Honor Fagan

G. Honor Fagan is a Professor of Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Her theoretical project has been to contribute to the development of a social sustainability paradigm from a sociological perspective, and most recently (since 2011) in line with European Research Policy, to contribute to the development of the emerging field of  sustainability science. Her research interests focus on Governance and Social Sustainability; Water, Waste and Sustainable Society; Global Inequalities and Human In/Security; Gender and International Development. 

She has just completed leading the Social Science component of a Horizon 2020 research programme on water and waste water sustainability - PANI-Water (https://paniwater.eu/ launched in Feb 2019- January 2024) where the workpackage aims to accelerate the social sustainability impact of drinking water disinfection units and demo/pilot plants set up to recycle wastewater for agricultural use in India.  (See end of project video at https://youtu.be/d4NEZ4NEXpY?si=hBA2g1n_7Jud1lzN.) She previously led the Social Science workpackage of the WaterSPOUTT (https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/social-sciences institute/research/waterspoutt) programme (also Horizon 2020 funded) where the workpackage aimed to transform domestic access to solar disinfection of water in Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and South Africa http://www.waterspoutt.eu/. (See end of project video at https://www.youtube.com/watch v=L4K7iVoROFU#action=share) 

She has served as expert evaluator at national and international level for such prestigious research organisations as the International Social Science Council (ISSC), European Commission (REA) and EASME (most recently H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 Innovative Training Networks and H2020-CS-SC5-04-2019 Building a Water Smart Economy and Society), Suomen Akatemia (Academy of Finland), The National Research Foundation of South Africa, the Irish Research Council (IRC), and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. She is co-editor of the International Social Science Council’s (ISSC) Comparative Research Programme on Poverty’s (CROP) International Poverty Studies Series alongside leading intellectual Thomas Pogge. She has published six books with top international publishing houses including the prize-winning Globalisation and Security: An Encyclopaedia; seven book length national reports informed by original field research, designed to engage with and successful in directly impacting targeted policy developments, including one developed for the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) and another funded by EU Framework funds; over forty journal articles and book chapters, including articles in top international journals such as the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (ANNALS), Capitalism, Nature and Class, European Journal of Development Research, Journal of Education, and Policy and Politics.

She has 30 years lecturing experience in five different countries, updated skills and quality tested proficiency in teaching. She has lectured in Sociology Departments in Northern Ireland, South Africa and the UK and currently has teaching capacity building relationships with universities in Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia and South Africa, Canada and Mexico.

She has just completed (July 2024) a four year term as a professorial member of the Governing Authority of Maynooth University.  She has previously been engaged in 15 years of higher education leadership including membership of the Irish Higher Education Authority (2005-8), the University Association of Ireland' s (UAI) Irish Dean's of Graduate Studies Group (DGSG), and the Maynooth University Senior Executive Officers (2008-13). She served as Dean of Graduate Studies Maynooth University (2008-13) and is currently co-convenor of the Gender and Social Justice Working Group of the European Association of Development Institutes (EADI).She has been awarded over 10 million euro as part of teams from peer-reviewed research grants over last decade, and 1.4 million as individual PI leading in 8 bids, all at the cutting edge of research capacity building in a spirit of partnerships for sustainable development with universities, NGO’s and communities.