Talking Towns Previous Seminars:
2023 SEMINARS
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)
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)
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)
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)
2022 SEMINARS
Thursday 3 November, 1-2pm: 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)
Thursday 13 October, 1-2pm: 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)
Thursday 5 May, 1-2pm: Seminar 6: Transformations of life & work in towns
- (opens in a new window)Dr Orla Byrne (UCD School of Business): Overcoming challenges of small business
- (opens in a new window)John Evoy (General Manager, Grow Remote): Remote working as a key component of developing towns and town centres in Ireland
- (opens in a new window)Stephen Wall (recent master's student in Architecture, Urbanism, and Climate Action, UCD): The co-benefits of co-working spaces in Irish towns.
Thursday 7 April, 1-2pm: Seminar 5: The Life of Towns through the lens of Public Space
- Chair : (opens in a new window)Dr. Miriam Fitzpatrick, Assistant Professor at UCD
- (opens in a new window)Eleonore Bascoulergue, current student of Masters in Architecture at UCD: her recent research on photography.of Irish Towns.
- (opens in a new window)Valerie Mulvin, Architect, author of 'Approximate Formality, Morphology of Irish Towns' (2021), member of Aosdána, and founder of McCullough Mulvin Architects: the design of Irish Towns and her research journey through mapping and photographs.
Thursday 3 March, 1-2pm: Seminar 4: The border and Irish towns
- Chair: (opens in a new window)Dr Karen Keaveney
- (opens in a new window)Caroline Creamer (International Centre for Local and Regional Development, Maynooth University)
- (opens in a new window)Killian Doherty (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture)
- Dr Paula McCloskey and Dr Sam Vardy ((opens in a new window)a place of their own)
You can watch the talk (opens in a new window)here
2021 SEMINARS
Thursday 2 December, 1-2pm: Seminar 3: Just Transition and Irish towns
- (opens in a new window)Dr Aparajita Banerjee (UCD Business) Just Transitions and the future of small towns in Irish Midlands
- (opens in a new window)Dr Alma Clavin (UCD Geography) Exploring place-based opportunities for Just Transition policy and practice
- (opens in a new window)Mr Sean McCabe (TASC - Think tank for Action on Social Change) Just Transition in an Irish context
You can watch the talk (opens in a new window)here
Thursday 4 November, 1-2pm: Seminar 2: Community participation in design and planning in towns
- (opens in a new window)Dr Sarah Cotterill (UCD Civil Engineering) Community participation with water infrastructure
- (opens in a new window)Ms Sophia Meeres (UCD Architecture, Planning & Environmental Policy) Talking trees: the future forest and public participation
- Mr Tim Shea (UCD Masters in Regional and Urban Planning graduate) A transatlantic comparison of systems of town regeneration
You can watch the talk (opens in a new window)here
Thursday 7 October, 1-2pm: Seminar 1: Data and Irish towns
- (opens in a new window)Dr Karen Keaveney (UCD Agriculture & Food Science): Understanding Data Needs for Participatory Democracy
- (opens in a new window)Dr Jennifer Keenahan (UCD Civil Engineering): Wind modelling for pedestrian comfort in the built environment
- (opens in a new window)Dr Luke Kelleher (UCD Architecture, Planning & Environmental Policy): Mapping town centres
You can watch the talk (opens in a new window)here