Case Study: Research Policy Interface Thematic Group
Research and Innovation Strategy to 2030
Department of Environment Climate and Communications
department-of-the-environment-climate-and-communications-research-and-innovation-strat.pdf
Academics and Institutional Affiliation:
Brian Ó Gallachóir, Fionn Rogan, Paul Deane, Hannah Daly
Sustainability Institute, University College Cork
Evidence of policy outcome referencing the role of the research:
Yes, page 15 of the strategy highlights the role of modelling in informing national energy and climate policy and highlights the significant contribution from UCC in this regard, “changing Ireland’s energy system is essential to meeting our emission reduction targets. The scale and timing of the changes required is very challenging with many open questions. To answer these the UCC team has developed and shared a series of findings over the past three years using their modelling techniques. Their findings have informed, for example, the emissions reductions targets in the Programme for Government, and the economywide carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings which underpin the annual Climate Action Plans.”
Research undertaken that informed or underpinned the policy outcome:
The research referred to in this strategy is undertaken within the CAPACITY project, in which the UCC team use models they have developed over many years (TIM, LEAP and PLEXOS) to understand how changes in Ireland's energy system will impact meeting greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets for the Government. UCC has published research on how to achieve policy impact from research (Ó Gallachóir et al. 2024 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-58897-6_15).
Key learnings for you from this research-policy bridging process:
Pro-actively bridging between research and policy can be challenging but also very fulfilling. Seeing the impacts showcased in the national energy and climate innovation research strategy shines a light on this important work. Reflecting, publishing and presenting on the experiences of how to achieve policy impact from research can support the process and improve the methods.
SDGs impacted:
SDG 7 & SDG 13
