Vision 2030 Jan. 2012 | Page 98

EU Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn According to Professor MacCraith, “The Innovation Campus, which will draw on our joint research expertise, will become a focused, internationally recognised hub for cleantech businesses and is an exciting and natural next step in our vision to become a University of Enterprise.” The Green Way has a vision to play a major role in developing Ireland as a global centre and leader in cleantech. This is the right time for universities, businesses and enterprise to come together to make this vision a reality. The Green Way will promote the Dublin city region as an internationally recognised Green Economic Zone and the first of its kind in Ireland. It will provide investment and job creation and ultimately play a significant part in the economic recovery and transformation of the country. There are a number of exciting key projects already underway within The Green Way, including an Energy Product Innovation Centre (EPIC) at Dublin airport in partnership with University of Houston, an Environmental Health Sciences Institute in DIT, the aforementioned Green Innovation Campus in DCU and the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun. During 2011 the team will be seeking to develop a Cleantech Competence Centre in partnership with industry as well as joining forces with the Green IFSC project promoters to establish Dublin as a centre of excellence for carbon management. 96 EU Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn’s closing remarks at the laun ch of The Green Way were highly appropriate when she asked, “Why shouldn’t Ireland, the country of forty shades of green, become a cleantech hub, with forty shades of innovation? I know that Irish people are among the most resourceful, dynamic and creative in the world, and I am confident that Ireland will seek out and capitalise on opportunities to build a new economy. An economy built on innovation”.