ADAPT Education and Public Engagement (EPE) aims to inspire and empower the people of Ireland to learn about emerging technologies that enhance engagement in our digital world and to have a voice on the future of this vital research area. The programme has engaged more than 512,000 members of the public since ADAPT was established in 2015.
Our #DiscussAI National Conversation on Artificial Intelligence was recognised as a best practice in science engagement by the European Commission in May 2025. ADAPT-led public engagement tools and platforms have also been also recognised as ‘key innovations’ by the Commission’s Innovation Radar.
National and international Education and Public Engagement awards won by ADAPT members in recent years include: the Media Literacy Ireland Awards, supported by Coimisiún na Meán (Best General Media Literacy Initiative 2025 and Best Media Literacy Initiative for Young People 2025), the Trinity Civic Engagement Research Award (2025), the TU Dublin Impact Case Study Award (2025), the Ireland eGovernment Awards (Best Civic Engagement 2025), the Ibec Technology Ireland Awards (Tech for Good Category 2025), the DCU President’s Award for Engagement (2025), the TU Dublin Research Engagement Award (2024), the Analytics & AI Awards (Best Societal Impact 2024), the Digital Transformation Awards (Most Innovative Transformation 2024), the EU Digital Skills Award (Inclusion in the Digital World Category 2023), the SFI Engaged Research Award (2023), a DCU Staff Recognition Award (Team Category 2021), and the European Language Label Award (2020).
ADAPT aims to foster the skills necessary in the Irish public to engage effectively in our future digital world. The primary skill sets targeted are creative problem-solving, and AI and media literacy.
ADAPT enables members of the Irish public (and beyond!) to explore and interact with emerging and future digital technologies, so as to understand and consider the impact of such technologies on their lives and on society.
ADAPT invites diverse communities to participate directly in ADAPT research in areas with significant potential for societal impact, such as digital overload, AI and trust, systems bias, and data privacy.
