Description & Partner Role:

In 1883 the Albert College Agricultural College was established on what is now the Dublin City University campus. A primary focus of the College at that time was to investigate the cause of potato blight, which had been a significant factor in the Great Irish Famine (an Gorta Mór) leading to the death of between 20 – 25% of the Irish population (circa 1 million people) between 1845 and 1852. While today DCU has a significantly different remit, there are continued strong links with the National Botanical Gardens, located close by, with both institutions jointly offering a degree in Horticulture. The key objective of this ESD project will be the collection and cataloguing of the local plant life, with an emphasis on comparing the flora and fauna that would have flourished 150 years ago with flora and fauna in existence in the north Dublin area today. The foraging competition will necessitate the engagement of higher education students, the aforementioned partners of this project (Justforests, DCU, Dublin City Council) and the local community in the examination of the bio-diversity of plant-life and indigenous practices linked to eco-management within the built environment. The specific land-area under examination for this project will include the DCU Community Garden (circa 2 acres site), the DCU Campus itself (72 acre site) along with the adjoining Albert College Park. The process of identifying plants will be facilitated through the use of emerging and emergent technologies (such as sensor technologies and social media ‘apps’). The information on flora, fauna and eco-management will be exhibited through an online Catalogue, which will be made available to other ESD providers in Ireland, and elsewhere.