TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

in the knowledge economy and as a “city of learning”, mirroring the sentiments of the Cork
2002-2012 - Imagine our Future publication. The message is straightforward: those with a high
level of learning are likely to have a bright future ahead of them, while those lacking will have a
very difficult time. At secondary and primary level, educational priorities have been front-
loaded and “e-learning through edutainment” promoted as the future of childhood learning.
Significant investment in school building and technology, and teacher training, has occurred in
an attempt to reverse the trend of home schooling that emerged in the late 2010s. Free pre-
school education was introduced in 2012 and community-based childcare providers are the
norm, particularly to help the children of foreign nationals who are heavily represented in
Cork’s young demographic.
Energy
Energy concerns dominated the environmental agenda in Cork, and indeed nationally,
throughout the 2010s and the early 2020s. Securing a cheap, clean and renewable energy supply
was deemed essential to the future competitiveness of all Irish cities. Following the oil crisis in
2012, Cork was proactive in capitalizing upon the need for applied research and development
into energy technologies. Wind farms, as well as wave and tidal energy projects in West Cork,
were well placed during the crisis years to benefit, rather than suffer, from rising oil and gas
prices, and strategic policy reforms were introduced in 2013 to remove obstacles from the Irish
energy market for the proliferation of renewable energy sources. Cork has since turned into a
centre of excellence in wave energy, with the location of the headquarters of the Irish owned
Finavera Renewables to West Cork in 2015 signaling the marked level of progress made in this
respect.
Governance
Although the city picture of Cork has, in general, changed for the better, the need has arisen for
it to re-think, re-learn, re-direct and re-mange itself. The processes of social change calls for a
consideration of the values and ideologies governing everyday affairs and, therefore, new
frames of reference are necessary to understand what this might mean for the future in the
2030s and beyond. The undertow of discontentment and disillusionment with political decisionmaking
throughout the early years of the 21 st century highlighted the need for a pragmatic
response to address the potentially colossal social pressures emerging within Cork. The hunt for
an appropriate model to adopt continues. Perhaps the non-plan angle is one to consider,
requiring a willingness to take risks. In any case, what is evidently required in this scenario is
leadership at the city level; otherwise, Cork will soon pay the price. The “Nero” scenario signals
a time of social change.
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