Planning and Environmental Management students engage in data collection and analysis on topical issues

Lecturer: Dave O’Connor

As part of the BSc in Planning and Environmental Management (DT106), 2nd year students taking the Techniques II – Data Collection and Analysis module are offered three electives where students engage in a variety of public surveys.

Over the last few years these surveys have included –

  • Public Spaces surveys in north West inner-city Dublin
  • A Traffic Survey in north west inner-city Dublin                                    
  • A Smarter Travel Survey in the Glasnevin Area (North Dublin)

The results have been  presented to relevant agencies, including Dublin City Council (Public Spaces), The LifeLine (Public Spaces), Grangegorman Development Agency (Traffic) and Department of Transport (Smarter Travel Survey), hopefully in the longer-term leading to broader community gain.

Below are the results of the public spaces surveys carried out by students in 2010 for the Lifeline Project:

What do the students get from it?

The students benefit from the live situation through the practical demonstration of concepts and achievement of learning outcomes. They also are immersed in a deep induction of a real live problem-solving with community members.

What do the community get from it?

Communities benefit from empirical research on topical issues such as environmental quality, traffic and mobility.