Read on to find out about our work to date and our plans for 2024 and beyond.
First of all we would like to say that we are sorry we haven’t been in touch. It doesn’t mean nothing has been happening! It has been an incredibly busy few years. After our launch in 2019, the world closed down for a while! Great timing! Still, while that was going on we were working away in the background. It’s important to note that Green Offaly (GO) has been developed with no paid staff. We have had Rebekah Keaveny working away (voluntarily) for the last 4 years supported by Bridie Costello-Hynes (Offaly Public Participation Network) and Roisin Lennon (Offaly Local Development Company). With the amount of work involved something had to give and unfortunately it was our Social Media. In retrospect, it is probably just as well because while we have been developing and delivering projects and training modules to run from Green HQ (more on that later), our perspective on how to deliver for our Communities through the transition has changed. These changes will be reflected in our updated website due mid 2024 to coincide with the opening of Green HQ in Kilcormac! We have compiled a summary report of our work to date 2019 – 2023. We will try to upload all reports onto the website but if you are unable to view them please email info@greenoffaly.ie for a copy of all reports cited. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Climate, Communities and Learning.
When we began Green Offaly in 2019 the future seemed simple. Our 2018 Community consultations led by the PPN had told us that Communities wanted access to a variety of supports to implement energy and biodiversity projects in order to respond to the challenges of our transitioning society. Communities were concerned with the future of the Peatlands and the impacts of the cessation of peat harvesting on our local towns and local long term employment prospects. With great optimism we set out to create a centralised resource that would serve our Communities. We felt passionately (and still do) that Offaly could benefit from the transition to a Sustainable Future. Fast forward to 2023 and the saying ‘if we knew then, what we know now’ sums it up! Read on!
On Renewable Energy
In order to keep Climate Change within the safety zone of 1.5 degrees of warming, transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewables is a legal requisite for all governments across the EU. In 2020 we asked where and what were the gains for Communities to be found through decarbonisation and was it possible that we could become energy prosumers (producers and consumers) in our right? Was there an opportunity here for Community organisations and groups?
We believed that community owned energy projects were the way ahead and embarked on an intense period of learning which saw us getting advice from experts in the field. During this time the energy landscape was further challenged by the COVID and Ukrainian crises which added energy scarcity and poverty to the complex mix of decarbonising our communities.
Three years down the road we are bowed but not broken! We realise that Community Owned Energy schemes are destined to remain the exception and not the rule unless we can find real investment mechanisms for groups who want to follow this route. Please see our report Local Futures (email info@greenoffaly.ie for a copy) to find out more about the very real challenges that Community organisations (across Ireland) face when it comes to initiating, financing and developing their own energy infrastructure.
We will definitely be seeing more large scale energy developments in the near future. After 4 years in this space we see that there is an urgent need for Communities to come together as one ‘professionalised’ body and voice to have a real say in creating a viable local future….
The good news! Offaly Public Participation Network groups and organisations are increasingly asking how they can work together to get clear agreed messaging to politicians and developers regarding their role in the Just Transition. In 2024 the PPN and Green Offaly will be embarking on a series of workshops with the aim to develop a Community Energy Charter. The Charter will define what Communities in Offaly expect when it comes to energy developments and what is ‘Just’ to those who live in proximity to them. It will stimulate local debate on what a fair win-win community-development partnership could look like and produce a set of collectivity agreed guidelines for our affected communities. Keep an eye on the PPN social media for more announcements in early 2024.
The Peatlands
Throughout 2021/2022 we delivered a Just Transition funded feasibility study led by LUC (Land Use Consultants). The study explored the suitability of Offalys Peatlands to become a designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This project was in response to Community concerns about the future of our Peatlands. Biosphere status could provide multilayered economic, environmental and social benefits for Offaly (and indeed the region) over time. It would also ensure that future economic strands arising from the land use change of our Peatlands (Windfarms, Carbon Credits) would be developed in equal proportion to other requirements such as ecological protection, sustainable agriculture and local livelihoods/employment arising from tourism benefits that Biosphere status would bring. To see how this might work in practice please visit www.gsabiosphere.org.uk You can also view the study at our website or email to request a copy.
To take this project further in 2024 we aim to create a steering group of interested stakeholders to implement the recommendations arising from the study and instigate the next steps towards making an Offaly Biosphere a reality. This will form a key strand of our work from Green HQ.
Green HQ
Fiesta – Green HQ began life as a Green Offaly concept in 2019. It became a Just Transition application in 2020. After several rounds of verification it became a Just Transition funded project in 2021, led by Offaly Local Development Company with additional funding and support from the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Trench Trust. The architect for the project is Sally Starbuck from Gaia Ecotecture. The project is set for completion by Summer 2024.
There has been a huge amount of work done behind the scenes to get this project off the ground and we thank all of those involved to date. The new life being breathed into the Fiesta is highly symbolic of the evolution of our unique peatland landscape and the economic, environmental and social journey of the communities that surround it. Life may have changed but these fixed points in our Communities, however changed, keep us grounded in our identity as we turn to face the future.
Green Enterprise
In 2021 we delivered our first green enterprise modules to participants of the Business Development Programme run by Offaly Local Development Company. We noticed that there is an unequal playing field when it comes to getting financial supports for SMEs and Social Enterprises that will enable them to implement sustainability strategies into their business operations. SMEs and Not for Profits cannot afford to hire energy officers nor can they easily access funding and resources to create sustainability plans (unlike bigger companies), yet they still need to make significant changes to the way that they operate in order to navigate the changing economic, funding and legal landscape.
As always, we learnt as we went along, helped by the generous feedback and input from the over 40 participants, SME’s, Craft and Rural Businesses who have received training from us. See below for examples of modules delivered.
If you would like to know more about any of our green enterprise modules, please email us info@greenoffaly.ie
Towards a Local Future
‘The future is not something we enter. The future is something we create.’ – Leonard I. Sweet
Did I tell you we had been busy! Last year in partnership with Offaly County Council – Climate Action Office, Offaly PPN and with support from Charleville Castle Heritage Trust, GO hosted a 2 day conference called ‘Connecting Communties – Working for a Local Future. The event was attended by fantastic people from like minded organisations who are working to create sustainable futures within their respective Communities. Organisations involved were Youghal Community Blue and Green Network, Dingle Hub, Aran Islands Energy Cooperative, Inishowen Development Partnership and Loophead Together. The collective experience shared over 2 days was invaluable and we would encourage a read of the Local Future report as it raises some very important issues (and offers solutions) to mainstreaming green and sustainable initiatives across communities. Here is the one page summary of the findings of the report.
GO with the FLOW
‘No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of the young people.’ – Kailash Satyarthi
Young people have a vital role in creating a sustainable future (their future) for Offaly. In 2023, in partnership with the SICAP team at Offaly Local Development Company, we devised and delivered a 12 week youth engagement pilot project called ‘FLOW’ which offered an ‘alternative curriculum’ for young people/adults aged 16 – 25.
The programme was based upon three pathways as detailed above. Participants created still short films, junk journals, oracle cards and more. They learnt traditional green woodworking skills and made a shave horse of components turned on a naturally powered (by foot) lathe. Participants calculated and reduced the carbon footprint of their lunches using the food miles app.
Special thanks to Denis Shine and Stephen Mandal at the Irish Heritage School for kindly providing an amazing venue for the pilot. Thank you also to our tutors and volunteers; Ann Marie Curran, Eoin Donnelly and Jacqui Tallon. FLOW 2 is coming in 2024 – if you would like to find out more email h.daly@offalyldc.ie or greenoffaly@gmail.com
Partnerships
Transforming Offaly into a Sustainable County in less than 2 decades requires joined up thinking and unprecedented partnership working across all of the sectors that make up our Communities. We have representation from Offaly PPN, Offaly Local Development Company (Rural Development) and the Offaly County Council Climate Action Office on our board. We will extend this representation to cover further sectors as we develop our next strategic plan 2024 – 2030. The new plan will be launched to coincide with the move into Green HQ and will respond to feedback from Offalys Community sector.
Sincere thanks to all those who have supported Green Offalys development over the last 4 years. We very much look forward to 2024 and the next stage in our GO journey as we move to Kilcormac. New home, updated website, new plan!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2024.
