ProfessorAinhoa Gonzalez Del Campo

Ainhoa González is a Professor in the School of Geography, University College Dublin. She is an environmental planner and her research focuses on collaboratively developing and applying geospatial analysis methods and decision-support tools for assessing environmental change and impacts, to ultimately inform planning and decision-making towards sustainability. Key recent projects include: 'Environmental Sensitivity Mapping', funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has delivered a decision-support tool for environmental assessment and plan-making in Ireland; 'Local Area Renewable Energy Planning', funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, that has delivered an online spatial analysis tool to support renewable energy zoning; and UCD Sustainability Dashboard, funded by the Higher Education Authority, which has co-created an online dashboard to support collaborative action towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.. Current research includes: developing a cumulative effects assessment framework for marine spatial planning, funded by the Marine Institute; developing an Artificial Intelligence supported expert-prioritisation of significant effects to streamline Strategic Environmental Assessment scoping funded by the EPA; and SUSTAINOW, an European-funded proejct that aims to improve marine data sharing and deliver open-access tools to design and manage offshore wind farms sustainably from start to finish. 

Ainhoa is currently Chair of the UCD Sustainability Core Working Group on Engagement and Impact. She has served as a board member of the Ordnance Survey Ireland, the International Association for Impact Assessment UK-Ireland branch, the Spanish Association for Impact Assessment and the Earth Institute. She chaired the 43rd annual conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment. She has published extensively in high impact international journals including: Journal of Environmental Management; Journal of Cleaner Production; Landscape and Urban Planning; Environmental Impact Assessment Review; and Land Use Policy. She has also published a number of guidance manuals on impact assessment for the Environmental Protection Agency, and has co-edited the international Handbook on Strategic Environmental Assessment. Ainhoa teaches Sustainability, Environmental Assessment and Geographic Information Systems at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.