UCD Professional Diploma in Innovation for Sustainability | Summer 2026

By the end of the Professional Diploma in Innovation for Sustainability you will:

• Know key sustainability concepts, terms, models and policy within an Irish context;
• Know applied green skills including Carbon Footprinting, Climate Adaptation Planning, Sustainability Reporting;
• Put Innovation and Design Thinking into practice;
• Develop transversal skills including creativity, teamwork, communications, learning agility;
• Gain an innovator’s mindset;
• Build creative confidence via practical challenges;
• Build your CV with a substantial innovation project module;
• Build a peer network of friends, contacts and collaborators;
• Leave ready to apply your new skills to progress your career;
• Have a Level 9 qualification from UCD.

Click on the link to apply on the Springboard+ website.

This programme has funded places available through the Higher Education Authority Springboard+ Initiative+*, with 90 – 100% funding available to eligible applicants, for full-time residents in the Republic of Ireland.

See the Springboard eligibility criteria.

• FREE for eligible jobseekers receiving DEASP Payments
• FREE for returners to work and carers
• 90% subsidised (student pays €460) eligible individuals in employment or self-employment, and the formerly self-employed

Springboard+ is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union

If you are an international student or ineligible for Springboard funding, please contact a member of our recruitment team at innovation.academy@ucd.ie for assistance with direct application to the course. There is no alternative funding available for applicants who are ineligible for Springboard funding and are applying directly for this programme.

Please follow the steps below to apply for a Springboard funded place.

Step 1)

Apply on the Springboard+ website.

Step 2)

Upload the required documents listed below:

A) Current CV

B) Letter of Motivation (one page), addressing the following:

• Why you want to do the course at this time
• What you hope to achieve from doing this course
• What you can contribute to this course

C) A copy of your academic transcript to show that you have a minimum of an Undergraduate Honours Bachelor’s Degree (NFQ Level 8, 3-4 years of study). If you previously studied at UCD, please provide your UCD student   number on a Word document/PDF. Please note a degree certificate/parchment unaccompanied by a transcript will not suffice. You need to upload your academic transcript or diploma supplement.

D) Applicants who do not have a level 8 qualification can apply through Recognition of Prior Learning.

Under UCD’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy, consideration will be given on a case by case basis to applicants who do not hold a Level 8 primary degree (Honours Bachelor’s Degree) but who fulfil either of the following criteria:

Holding a Level 7 primary degree (Pass/Ordinary Bachelor’s Degree): upload your academic transcript of your Level 7 and demonstrate min. 2 years work experience on your CV. Professional references may be required.

No Level 7/8 degree: min. 5 years work experience and 2 recently dated professional/employment references required. These should be on headed paper or from an official email address and including the referees name, role and email address.

Please review your CV to ensure that it clearly demonstrates the following:

a. Any experience of leadership and self-direction;

b. Any experience of management or entrepreneurship;

c. A description of any responsibilities that demonstrate accountability, resource management, or client engagement (if applicable).

E) If English is not your first language, an English language qualification is required. Learn more about the full English Language Requirements for UCD.

Step 3)

If you are successful, you will be offered a provisional offer.

Following provisional offers, UCD Innovation Academy will request evidence of eligibility in respect of holding a valid PPSN; Nationality; Current Residency; 3 of 5 Years EU/EEA residency; and current Employment Status between six weeks and two weeks from the stated course start date.

It is only at this point that eligibility for funding through the HEA Springboard initiative can be ascertained.

Visit our FAQs for more information.

UCD Innovation Academy’s programmes operate a Pass/Fail grading system rather than a traditional grading system.

We do this for a number of reasons:

Focus on mastery rather than competition: Pass/fail systems encourage students to master the content rather than compete with peers for ranking positions or worry about minor grade differences.

Promotes exploration and risk-taking: Students often feel more comfortable with new approaches, an essential component of innovation, when they are not worried about specific grades.

Reduced stress and anxiety: When students don’t have to worry about achieving specific grade thresholds, they can focus more on learning the material thoroughly rather than strategising to maximise points or grades.

The programme operates a robust continuous assessment process.

Full participation and engagement throughout the programme is essential.

Assessment across the different modules are as follows:

• 30% Group work assignment
• 40% Participation in learning activities
• 30% Reflective assignment

All courses at the Innovation Academy are developed and facilitated by our exceptional team of educators. 

The team boasts a wealth of experience from a wide variety of backgrounds. They are international entrepreneurs, academics, robotics experts, storytellers, conservationists, campaigners, and creatives. 

What they all have in common is their love of the innovative, learning-by-doing approach to learning and their devotion to delivering a world-class student experience. 

Read more about the people behind this course.

• Thomas Macagno Programme Lead

Demand for green skills is already outstripping supply.

This course will teach you the skills you need to become your organisation’s champion in innovation for sustainability.

What industry says:

84% of Irish business leaders selected climate change and sustainability strategy skills as the top skillset needed in the medium term to support their businesses’ green transition according to a study by ESRI.

In 2025 the World Economic Forum identified carbon intelligence as part of “the new skills triad” for the future of work, stating: “Carbon intelligence is fast becoming a universal skill, much like internet literacy once was. It cuts across sectors – from tech and retail to finance and hospitality – and offers a hedge against obsolescence when many roles are being reshaped or replaced by automation and AI.”

Real world relevance, including relevance for your career, is an integral part of this programme, supported through applied real world learning including enterprise challenges from real organisations, ongoing engagement with the world of work through external enterprise speakers, a teaching team who all bring substantial enterprise experience and a programme director with over 20 years experience in sustainability across education and enterprise.

This entire course is designed to equip participants with the job-ready skills that will help them manage innovation for sustainability with an SME, start-up, or large enterprise.

The real-world challenges that participants encounter during this course are designed to be applied to their current or future work environment, working in multi-disciplinary teams, with limited resources to prototype solutions and pitch them to senior decision-makers. If you’re in employment, this is ensures real time impact for your organisation from the programme.

The development of transversal skills is a vital part of the job readiness component of this programme: creativity, teamwork, communication skills and learning agility are threaded throughout the programme.