Towards 2020: Environmental Challenges and Opportunities For the Next Decade

Some 300 researchers and delegates from a wide variety of scientific and engineering disciplines will gather at University College Cork (UCC) from April 6-8th to participate in The 21st Irish Environmental Researchers’ Colloquium (ENVIRON 2011). The Colloquium offers a unique forum for researchers, government and industry to discover emerging areas of environmental, energy and marine research along with potential environmental technologies for the future.

The theme of this year’s colloquium is ‘Towards 2020: Environmental challenges and opportunities for the next decade’. The ‘2020’ date reflects the many environmental targets that have been set for the next decade particularly in the areas of climate change reduction in EU greenhouse gas and renewable energy generation.

The 2011 ENVIRON colloquium has the Environmental Protection Agency as a new partner in the event, along with the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland and UCC. The 2020 date is appropriate to the Environmental Protection Agency which has established goals for key environmental challenges in the area of climate change, clean air, water, soil and biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources as part of its ‘2020 Vision –Protecting and Improving Ireland’s Environment’.

Professor Michael Depledge (former chairman of the UK Science Advisory Committee on the Environment & Climate Change) will deliver the colloquium keynote address on Wednesday, April 6th (8pm, Devere Hall, UCC) on the topic of ‘Health and the Value of Nature’. The seminar is open to the public and all are welcome.

The colloquium programme will begin on Thursday, April 7th with a plenary session involving a number of high profile speakers who will speak on the colloquium theme of environmental challenges and opportunities for the next decade; speaker will include Professor John Sweeney (NUI Maynooth), Laura Burke (director of the EPA’s Office of Communications and Corporate Services) and John Mullins (chief executive of Bord Gais).

The 2011 colloquium research programme contains more than 150 oral and poster presentations which will be presented under the sub-themes of:

* Water Quality

* Energy & Climate Change

* Marine and Coastal Research

* Biodiversity and Ecosystems

* Environmental Management

* Environmental Technologies

* Environment and Health.

ENVIRON 2011 also has a range of additional training seminars, symposia and workshops including:

* Ocean Studies – Avenues for Employment; Creating a Career from Studies of the Sea

* Geospatial technologies – their value for your real world applications

* Science Communication workshop

* 3rd Annual Postgraduate Research Symposium on Environmental Law

Life Coaching

All workshops are free to colloquium delegates. The colloquium organisers are cognisant of the current economic environment and have introduced a special one-day registration fee of Eur150 and students/OAPs/unemployed can register for Eur100. For more information on the colloquium programme and to register for the event visit www.esaiweb.org/content/environ2011.

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