Vincent Carragher, Co-founder Galway Energy Cooperative & Rethink

This initiative is more than just about protecting and growing the natural world within an urbanised environment (crucially important though that this is) but it is also about ensuring sustainability and best practice in such sectors as energy, transport, architecture, agriculture, waste, manufacturing and communications.

So the role of experts such as Vincent is fundamental to developing a biodiversity-friendly Smart City. He is well prepared for this task and has a highly impressive engineering portfolio and is acclaimed internationally for his programmes on sustainability in communities.

Vincent has served as an energy engineer, as an academic (teaching and researching) and as a facilitator of behaviour, practice and culture change. His work is based on supporting others to achieve more sustainable ways of doing things. He recently wrote and coordinated the Spark Change programme which catalyses sustainability in communities around Ireland. It has worked with over 100 communities to date. His research is trying to identify the magic ingredients that drive sustainability in groups and communities. He co-founded the Galway Energy Cooperative and Rethink, the former working on sustainable energy in Galway and the latter working on inspiring sustainable waste practices and supporting the social economy. Vincent has worked with hundreds of communities in Ireland and in Europe trying to support their sustainable transition. His work has received international acclaim and his Ecological Footprint of communities has been championed as a global blueprint for sustainability. It is under consideration by each of the 32 borough administrations in London as part of their sustainability targets and limits. He has worked across sectors, with:

-Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Recruiting, engaging, auditing sustainability training for SMEs. Recruiting. engaging, SMEs for building energy efficiency while with Mobilise Energy Awareness.

-Recruiting and engaging SMEs for energy efficiency retrofit and energy

monitoring SERVE. Recruiting, engaging SMEs for driving efficiency program, training

and certification Clean Drive.

-Local Authority Housing Energy Efficiency Improvements. Recruiting and engaging

SMEs for energy efficiency retrofit and energy monitoring. In field monitoring of energy

efficiency. Mapping actual behavioural change.

-Energy Management and Renewable Energy: Monitoring energy use and demand

side management in the lab and in the field with Centre for Sustainable

Technologies, University of Ulster. Included Renewable Energy monitoring in the field

and lab.

-Community Sustainability Research: Energy Neighbourhoods I and II: Energy efficiency monitoring and mapping of behaviour change for a European project increasing and exploring the energy saving in EU 25 countries. Community Ecological Footprinting. Driving Sustainability in communities in Ireland and other countries.

-SEAI SEC Technical Advisor and Mentor for the SEC Program. Technological, practice and behavioural solutions. Dingle Peninsula Project – technical support to communities and SMEs. Smart grid, technological and behavioural solutions