Vision, creativity, problem posing and solving are urgently needed to tackle the world’s most pressing problems, including climate justice and sustainable development. Therefore, we are challenging Limerick City Transition Year students to design a community centric, futuristic eco-village, in Ireland, in the year 2050.
Students will work in groups to produce a conceptual design which integrates:
- The UN Sustainable Goals that they deem most important
- New and emerging STEAM technologies and renewable energies supporting the development of a vibrant local community and for the greater good of a just society and thriving economy.
- Social justice principles, which protect the most vulnerable and provide public services for all village residents.
All projects will be invited to present their vision at our prestigious group awards night in March 2025. There will be prizes for projects that showcase outstanding contributions in these categories:
- energy conservation
- green housing
- public transport
- social justice
The overall winner will receive a FULL DAY VISIT to Cloughjordan eco-village. Other prizes to be announced.
To support enquiry-based research and key skill development, a series of experiential learning experiences will be provided. These include opportunities to engage with Hunt Museum objects relating to sustainability and biodiversity, and experts at the University of Limerick’s EPI•STEM research-centre for STEAM education. Digital resources, including a prerecorded video presentation with Cloughjordan ecovillage residents, will also be provided.
Teachers and students will have absolute flexibility to decide the best approach for their project, however, each submission must include these four components:
- A written and signed report of the agreed design and plan (maximum. 3-pages).
- A 5-minute video highlighting the sources of their inspiration from the locality of materials or people must be provided. A video storyboarding digital resource will be provided to all entrants. Each Limerick school that participates will be gifted a ‘gimbal’ complements of EPI*STEM, the research centre in the University of Limerick, tasked with supporting STEAM Education for all.
- Delivery of an artefact in a single medium or combined media (including. technical drawing, wood, metal, cardboard, artwork) illustrating their ambitious vision for a sustainable village in Ireland for 2050
- A written reflection sharing (a) the ‘personal and group learnings’ from participating in this TY project, and sharing (b) how this local project translates nationally and globally, especially into the social and scientific construction of a just and equal global world.
Project Committee:
- Prof. Geraldine Mooney Simmie, Dr Michelle Star (EPI*STEM)
- Norma O’Brien, Director, Limerick Education Support Centre
- Maria Cagney, Emma King, The Hunt Museum