Our Projects
We partner and lead on regional, national, and international projects. Summaries of each project are below. For further details, project outputs and resources, please contact us.
INSPIRE: An Erasmus Key Action 2 Project 2023 - 2025
The INSPIRE project, led by Technological University of the Shannon (Ireland) will support the needs of refugee led tourism entrepreneurs. We will identify good practice case studies, barriers to success case studies, and lessons applicable across the partner countries for the EU dealing with the refugee crises caused by the invasion of Ukraine and develop resources to support this population. We aim to support Ukrainian and other refugees with social integration and access to higher education through this innovative project. The project will produce a detailed report conducted from primary and secondary fieldwork in Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Türkiye, & Ukraine. We will create a good practice user guide for refugee tourism entrepreneurs. This will be supported by course materials, a website and mobile application. A final resource will be the publication of a searchable databank of supports for refugee tourism entrepreneurs, including education and training supports, finance options, networking and business supports. Partners include Businet, KHNU and DVA (Ukraine), DEU (Türkiye), PAR (Croatia) and PXL (Belgium). The project will run Nov 2023 – Nov 2025 and is funded by Erasmus Key Action 2.
Development of an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) curriculum design framework for academic staff to incorporate ESD into their curricula
We are engaged in a research project focused on creating a Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) curriculum design framework within TUS. This initiative is part of the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) Funding (2022-2023). Our research aims to influence these departments overarching approach to ESD by identifying the most effective ESD frameworks in current practice;
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Department of Civil Engineering and Trades (Faculty of Engineering and Informatics - Athlone),
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Department of Built Environment (Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment - Limerick),
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Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (Faculty of Business and Hospitality - Athlone)
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Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Wellness (Faculty of Business and Humanities - Limerick)
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Forthcoming conference presentations;
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World Environmental Educational Congress 2024 - Abu Dhabi, UAE (January, 2024)
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Institut de Socio-Economie des Entreprises et des Organisations (ISER) - Lyon, France (June, 2024)
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European Educational Research Association (EERA) – Cyprus (August, 2024)
A European Dark Skies Tourism project in collaboration with six European partners. The Dark Sky Project aims to empower training bodies and business in remote and rural European tourism to seize a more equitable share of Europe’s future post pandemic tourism opportunities. It will play a key role in rebuilding and refocusing European tourism to be more sustainable, resilient, and future orientated. For more information visit darkskytourism.eu.
EPICSTAYS: An Erasmus Key Action 2 Project 2024 - 2025
EPIC STAYS will develop a new VET offering and upskill European tourism businesses leading to the development of new, alternative tourism accommodation (ATA) in Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy and Slovenia and thereafter across Europe. By 2025, we will upskill 50+ VET educators and 500+ VET learners with knowledge, current facts and best practices regarding ATA and its potential to address the EU accommodation crisis, climate change, changing consumer trends as well as market opportunities.
RUN-EU & RUN-EU 2
RUN-EU PLUS
The RUN-EU PLUS project is an integrated long-term strategy for research and innovation within our European University, funded by Horizon 2020, the European Union’s research and innovation programme. In RUN-EU PLUS we are developing collaborative PHD programmes with partners from Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungrary and Finland.
Skills Audit for Midlands Regional Food and Drink Strategy
This project involves identifying the future skills needs of regional food and drink producers based in the Midlands Region of Longford, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath. For further information on the regional strategy visit here.
FOODTURISTIC: An Erasmus Key Action 2 Project 2023 - 2025
This project addresses the lack of green technology curriculum in European culinary and hospitality schools, which primarily focus on gastronomy and hospitality management skills. The project aims to develop digital resources for educators and students in hotel and culinary schools across four partner countries to reduce food waste, develop circular economy skills, and localise food production.
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Current PhD & MSC projects
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Shahboz Babaev: Developing a model to understand the Impacts of Tourism on Poverty Alleviation in Central Asia
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José Ferreira Fernandes: An examination of sustainable and green practices and the adoption of indicator systems in the hospitality industry in Portugal
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Emma Carroll: An evaluation of the extent to which (if any) safety issues influence attendees’ perceptions of events and the potential influence of crowd behaviours on the management of such perceptions.
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Ciara Coughlan: The role and value of beauty and spa in Irish higher education
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Dioga de Sousa: Framework for the Development of Integrated Sports Tourism Strategies
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Luisa Golz: Brand activation in thanatourism: A comparative study of the Whitby Goth Weekend and the Bram Stoker Festival, Dublin
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John Harding: Exploring Consumer Perception and Acceptance of Entomophagy in Ireland Through the Quadruple Helix Model of Innovation Lens
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Meng Jing: Evolution of the role of the Chinese family in third level international education decision making
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Mary Anne Kearns: Tourism for all - Creating an inclusive tourism for all framework: Boosting economic impact, enhancing local community involvement, and contributing to poverty reduction
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Bekithemba Lunga: Assessing the symbiotic relationship between organisational culture, leadership and turnover intentions
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Claudia MacNamara: The use of online digital platforms in the recruitment process for employees within the tourism industry
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Fátima Mendonça: An examination of the sustainable management of tourism in Portugal
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Isa Neves: An analysis of film tourism as a crucial strategy in the competitiveness of the creative destination: Comparatively examining Portugal and Ireland
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Kevin Ward: An Exploration of Isomorphism in the Irish Hospitality Industry and its Impact on the Retention of Culinary Professionals (CPs), Utilising Institutional Theory as a Lens to View the Problem
Our Partners
