Sustainability at MIE

On 12th September 2024 we were joined by the team from An Taisce's LEAF programme to begin planting our own Choill Beag here on campus. It's the start of a multi-year partnership between LEAF and MIE. Over the next 5 years, in partnership with LEAF, our students will plant, maintain and use our own Choill Bheag for teaching and learning.

Over 60 pupils from Scoil Mhuire second classes joined us in the morning, and helped us to identify the plants and animals we already have on our campus. In the afternoon the first 30 saplings for the new Choill Bheag were planted up, primarily by students from BEd2. Another 20

saplings were added the following week by our BEd4 Space to Grow elective students. Our Choill Bheag is located at the front of St Patrick's Building, and will form a natural hedgerow screen between us and the new apartments. There will be interpretive signage in place soon.

An Choill Beag is a small, dense, biodiverse native woodland habitat, planted on campus by members of the MIE community with the help of LEAF Ireland. Choill Bheags are outdoor living classrooms, with space created for seating for classes to spend time learning outside.

LEAF Ireland work with schools and communities around the country on this educational initiative - and Marino is one of the first third level institutions in Ireland to have our own Choill Beag.

Our sustainable energy partner, Veolia, recently completed the installation of 121 solar panels on the roof of the Nagle Rice Building. These will reduce our energy costs by an estimated €15,000 per year, and will meet around 25% of the energy needs of the Nagle Rice Building. You can read all about the project here. 

Conceived by students, designed by our Sustainability Lead, Sandra Austin, and planted up by our landscape team, the new MIE Bee Border at the back of St Patrick’s will provide a year-round supply of nectar for our bees and other pollinators. A variety of perennial plants with pollinator-friendly flowers, including Sedum, Lungwort, Bee Balm, Hellebore, Catmint and Aster, have been chosen such that, at any given time of year, some will be in bloom. A full planting list with flowering times is available here. 

Lots of wildflowers spotted in bloom last week in our Cúinne an Ghoirria, or Hare's Corner.  Cúinne an Ghoirria comes from the Irish farming tradition of leaving a corner of a field uncut to allow wildlife to shelter and thrive. Pictured (from top left) are:

Daisy/Nóinín

Red Clover/Seamair dhearg

Common Vetch/Peasair chapaill

Forget-me-not/Lus míonla

Spear Thistle/Feochadán colgach

Dandelion/Caisearbhán

Marigold (not wild, but escaped!)0

Sun Spurge/Lus na bhfaithní

Rib Plantain/Slánlus

Dog Violet/Sailchuach chon

Black Medick/Dúmheidic

White Campion/Coireán bán

Calendar of Events

All Week

• International Women’s Day Displays: We will be celebrating International Women’s Day with two exciting displays, on show all week:
  • “Inspiring Women from Around the World”. The Diversity Committee will present a display to celebrate the women who inspire the students and staff of Marino. Books on the theme of Inspiring Women from around the World will be featured, which have been chosen by the library staff. Keep an eye out for the display as you are walking along the corridor of St. Mary’s near the Oak Room.
  • As part of their Language, Literacy and Literature model B.Ed1 are exploring a range of children's literature depicting strong female characters, female leaders and positive female role models. Within their poetry content, B.Ed1 completed black-out poetry, shape poetry and 'silhouette storms', a selection of which you can find on display at the Nagle-Rice building. A selection of connected picturebooks can be found on display in Room M120.

• Books with a Green theme:MIE Library will be hosting a Sustainability-themed book display throughout the week.

• Photo Competition: Be in with a chance to win a book bag of gorgeous picture books and other great reads with a Sustainability theme. Share your photos – from MIE Green Week activities or with a Green and Sustainable theme, and post to social media using the hashtag #MIEGreenWeek.

Monday

• We kick off our Green Week activities with Meat-free Monday at Blasta. Click here to view the full (yummy!) menu of vegan and vegetarian options available throughout the day at Blasta restaurant.

Tuesday

• Join us at lunchtime on Tuesday when the young actors from Scoil Chaitríona in Renmore will perform their new show Fadhb na Mara, a story that explores environmental awareness and Irish folklore. Covered Courtyard, 1pm.  Bí linn ag am lóin ar an Máirt nuair a chuirfidh aisteoirí óga Scoil Chaitríona, Renmore an dráma nua-chumtha Fadhb na Mara ar an ardán dúinn. Pléann an scéal le haire a thabhairt don imshaol chomh maith le béaloideas na hÉireann.

Wednesday

• Launch of Marchathon with lunchtime Scéal Trail. To get Marchaton off to a great start, join us for a Scéal Trail around campus. Bring your own keep cup and we'll provide the hot chocolate. Then we will have some bilingual storytelling as we stroll. Prizes en route! Meet in front of Nagle Rice at 1.10pm for a 1.15pm start.  Chun tús spleodrach a chur le Marchaton, bí linn do Scéal Trail timpeall an champais. Tabhair leat do chupán coinneála agus beidh seacláid the ar fáil. Ansin beidh idir shiúlóid agus scéalaíocht againn. Duaiseanna ar an mbealach!

Thursday

UN Sustainable Development Goals: what are they and why should we care? Join us in the Amharclann/Lecture Theatre for a very special series of activities hosted by PME1 students to celebrate the mid-point of the UN-SDG programme.

• • The event begins with a showing of the 30-minute film, Nations United, featuring Malala Yousafzai, Don Cheadle, Michelle Yeoh, Forest Whitaker, Thandie Newton, Sugata Mitra and performances from Burna Boy and Beyoncé. Created on the five-year anniversary of the SDGs, the film highlights some of the greatest challenges that still remain and presents a road map on how to solve them. 12.15pm start.
  • Following this, we will be joined, live from New York, by the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations, Fergal Mythen, for a shared conversation and Q&A about Ireland’s role in progressing the SDGs, and the upcoming SDG Summit 2023. 1pm start.

• Pop-Up Library: To celebrate Green Week, MIE library will be in the foyer of the Nagle Rice bringing you a host of thought-provoking books by authors like David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, as well as a mix of resources and pictures books for teaching children about sustainability. Get your hands on the latest green reads - come for a browse or a borrow...all you need is your staff/student card! Nagle-Rice Foyer, 12.30-2.30pm

Our Green Campus team are rolling out this campaign to support active commuting through the winter months, with a particular focus on bike safety.  Now that the days are shorter, we are all often commuting in dark or low-light conditions. It’s important to be safe and be seen, to invest in hi-vis clothing and a good set of bicycle lights.  As a TFI Smarter Travel Campus, MIE are participating in the annual Light Up Your Life promotional campaign, and we will have LOTS of useful kit to give away throughout the month of November.  

An Taisce, Ireland's oldest environmental NGO, is offering students a reduced membership fee of only €2 (normally €60).  "We know it’s a tough time for many people, especially students, amid the spiraling cost of living. We also know students and young people are key to climate action and building a better future. They must be at the forefront of change. That’s why we’ve lowered the cost of student membership."

Full details can be found here. Membership benefits include:

• FREE entry to An Taisce properties and discounted entry to other selected properties around Ireland.
• FREE entry and discounted entry to other National Trust properties around theworld through the into.org/places programme. Currently, this does not includeThe National Trust of Northern Ireland.
• Access to member-only events on selected environmental, climate and heritagetopics as well as regular An Taisce Council forums.
• A sustainable planning workshop for your student group with An Taisce's experts.
• Volunteering and activism opportunities in An Taisce Committees or LocalAssociations.
• Opportunity to elect a student representative to An Taisce's Council.
• Quarterly newsletter and regular news items.
• Access to advice on environmental, planning and heritage matters from ourexperts.
• Discounts from eco-conscious stores Earthmother and Reuzi.

On Thursday, 25th November 2021, we were delighted to welcome BEd2 student, Darragh Domican, to speak to our Education for Sustainable Development class (Year 2 Ed Studies) about his award-winning Transition Year project - creating a virtual school that embraces all 17 Un Sustainable Development Goals, using Minecraft.  You can see and listen to Darragh's fascinating talk here:

We are delighted to have signed up to to the National Transport Authority's Smarter Travel Campus charter. 

Recent STC initiatives at MIE include; 

Walktober

Marchathon

Light Up Your Life

NTA Smarter Travel Campus Programme

Find out more here.

An Taisce Green Campus Programme.

Find out more here.