Trinity has been awarded An Taisce’s Green Flag for a further three years. The news comes after concerns were expressed by An Taisce that a lack of campus-wide engagement may result in the flag not being renewed.
In an email communication this evening, Noel McCann, Trinity’s Campus Services Manager, said that “the assessors were very impressed by our submission and the presentations on the day of the ‘on site’ assessment”.
A Green Flag audit took place on April 6th. Speaking at the audit in the Science Gallery, the Provost stated that Trinity’s five-year strategic plan, which was launched in 2014, “formalises our commitment to sustainability” and has a goal to see the College “be a global leader in university sustainability”. He also called attention to the success of the annual “Green Week” and the creation of an Environmental Officer within Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU).
At an open meeting organised by the Trinity Environmental Society in November, which aimed to discuss the importance of the flag and the measures that could be undertaken to keep it in light of the upcoming review, students were told that there was a risk that the flag would not be renewed.
Trinity first received its green flag in 2013, thanks to a 25 per cent reduction in water consumption, a large number of trees on campus and the scale of the College’s “Green Week”, among other factors. The award made Trinity the first university in the capital city to receive the Green Flag.
Nine higher education institutions in Ireland have been awarded the Green Flag, including UCC and DCU.
Green Flags are awarded by An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, though the Green Campus programme which “rewards long term commitment to continuous improvement from the campus community”.
Trinity’s Green Flag flies outside the Pav.
Edmund Heaphy contributed reporting to this piece.
