŵr Uisce research to a wide global audience, with 7,000 attendees in-person in Vienna, and a further 5,900 EGU members attending online. Whilst participating in the conference, our researchers have attended sessions from various EGU sections, listening to the latest research in their respective fields. The work presented in these sessions has been highly interesting and has furthered knowledge, research scope, and contacts, all of which will bring great benefit to Dŵr Uisce project research. Additionally, new avenues of research have been explored, and ideas generated for future work and new methods.
Roberta, from our Trinity College team, attended in-person in Vienna and gave a presentation entitled Dŵr Uisce Climate Action Hackathon – A cool connection, in a session covering science communication. The presentation covered the pilot project involving young people from ECO-UNESCO in a hackathon that was held in summer 2021, its outcomes and future developments. Roberta said of attending the general assembly: “It was great to hear about the experiences of many different researchers involved in science communication and outreach in a variety of topics and settings, from formal to informal education, using interesting and innovative formats and tools. Attending in person allowed me to make some connections which will hopefully help to amplify our efforts in reaching a wider audience to raise awareness of the climate action potential of water efficiency.”
Richard presented his and Dr Sopan Patil’s research, titled Water availability assessment for run-of-river hydropower under future climate change in the UK and Ireland, virtually from Bangor. The work featured the latest results from Dŵr Uisce Work Package 7, with future trends in generation characteristics for 531 run-of-river hydropower schemes being showcased. Richard said of the conference, “this is the fourth time I’ve attended the EGU General Assembly, and it is always a fantastic learning experience. Not only has it been great to get feedback on elements of my latest research, but I’ve also enjoyed many presentations which have provided plenty of inspiration for my future research.” In addition to research presentations, many useful short courses are also provided for participants, providing further value to attendance, Richard added, “I’ve also found short courses, such as Using R in Hydrology, to be very useful this year.”
Finally, Aisha also gave an in-person presentation, entitled Energy efficiency through household water use efficiency: a survey on public perception of household water and water-related energy use in Ireland. This presentation formed part of a session looking at changes in energy and material demand as drivers, outcomes and solutions of the climate and environmental crisis. The session was the first of its kind in the Energy, Resources, and the Environment (ERE) division of the EGU General Assembly and aimed to bridge social sciences into the geosciences. Aisha found the conference to be quite interesting, stating “I very much enjoyed participating in such a large-scale and interdisciplinary conference for the first time in a very long time, and found the discussions and feedback to be very useful to my current research.”
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna (Photo by R Bellini)
This has been a highly valuable opportunity to share Dŵr Uisce research, as well as allowing discussion with some of the leading researchers in fields relevant to the work presented, enabling comment and opinions on the presented work and future plans. Thanks must go to the organisers of the EGU22, as well as Dŵr Uisce funders, the European Regional Development Fund through Interreg Ireland-Wales Cooperation Programme.
Roberta Bellini
Our team has continued engaging with young people in raising awareness about the water-energy nexus and its relevance for climate action with students at primary and post-primary level.
In this piece you can read about three initiatives we have been busy with. First, we describe the event we organised during STEP Ireland Engineers Week. Secondly, we illustrate the progress made in the co-design and delivery of the Climate Action Hackathon Programme in Ireland and the future steps to launch it in Ireland and Wales. Then we report on our collaboration with another Group Water Scheme, Ballinabrannagh Water Co-Op in Co. Carlow, and the primary school served by the scheme as part of our primary level programme and what we hope the next phase will bring. Finally, we reflect on the future of our work and its relevance in bridging the gap between research and education in the Ireland-Wales region and beyond.
Lab visits during STEP Ireland Engineers Week
In March we invited a group of Transition Year students from The Brunner in Dublin to celebrate Engineers Week with us by visiting our laboratories and take part in a speedy-innovation session. Aonghus Mc Nabola, Paul Coughlan and Roberta Bellini welcomed the students and briefly introduced the Dŵr Uisce project, what we do and how we work as a team in the suggestive Museum Building, one of the oldest buildings in Trinity College. Then, divided in two teams, they took turns to visit the installations to simulate the heat recovery from drain water systems and the pump-as-turbine testing rigs. Civil engineering post-doc researchers Madhu Murali and Daniele Novara engaged with the students by describing the machinery, explaining and demonstrating some of the tests they carry out to assess the functionality and effectiveness of the systems and answered all the students’ questions. After the lab visits, the students were challenged to put on their creative hats and come up with their own ideas to save water and energy. In this quick ideation session, both teams came up with great ideas: one team opted for an engineer-based solution, while the second one opted for a behavioural change approach. Asked for feedback, some of the students said their biggest take away was, in their words: "How to use water more efficiently. We learnt how expensive/how much energy is needed to heat water which we took for granted." For the Dŵr Uisce team, the event was a great opportunity to demonstrate in practice what we are doing, explaining things in easy to grasp terms and gauge the relevance of our work for a non-academic and non - technical audience in informal and relaxed settings.
Climate Action Hackathon Programme- An update
The second initiative we have been making progress on is the Dwr Uisce Climate Action Hackathon Programme. Building upon the successful pilot project run last summer with young environmental activists from ECO-UNESCO (you can read more here), we further developed the hackathon into a programme to run in schools, both in Ireland and Wales.
In Ireland, we adopted a co-design approach in which students contributed to shaping the content and format, took part in the hackathon and provided feedback on the whole experience. Having established a contact with a science teacher and her group of 15 Transition Year students in Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock, Co. Dublin (Ms Grant’s TY Science Group), the students became our focus group. Together with the group we worked on the content of the lesson that will be used by other students of the same age in Ireland to explore the water-energy nexus, the project and some of the solutions, how interdisciplinary research work and why it is useful. Having collated their suggestions and ideas, we are now working on finalizing the lesson before sending it back to the focus group for final feedback. The group also took part in the hackathon and, divided into teams, they ideated and designed two brilliant ideas to reduce the carbon footprint of water services: Aqua-Track, an app- meter-charity service to encourage people to measure their water use, use less and donate any savings to a water-charity in the global south; and RAWS- Reusable Automatic Water Scheme, a technological solution for domestic use to filter grey water to be reused in toilet flushing.
Both ideas were well thought through and presented with very enthusiastic pitches, so it was hard to decide on a winner. In the end, Aqua-track was nominated the winner although metering could pose a challenge to a wider uptake and therefore greater climate action potential.
Group 2 submission
Group 3 submission
The programme will be launched in the school year 2022-23. More details on the progamme can be found here. Teachers interested to participate can fill the expression of interest form following the links on the same page. On the Welsh side, the same co-creation approach will be adopted but we are looking for input and contributions from teachers. We are now seeking expressions of interest, so if you are a post-primary teacher in Wales and would like to participate click here.
We take this opportunity to thank Ms Grant and her Science TY group for their insightful help and great participation to the initiative.
We very much look forward to the next school year to finally see the Climate Action Hackathon programme to take off!
Water-Energy Nexus Primary School Programme
In the new year we established a collaboration with another Group Water Scheme, Ballinabranna Water Co-Op in Co. Carlow, to adapt our primary school webinar to be delivered in person to the primary school served by the scheme as part of our primary level programme.
In late April, Roberta visited Ballinabranna N.S with Gail Fitzgerald, manager of the scheme. Together they took 5th and 6th class pupils through a journey from ground to tap to discover where their tap water comes from, how energy is needed to supply and use water and what they can all do to save water and energy, to help the environment. The workshops went very well and kids seemed to really enjoy seeing photos of places in their locality. Gail received very positive feedback from kids and families when meeting them in the community- a sign of the ripple effects interactive and fun activities can have!
We are now looking into ways to make the webinars for the two schemes we have worked with (read here about BGWS) accessible by the schools in their supply areas also in the future; by collaborating with the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, the schemes already involved and any potential other scheme we hope to find an optimal solution.
In addition, we are finalising the content and format of a webinar aimed at any primary school. More details coming up soon!
Reflection and future steps
2022 is the European Year of Youth and we are proud of our efforts in bridging the gap between research and education with different initiatives, designed for and with young people. We hope that by demonstrating solution-driven approaches to problems and by engaging in ideation and innovation processes aimed at climate action, young people will feel empowered to act for change. We have met many inspiring young students with a very positive ‘can-do’ attitude, seeing opportunities rather than barriers or challenges and who felt they can be agents of change. It has been very uplifting.
Our outreach commitments have brought us to discuss our experience in a high-level panel discussion at EU Education for Climate Policy Practice Forum on May 5, 2022, together with the EU Commissioner Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel and Stefania Giannini Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO. The recording of the event is available here.
Our ambition is to consolidate our work in citizen and youth engagement by creating a legacy of outreach activities and a document with lessons learnt and and ‘How to’ guide for other researchers looking at ways to work with a non-academic audience.
Katrin Dreyer-Gibney and Aisha Bello-Dambatta
Earlier this year the Dŵr Uisce Research Team visited a traditional Irish Pub in Ireland, Gibney’s of Malahide. The purpose of the visit was to assess its water and energy savings potential and make recommendations how both could be improved.
Gibney’s is traditional Irish Pub which was established by the Gibney Family in 1937 and is still run by the family in its 5th generation. The pub is situated in the picturesque seaside town Malahide, about 15 km outside Dublin. However, the premises is much older and dates back to about 1870. Over the years the Gibney Family added extensions to the initial building, renovating, and upgrading facilities, at the same time as striving to implement energy, water, and cost savings measures such as solar panels, sponsored by a beer company.
Gibney’s of Malahide (Photo courtesy of Gibney’s of Malahide)
The Gibney Family (Photo courtesy of Gibney’s of Malahide)
Site visit: Dwr Uisce team members and Barry Gibney visiting the premises (From left Isabel Schestak, Barry Gibney, Aisha Bello-Dambatta and Katrin Dreyer- Gibney; Prof Paul Coughlan in the background).
The Dŵr Uisce team was met by Barry Gibney, the owner and managing director of the Pub. After some light refreshments the team had the opportunity to visit the bars, lounges event spaces, kitchen, cold room, and washroom facilities. The journey through the pub was very enjoyable, as Barry stopped at many occasions to highlight the pub’s rich historic peculiarities such as a wishing well, and explained the sporting memorabilia decorating the pub’s walls, mentioning also the famous Irish bands that started with “gigs” in Gibney’s.
Barry Gibney says: “We are always looking for opportunities to save water and energy and are delighted to be involved with the team from Trinity and Bangor University. We are looking forward to our future work together”.
True to their mission, the Dŵr Uisce researchers spent time to audit all water fittings and appliances as well as review the pub’s energy consumption. The Dŵr Uisce team were very encouraged to see the pub’s water and energy performance, even without a water and energy management plan in place. Much appears to be done in terms of maintaining water using appliances and fittings, with acceptable range of flow rates and hot tap temperatures.
Paul Coughlan, from the Dŵr Uisce team, adds: “Gibney’s of Malahide is an exceptional pub and a local landmark with an enviable history. Through its engagement with Dŵr Uisce, Barry and his team are looking to the future and taking active responsibility for their contribution to the environment”.
We are very excited to be working with Gibney’s and see this partnership as an opportunity to support the pub industry in reducing their water and energy resource use, improve their carbon footprint, and reduce costs in the process. Gibney’s is an interesting pub to begin working with because of the age and history of the building and the sheer scale of the operation. We think this will be an interesting case study to demonstrate the potential of water-related energy efficiency in helping Irish pub’s to take climate action through water use efficient and reduce their operational costs at the same time.
Welcome/Croeso/Fáilte
Welcome to our Spring 2022 Newsletter, bringing you up to date on the Dŵr Uisce project.
In this edition, we highlight the Dŵr Uisce team’s continued commitment to provide solutions to improve the sustainability of the water sector and to spread the message. You can read about the progress made in our technological solutions in drain water heat recovery systems, as well as updates on micro-hydropower and insights on smart network control. A look at sustainability from three different perspectives offers the opportunity to reflect on the relevance of our work to theory and practice in achieving a sustainable water sector. Individually and collectively, we have engaged in numerous activities: from a new webinar for the hospitality sector in Ireland and Wales to presenting our work in a series of videos to make our research accessible to a wider audience, to publishing our findings in academic journals.
We hope you will enjoy the variety of topics and wish you an energy efficient and environmentally friendly summer season!
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Croeso i Newyddlen Gwanwyn 2022 sy’n dod â'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf ichi am broject Dŵr Uisce.
Yn y rhifyn hwn, rydym yn tynnu sylw at ymrwymiad parhaus tîm Dŵr Uisce i gynnig atebion i wella cynaliadwyedd y sector dŵr ac i ledaenu'r neges. Gallwch ddarllen am y cynnydd a wnaed gyda datrysiadau technolegol ar gyfer systemau i adennill gwres o ddŵr gwastraff, yn ogystal â diweddariadau am ynni dŵr micro a sylw i reolaeth rhwydwaith clyfar. Mae edrych ar gynaliadwyedd o dri safbwynt gwahanol yn cynnig y cyfle i adfyfyrio ar berthnasedd ein gwaith i theori ac ymarfer wrth fynd ati i wireddu sector dŵr cynaliadwy. Yn unigol ac ar y cyd, rydym wedi cymryd rhan mewn nifer o weithgareddau: o weminar newydd ar gyfer y sector lletygarwch yn Iwerddon a Chymru i gyflwyno ein gwaith mewn cyfres o fideos i wneud ein hymchwil yn hygyrch i gynulleidfa ehangach, a chyhoeddi ein canfyddiadau mewn cyfnodolion academaidd.
Gobeithiwn y byddwch yn mwynhau'r amrywiaeth o bynciau yn y newyddlen ac y cewch haf ynni-effeithlon ac amgylcheddol gyfeillgar!
Paul Coughlan and Roberta Bellini
Last month, we welcomed our ‘Welsh’ cousins from Bangor University to Trinity Business School for the last Dwr Uisce Team meeting in Dublin. Over the past five and a half years, our team meetings have been hosted either in Trinity College or Bangor University every 5-6 months. From the beginning, we have run these meetings as research seminars where everyone contributes. As well as for sharing research findings and progress, the meetings represent an invaluable learning opportunity: each team member can learn from the others (within and outside of their disciplines) about their work and area of research and their experiences. All receive and give feedback and suggestions, reflect on the impact and relevance of what, as individuals and as a team, we have achieved and will continue to work towards. Overall, bringing together everyone in the same safe space represents an invaluable opportunity to create and harness an atmosphere for collaboration, discussion, inspiration and motivation.
Our meeting last month took place over two days, with a typically rich agenda covering progress and future plans for each of the work packages, project management updates and two group activities. All team members presented their interesting work and progress across the project. While it is difficult to summarise in just a few lines, here is a snippet:
the advancements in the lab experiments for drain water heat recovery and the current monitoring of one of Bangor student residences for energy recovery potential were presented;
the total energy produced at Blackstairs demo site since becoming operational and its relevance considering the recent energy prices were also highlighted;
the preliminary results of the survey part of the Citizen Science project were illustrated; and
the details of a new study on the life cycle of renewable energy sources for domestic hot water and space heating were disclosed.
And much more…You will read about some of these updates in the News feed on our website over the next few months.
Team members meeting in Trinity Business School (clockwise from left to right) Dr Isabel Schestak, Dr Prysor Williams. Dr Madhu Murali, Dr Nathan Walker, Dr Richard Dallison, Dr Aisha Bello-Dambatta, Dr Roberta Bellini, Dr Djordje Mitrovic, Dr Daniele Novara, Prof Paul Coughlan and Prof Aonghus Mc Nabola.
OECD six key parameters for transdisciplinary research projects
During the meeting we undertook a short idea storming workshop to explore the transdisciplinarity of our research. Transdisciplinary research is a mode of knowledge production that is effective in addressing sustainability challenges from necessarily different perspectives. Its effectiveness stems from its closeness to real-life problem contexts and practice-based expertise. As a project, Dwr Uisce demands a transdisciplinary approach, and we have responded through bringing together engineers, environmental scientists, geographers and management researchers to collaborate with practitioners in Ireland and Wales. In our idea storming workshop, we reflected on this approach. We used the six key parameters of the OECD Global Science Forum (2020) framework to describe our transdisciplinary research project and each team member contributed to characterising the depth and breadth of our transdisciplinary work. The outcome of this workshop was to highlight the process and impact of researching across disciplines and with practitioners as a way to find and demonstrate solutions to our shared sustainability challenge. Once consolidated, we will capture our insights in a paper currently being written for presentation at the Innovation and Product Development Management Conference (IPDMC) in July 2022.
Last but not least, ideas and plans about what the future of Dwr Uisce could look like once the project ends have also started to be discussed. Our new question is: how can we ensure the sustainability of the initiative beyond the project lifespan? More details to follow!
References
OECD Global Science Forum (2020), Addressing societal challenges using transdisciplinary research