Ireland 

Introduction 

Cavan County Local Development (CCLD) are committed to helping transition Cavan to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable county. To achieve this, they set out to deliver free climate action training programmes to Cavan communities and local enterprises.  

The need to support training which raised awareness and knowledge in respect of the impacts of climate change on individual’s daily lives was identified as a need within the Environment Theme of the Cavan Local Development Strategy 2016 (LEADER RDP 2014 – 2020 (extended to 2022)). It was identified that there was a need to provide climate solutions and knowledge to the community, whilst encouraging individuals to share their own experiences, with support from tutors who have expertise in this field.  

CCLD prepared detailed terms of reference and sought tenders for the provision of this series of 3 climate action-training programmes. An appropriate and qualified collective of trainers was awarded the tender which was supported through the Cavan LCDC/LAG LEADER programme. This six-week course was drawn up to cover a range of topics including climate action, community resilience, energy and transport, climate change and water, sustainable agriculture and land use and waste and the circular economy.

 

Presentation of the project 

The overall aim of the ‘Cavan Communities 4 Climate Action’ training programme was to enable participants to build awareness and capacity by equipping communities in Cavan with knowledge and skills which they can apply to their lifestyles in order to make their communities more climate resilient and environmentally sustainable. This aim was achieved and exceeded in many ways as participants from the 3 separate training programmes have formed a ‘county-based climate action network’. 

Cavan County Local Development (CCLD) are committed to helping transition Cavan to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable county. To achieve this, they set out to deliver free climate action training programmes for Cavan communities and local enterprises.  

3 ‘Cavan Communities 4 Climate Action’ training programmes have been delivered in County Cavan. A total of 52 participants participated fully in the training. Throughout the delivery of the 3 programmes there was a mean total of 59 participants who attended the programme. A Cavan Communities 4 Climate Action Facebook page was established and 64 participants have now joined this group. A dedicated Cavan C4CA – Zoom account has been created to facilitate ongoing interaction between all 3 classes. Active WhatsApp groups have been established for each class and these are in regular use.  

The results of this project are the establishment of a local climate action network and a community who are focusing on climate solutions which will feed into the plans of agencies in the county including CCLD, Cavan LAG and the Local Authority moving forward. The network will enhance the wider community’s understanding of the need for climate solutions and it will provide support to groups that undertake to develop climate friendly projects in the future. 

See below a couple of quotes from participants of the climate action training; 

• “I enjoyed the exploration of the emotional aspects of climate change: climate anxiety, climate apathy. The need for a mind and heart approach.” Cavan Communities 4 Climate Action programme participant. 
• “I felt the course was a rich, broad and balanced learning experience on climate change, its causes, implications and solutions.” Cavan Communities 4 Climate Action programme participant. Cavan Communities 4 Climate Action programme participant. 

It was particularly difficult to promote the opportunities for LEADER funding to assist in developing climate solution type projects to the wider community. This approach, using the bottom-up-approach is about sharing knowledge and consulting with our local community with a view to harnessing their expertise to feed into a better future for us all (whether LEADER funded or through other supports). This training has empowered the community to put climate solutions forward for inclusion in the next local development strategy for LEADER in the Cavan LAG area. 

CCLD were delighted to deliver all 3 programmes, 1 online and 2 in a face-to face classroom environment. Once the enough interested in the training was garnered, with a target of approximately 20 participants per programme, the quality of the training took over and the level of engagement by the participants was encouraging. Because of the promotional activity, by using social media to attract participants, they attracted a good number of young people to participate in the training who became valued network members. The highlight of each of the 3 course’s was a full day trip to Cloughjordan Ecovillage (www.thevillage.ie ). Cloughjordan is an internationally recognised destination for learning about sustainable living and climate action.  

CCLD believes that these courses have improved climate literacy and understanding of climate action in the county. As a result of the course, they are building a network of Cavan citizens interested in local climate action and they wish to build on this success through the next Cavan Local Development Strategy (2024 – 2027 LEADER programme). 

The development and implementation of Climate solutions among our communities are pertinent at this time of crisis. It is important that LEADER provides communities with the supports, training, access to expertise and funding to implement climate solutions in their communities.  The template of this training could be adapted and implemented in any LAG EU wide.   

Pictures 

Please watch this video clip which shows the reaction of course participants as they commenced their climate action journey on this training programme in Cavan: https://fb.watch/e7N8nS4XVv/