Programme Overview:
- Duration:
- 6 Months
- Attendance:
- Part Time
- Mode of Delivery:
- Online
- Next Intake:
- 2024/2025 September
- Contact Name:
- Sarah Westvik
- Contact Number:
- +353 1 716 2065
- Fees:
- Fee Information
This course is ideal for mid to senior managers across all sectors, wanting, or already with responsibility for sustainability within their team, department, organisation but without a background in innovation or sustainability.
The opportunity to work on real world projects gives a chance to up-skill and incorporates relevant workplace projects. This course gives students the knowledge, skills and mindset to translate sustainability challenges into opportunities using innovation. It runs live online over eight months and students will gain a range of career skills including:
Key Highlights:
A key focus of this programme is to enable students to help organisations (enterprise and non-profit) integrate sustainability into their strategy, operations and governance, ensuring that sustainability will be grounded as a source of innovation for organisations driving social and economic change.
For example, the module Sustainability: Human Drivers of Innovation looks at the societal drivers for sustainability. Students will learn about the changes in policy, EU regulation and societal values that are requiring organisations to respond to calls to act on climate change, gender equality, diversity, poverty, and other issues. Through the programme students will learn to apply design thinking methodology to sustainability, to achieve innovation in products, processes and behaviour-changes.
Students will gain a holistic view of sustainability which includes the three pillars People, Planet, and Prosperity – to innovate in organisations and enable sustainable development
Demand for green skills is already outstripping supply.
This course will teach you the skills you need to become your organisation’s champion in innovation for sustainability.
What industry says:
“We need to educate and arm our frontline people. Our marketing team now lead on sustainable packaging, our trading team on supply chain impact, energy usage is a key metric for our store development team.” – John Curran, Head of Sustainability, Musgraves
“Innovation and Sustainability go hand in hand.” – Cormac Madden, Environment and Sustainability Manager, ESB
UCD Innovation Academy is delighted to partner with Accredible in the provision of digital credentials across all of our programmes. We believe lifelong learning should be encouraged and celebrated, and digital credentials will allow you to share your accomplishments on LinkedIn and other online platforms to promote among your network.
Students who successfully complete and pass this programme will receive a digital certificate of completion. The certificate is issued online once the UCD Exam Board sits and approves your grade. UCD Exam Board sits three times a year (Autumn, Spring, Summer trimester) and approval times vary depending on the Exam Board calendar. The certificate of completion is separate to the official parchment, which arrives in hard copy at a later date.
Real world relevance, including relevance for your career, is an integral part of this programme, supported through applied real world learning including enterprise challenges from real organisations, ongoing engagement with the world of work through external enterprise speakers, a teaching team who all bring substantial enterprise experience and a programme director with over 20 years experience in sustainability across education and enterprise.
This entire course is designed to equip participants with the job-ready skills that will help them manage innovation for sustainability with an SME, start-up, or large enterprise.
The real-world challenges that participants encounter during this course are designed to be applied to their current or future work environment, working in multi-disciplinary teams, with limited resources to prototype solutions and pitch them to senior decision-makers. If you’re in employment, this is ensures real time impact for your organisation from the programme.
The development of transversal skills is a vital part of the job readiness component of this programme: creativity, teamwork, communication skills and learning agility are threaded throughout the programme.
Curricular information is subject to change
Part Time option suitable for:
Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. No
This course is ideal for mid to senior managers across all sectors, wanting, or already with responsibility for sustainability within their team/department/organisation but without a background in innovation or sustainability.
You might be:
UCD Innovation Academy provides transformational educational experiences for the betterment of society and the economy. We prepare learners from all walks of life to succeed in an uncertain world. We work with higher education, enterprise and the public sector, national and international, to equip learners with the mindset, tools and skills to embrace the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. We act as a catalyst for positive change, within individuals, institutions and societies.
Our approach to teaching and learning - the “IA way" is underpinned by innovation, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurial thinking and design thinking. Our unique 21st century learning pedagogy centres on experiential, challenge based learning in interdisciplinary groups. By providing learners with the tools, the skills and the mindset to enable innovation, we help people and organisations unlock their true potential.
By the end of the Professional Diploma in Innovation for Sustainability, you will:
€2,600 (EU) or €2,600 (Non-EU)
This programme is funded through the Higher Education Authority Springboard+ Initiative, with 90 – 100% funding available to eligible applicants.
See the Springboard eligibility criteria here.
This is a Level 9 Professional Diploma (20 ECTS)
The following entry routes are available:
* Courses will remain open until such time as all places have been filled, therefore early application is advised
100% or 90% funding available for eligible applicants through the HEA Springboard+ Initiative
Apply Here on Springboard if you are applying for 90-100% funding. You can check the Springboard eligibility criteria here.
Otherwise, apply directly to UCD through the UCD 'Apply Now' button above.
Deadline to apply: 12 September 2024, 12PM
We encourage you to apply early to secure a place on the programme. If you have any questions or would like to speak with a member of the Innovation Academy team, email us at innovation.academy@ucd.ie. We'd be happy to support you starting your education journey.