Talking Towns seminar series
Talking Towns is a seminar series organised by UCD Centre for Irish Towns and UCD Earth Institute. The series aims to spark conversations about the challenges facing Irish towns, the opportunities they offer, and the role of research and policy in bringing about the revitalisation of towns in Ireland.
Starting in October 2021 the series runs over the academic year and over the course of the series features speakers from academia, policy making and civil society. Each seminar addresses a specific topic affecting Irish towns and will have two to three speakers, each presenting for ten minutes each with plenty of time for discussion afterwards.
Recordings of previous seminars are available on the (opens in a new window)CfIT YouTube channel and a full list of speakers is on the Talking Towns archive page. All seminars will be held on Zoom.
Talking Towns seminars Spring 2023 (online via Zoom)
Thursday 2 February, 1-2pm: Housing and Irish towns
- Prof (opens in a new window)Michelle Norris (Geary Institute UCD), 'Social housing, social mixing and the future of Irish towns'
- (opens in a new window)Niall Cussen (Office of the Planning Regulator) 'National Planning Objectives for Irish Towns: Implementation and Practice'
- Chair: Dr Karen Keaveney (UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science)
Register via (opens in a new window)Eventbrite
Thursday 2 March, 1-2pm: Understanding place: data and towns
- (opens in a new window)Phil Prentice (Scotland's Towns Partnership) 'Understanding Scottish Places'
- Dr Adwoa Ofori (UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science), ‘Citizen Rural project’
- Dominic Fahy ((opens in a new window)Geodirectory) 'Building Insights'
- Chair: (opens in a new window)Dr Sarah Cotterill (UCD School of Civil Engineering)
Register via (opens in a new window)Eventbrite
Thursday 6 April, 1-2pm: Making art in the rural
Co-organised with (opens in a new window)Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland
This session will explore the circumstances, challenges and opportunities that making art in the rural presents for those living and working in and across the rural.
- (opens in a new window)Dr Bernadette Quinn (Senior Lecturer in the College of Arts & Tourism, Technological University Dublin) 'Harnessing digital infrastructures to make art in the rural'
- (opens in a new window)Dr Anthony Schrag (Senior Lecturer in Arts Management and Cultural Policy, Queen
Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland) '"Not Solutions Focused": arts organisations operating in remote and rural areas - findings and discussions from the (opens in a new window)Rural Arts Network Scotland' - Catriona O’Reilly (Cavan County Council Arts Officer) 'Inclusivity and Ambition – Cavan Arts a rural border Local Authority perspective'
- (opens in a new window)Dr Victoria Durrer (Ad Astra Fellow in Cultural Policy, UCD, (opens in a new window)Dr Aoife McGrath (Senior Lecturer, Queens University Belfast) and Argyro Tsampazi, (Researcher, Queens University Belfast) 'Sites of Significance: Understanding the dance ecology in rural border areas' (a project funded by (opens in a new window)Cavan Arts / Cavan County Council with support from (opens in a new window)Creative Ireland).
- Chair: (opens in a new window)Orla Murphy (Centre for Irish Towns/UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy)
Register via (opens in a new window)Eventbrite
Thursday 4 May, 1-2pm: The present and future of the High Street / Main Street in our towns
A 'Nations of Towns' seminar co-organised with University of Edinburgh.
- (opens in a new window)Iain Scott and Mark Bingham ((opens in a new window)Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh) ''Transforming Scotland's Towns-Reflections on 3 years of ESALA studios on Re-thinking the High Street’.
- Giulia Vallone MRIAI
- (opens in a new window)Tara Buckley, Director General of RGDATA (Retail Grocery Dairy & Allied Trades Association)
- Chair: Dr Miriam Fitzpatrick (Centre for Irish Towns)
Register via (opens in a new window)Eventbrite.
Previous (Autumn 2022)
1-2pm, 13 October: Vacancy and Irish Towns
- (opens in a new window)Dr Cian O’Callaghan (Assistant Professor in Urban Geography with the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin), '(opens in a new window)Rethinking Urban Vacancy'
- Ali Harvey (Founding Co-ordinator of the (opens in a new window)Collaborative Town Centre Health Check Programme’): ‘Towns in Ireland and the Urgent Need for the Democratisation of Data’.
- Chair: (opens in a new window)Dr Philip Crowe (UCD Centre for Irish Towns)
1-2pm, 3 November - Transport and Mobility in Irish Towns
- (opens in a new window)Dr Fatemeh Golpayegani (UCD School of Computer Science) ‘Why shared Mobility services are important and how AI can enhance the quality of such services’
- Finola O'Driscoll ((opens in a new window)National Transport Authority) 'The Safer Roads To Schools programme'
- Sarah Togher (Manager, Mayo Community Transport CLG T/A TFI (opens in a new window)Local Link Mayo) ‘TFI Local Link Mayo – creating sustainable solutions to connect people and places’
- Chair: (opens in a new window)Dr Paraic Carroll (UCD School of Civil Engineering)
If you would like to contribute to a future seminar email (opens in a new window)cfit@ucd.ie.