Date: 27 Oct 2022
Minister Ryan announces grant recipients of new €5 million fund under Strand 2 of the Community Climate Action Programme
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, has announced the 18 successful recipients of the new €5 million fund under Strand 2 of the Community Climate Action Programme.
The Climate Action Regional Office Atlantic Seaboard North are proud to be a partner in two of the projects with Leave Not Trace Ireland and University of Ireland (Galway).
Leave No Trace Ireland and partners will fund the development of a ‘Beaches and Dunes for Climate Adaptation: Training for Communities’ which will build the capacity of local communities to adapt to, and mitigate against, climate change. The project will develop a toolkit and educational workshops which will build the knowledge and skills of communities to take positive action on how best utilise beaches and dunes as coastal protection. This is a project in partnership with the Atlantic Seaboard North Climate Action Regional Office; The Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board; and the National University of Ireland,
Galway.
The second project with the National University of Ireland (Galway) will fund the development of a ‘Toolkit to drive co-creation and Climate Action’. This will include a range of tools, case studies and a sharing platform to support decarbonized communities tangibly reduce their carbon footprint by 2050. This project is in partnership with: a number of academics; five Decarbonising community groups, five environmental awareness officers and four volunteer Ireland branches, Energy Cooperatives Ireland and the Climate Action Regional office in Mayo.
The Strand 2 Community Climate Aciton Programme
The Community Climate Action Programme supports projects and initiatives that facilitate community climate action through education, capacity building and learning by doing. The programme is being run by Pobal, on behalf of the department. Minister Eamonn Ryan met with the successful projects at a launch event at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin (yesterday).
Speaking about the projects, Minister Ryan said:
"There is a massive appetite to take action at individual and community levels. The Climate Conversations 2022, which my department undertook over the summer to get a sounding on where people are at, found that 83% of participants across Irish society are motivated to take action to address climate change.
"The range of projects represented in these awards is an indication of this appetite for initiatives that can help communities move towards a more sustainable future. I’m looking forward to seeing the lasting impact your projects will have in empowering communities to change behaviours and habits, and am confident the outcomes will inspire other groups who may wish to participate in further funding strands."
Anna Shakespeare, CEO of Pobal, said:
"Pobal is very pleased to be administering Strand 2 of the Community Climate Action Programme on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. It is very important that no community is left behind in response to the challenge of climate action and justice and we look forward to supporting the project promoters deliver successful projects that can inform future community approaches to climate action and justice."
18 projects from around the country were selected from 72 applications. These represent a diverse range of activities across the five programme themes (Home and Energy; Food and Waste; Shopping and Recycling; Transport; Local Climate and Environment).
Work on all 18 community climate action projects will begin shortly. For more information about the projects please visit the Pobal website.