21 Overview of ESD at Mary immaculate College – Collective Consolidation

Professor Lorraine McIlrath provided a strategic overview of how ESD is being embedded across MIC, framed by both institutional priorities and the UN SDGs. With a heritage as a teacher training college grounded in social justice, MIC has expanded this ethos to embrace environmental sustainability alongside equality and inclusion.

Central to this work is the recently published MIC Climate Action Roadmap to 2030, which commits to a 64% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from baseline levels. This roadmap is structured around six themes and overseen by the Environmental and Sustainability Committee, a cross-functional group linking academic expertise with operational best practice. Leadership is further embedded through a designated senior-level Climate Action Champion and integration of sustainability as a standing item for the university’s executive team and governing authority.

Professor McIlrath highlighted how the SDGs guide both strategic planning and practical initiatives, ranging from gender equality and inclusive policy reform to climate-focused campus operations. Examples include projects on gender equality in higher education, which brought together 65 authors across Irish institutions for a forthcoming Palgrave publication, and initiatives supporting life-course transitions such as breastfeeding-friendly campuses, free access to sustainable period products, and menopause awareness programmes.

Other projects include partnerships with local and national bodies to support refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, such as an English for Academic Purposes certificate co-delivered with Limerick and Clare ETB. Professor McIlrath emphasised that partnerships (SDG 17) underpin MIC’s approach, combining top-down strategy with grassroots engagement to create a culture of sustainability and inclusion.

About the author

name: Professor Lorraine McIlrath

institution: Mary Immaculate College

Professor Lorraine McIlrath is the Director of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Interculturalism (EDII) at Mary Immaculate College.