The Minster for Communications Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten congratulated the winners of the Air, Climate Action and Sustainable Development special awards which were announced today by Michael Ring, Minster Rural and Community Development in the Helix. The aim of the DCCAE special awards is to raise awareness, motivate and engage communities at the ground level. Minister Naughten said
It is great to see these inspirational local communities working together to make a real difference and helping to drive change on the ground.
Minister Naughten commended all the tidy town communities that entered the competition and congratulated the winners, which were as follows:
1st place prizes are:
Air Quality Award – Ennis Town
Climate Action Award - Ennis Town and Ballon Village
Sustainable Development - Monageer, Co Wexford
Minister Naughten added
It’s very encouraging to see young people getting involved as it is important that they feel the connection to their communities. By taking part in competitions like the Tidy Towns and participating in initiatives like the National Dialogue on Climate Action Regional Gatherings, they can contribute and shape the future direction Ireland will take to fight climate change challenge and play a key role in enabling the transition to a low carbon future.
A series of Regional Gatherings are taking place across the country with the aim to generate awareness, engagement and a motivation to act, in relation to the challenges presented by climate change. The first of these gatherings was held on 23 June 2018 in Athlone. Further events will be announced on www.dccae.gov.ie/climatedialogue
Notes for Editors
Climate Awards (€5,000 prize fund) |
1st prize Large Town Winners | Ennis, Co Clare |
1st prize Small Town Winners | Ballon, Co Wexford |
Youth award Winners | Westport, Co Mayo |
Air Quality Award (€3,000 prize fund) |
1st Place | Ennis Tidy Towns |
Runners up | Carraigaline Tidy Towns |
Naas Tidy Towns. |
The Sustainable Development Award Winners (€5,000 prize fund) |
1st Place | Monageer, Co Wexford | Grotto Sensory & Woodland Walk |
2nd Place | Arklow, Co Wexford | Riverwalk |
3rd Place | Raphoe, Co Donegal | Raphoe Walkers |
4th Place | Donnybrook, Co Dublin | Project Seat & Retreat |
Athleague, Co Roscommon | Community Walkway |
Castlecoote, Co Roscommon | Walk & Cycle Way |
Kilteevan, Co Roscommon | Cloonlarge Loop Walk |
Rosslare, Co Wexford | |
National Dialogue on Climate Action
Background
The National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA) is a Government of Ireland initiative established in 2017. The NDCA will run initially for a period of two years with implementation support to be provided by the EPA. The Minister set up a 15 person Advisory group with representatives from local government, NGOs and the wider civil society and is chaired by Elaine Nevin, EcoUNESCO.
Actions:
Regional and local gatherings which will be held across Ireland to engage with local communities on the challenges of addressing climate change. The pilot Regional Gathering, the first in a series of 5, was held on 23 June in Athlone. Minister Naughten attended along with 75 participants from local government, NGO sector and the wider public. The outcome of the first regional gathering will be used to inform the development of future regional and local gatherings.
Further events will be announced on www.dccae.gov.ie/climatedialogue
The Department is also supporting An Taisce Environmental Education Unit (Green Schools) in the roll out of its National Climate Change Action and Awareness Programme (NCCAAP) which includes:
Climate Ambassador Project
The aim of the programme is to identify champions in schools, campuses and the community who will work as ambassadors’ for climate change to increase awareness of the causes and outcomes of climate change and undertake actions in their schools, campus or community to make them more resilient to climate change by improving their local environment. The pilot programme selected 108 ambassadors from 22 Counties (Dublin the largest at 31, Cork with 19 and Mayo with 11); 60 community members, 20 3rd level students and 28 secondary school students. The Ambassadors have undertaken training by An Taisce in Climate Science and Communications.
Other actions under the NCCAAP include
- Teacher training
- Secondary school resources packs (launching October 2018)
- Primary school resources packs (under development)
- Green schools Climate Action Week
- Climate Change Expo ‘Green Schools Climate Action Expo’ RDS 22nd February 2018 with over 5,000 mainly students, in attendance.
Other actions under the NDCA include
- Our Community Climate Action Tidy Towns award
- EPA climate lecture series
- Development of NDCA Resources, Knowledge Base and Engagement Tools
- Youth and Community Engagement Initiatives
- Support for independently-produced media content