Where Creativity Meets Sustainability
The SETU Sustainability in the Arts Festival is a unique platform that harnesses the power of creative practice to explore and communicate the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Bringing together students from a wide range of disciplines across the university, the festival places sustainability at the very heart of academic and artistic life.
"Actively striving to overcome political inertia and to empower and motivate our students — the future leaders — the festival uses creativity to help communicate the urgency of the crisis."
The 2026 theme, "Drift: Journeys Across Water and Time", invites students and audiences to reflect on water as a source of life, resilience, memory and ecological fragility. From the tidal estuaries of Waterford Harbour to the river landscapes of Carlow and the coastal communities of Wexford, water shapes the identity of our island — and our collective future.
The festival is funded by SATLE (Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement) and has grown exponentially since its launch — embedding sustainability not just in the curriculum, but in the culture and identity of SETU itself.
2023 — Pilot Year
1-day event on a single Waterford campus. A proof of concept showing the power of interdisciplinary collaboration.
2024 — Multi-Campus Expansion
3-day festival across Waterford, Carlow and Wexford with N-TUTORR co-funding and new international partners.
2025 — EU-CONEXUS & SATLE Award
Theme: "Land, People, Culture." EU-CONEXUS partnerships and winner of the inaugural SATLE Impact Award.
2026 — Broadening the Reach
"Drift - Journeys Across Water and Time." Three campuses, with deeper community roots and new creative dialogues.
