Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications – Research and Innovation Strategy to 2030

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is launching its inaugural Research and Innovation (R&I) Strategy. While there are many definitions of both research and innovation, our Departmental R&I Strategy uses the following:

• Research is the creation of new knowledge: a source of new evidence, data, or analysis
• Innovation is putting research into practice. It is using the outputs of research to inform policy development, policy implementation or to create or roll-out new technologies

Our vision is that by 2030, we will be harnessing research to its full potential to drive the action and innovation needed to develop a climate neutral, sustainable, digitally connected, and cyber-resilient Ireland. Our approach is to put research and innovation at the heart of what we do and how we work.

Our mission is to build our capacity to deliver and use research to drive innovation and action in policy development, policy implementation, operations, and the roll-out of new technologies, while advancing the capability of the national research and innovation system to support our work. Our mission aligns with public policies to maximise the impact of research and innovation in the achievement of critical national policy objectives, including the green and digital transformations, across all aspects of our corporate commitments.

The Research and Development Budget 2022 to 2023 identifies the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications as the fifth largest investing department in research and innovation. This R&I Strategy sets out a strategic approach to facilitate ambitious engagement in R&I across all areas of the department. It recognises the transformational potential of R&I and endeavours to harness that potential to achieve our strategic goals.

The Strategy sets out 39 actions across five goals to be delivered in the period to 2030:

1. Delivery and Management of R&I

We will strategically build our capacity to perform, commission and use research to drive innovation in our work, establishing a Departmental research and innovation structure (including relevant operational areas) to deliver and manage research and innovation.

We will support our state bodies to perform and fund research and innovation and to deliver the evidence needed to inform policy and action in key areas.

2. Governance and Oversight

We will ensure best in class governance and oversight of R&I we perform and fund.

3. Research Needs

We will identify and clearly communicate our research evidence needs to enable an effective response from research partners.

4. People, Skills and Knowledge Transfer

We will develop our staff's research and innovation skillset and expand the pool of personnel with specific research and innovation expertise.

We will embed supports for interpreting and understanding research to underpin the department's work in policy development, policy implementation and the roll-out of new technologies and solutions.

5. Working with the National Research and Innovation System

We will work within the national research and innovation system to source the research we need to drive innovation in our work. In doing so we will play our part in enabling the national research and innovation system to make a real and positive impact on society, the economy, and the environment.

As cross-cutting challenges emerge, it will be critical for departments to have the capability and expertise necessary to use R&I in an evidence-informed response to those challenges. In 2024, we will publish a Research Needs Statement, ensuring the national R&I system is informed of our research priorities.