Planning

Achieving sustainable development represents a fundamental understanding and appreciation of the inextricable link between economy, environment and society in the delivery of sustainable planning and development at a local and global level.

DIT’s School of Spatial Planning is the largest planning school on the island of Ireland, teaching students how to develop policies in the areas of sustainable management.

The two departments within the School are
- The Dept. of Spatial Information Sciences providing expertise in data acquisition and spatial referencing.
- The Dept. of Environment and Planning providing expertise in the areas of land use planning and environmental management.

It is through this school that DIT has developed and delivered Ireland’s longest established Masters in Sustainable Development.


Industry Research Opportunities with DIT's MSc in Sustainable Development

Since 1999 DIT has been running the MSc in Sustainable Development (FT118). Each year 25 students undertake work experience and a research project in addition to taking subjects related to economic, social and environmental sustainability.

With an academic team that has an industry focused outlook and an ever increasingly engaged student body, organisations are finding student sponsorship as a valuable means of gaining research based insights in fields related to sustainable development.

In return for sponsorship, the industrial partner receives from DIT the sourcing of highly qualified and motivated candidates and the supervision of sponsor directed research over a 12 month period.

To date research projects have covered a broad range of sustainable development related topics including:
• Attitudes of Irish Consumers toward Ecolabels
• Corporate Environmental Responsibility
• The Ecological Footprint of Rural Irish Businesses
• The Dublin Bike scheme an element of multi-modal transport
• Greening Irish Hotels
• Sustainable materials in interior design
• Food: Consumer choice and climate change
• Smart Meter Infrastructure
• An ecological footprint of SMEs in the Temple Bar area
• Carbon proofing central government policy in Ireland
• The sustainability of liquid bio-fuel production
• Electricity generation in private housing using turbines and thermal cells
• Farmers’ markets a survey of practice
• Characterising energy user behaviour in the domestic sector

If you are an organisation interested in sponsoring a directed research project, please contact Dr. Ken Boyle (e: ken.boyle@dit.ie, p: 01.402 3814)

Other Postgraduate programmes within the School

• MSc in Regional & Local Development (FT119)
• MSc in Spatial Planning (B714)
• MSc in Planning & Development (B707)
• MSc and Postgraduate Diploma in Spatial Information


Research Centre - Euro SDR

EuroSDR is a European spatial data research organisation undertaking collaborative applied research projects, hosting focussed workshops, publishing an official series of reports, delivering an annual series of short distance learning courses, contributing to the development of specifications and standards by OGC, ISO and CEN and participating in the drafting of the INSPIRE implementing rules. 


Research Centre - The Futures Academy

The Futures Academy, founded in 2002, consists of a group of academic staff and researchers from a wide-range of backgrounds. The Futures Academy develops and promotes ways to think, plan and act differently in the pursuit of sustainable economic, environmental and social development.

Current PhD research in the Futures Academy falls under the headings of:
• Sustainable urban development
• Climate Change Policy
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Real Estate
• Sustainability in Facilities management

Located in DIT Bolton Street, The Futures Academy has a number of publications accessible through its website. It can also be contacted at: futuresacademy@dit.ie.


Useful Links:

Cultivate: www.cultivate.ie
ENFO: www.enfo.ie
Forum for Irish Urban Studies: www.fius.ie
Irish Institute of Surveyors: www.irish-surveyors.ie
Irish Planning Institute: www.ipi.ie
Society of Chartered Surveyors: www.scs.ie
Sustainable Ireland: www.sustainable.ie

For further details contact Dorothy.stewart@dit.ie