May 31, 2010

EPA National Research Conference 2010 - ‘Science into Action for a Sustainable Ireland’ 23rd June


EPA National Research Conference 2010 - 'Science into Action for a Sustainable Ireland', 23rd June 2010 in Croke Park Conference Centre

As Ireland works towards economic recovery, there is a determination that future development is sustainable. This conference will highlight the knowledge developed under EPA-funded research and demonstrate its application to delivering a sustainable Ireland. 

Following opening addresses from John Gormley, Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government; Dr Mary Kelly, EPA Director General, a keynote address on 'Science into Action for a Sustainable Ireland' will set the conference theme. A series of parallel sessions will then examine key environmental issues in the context of a sustainable future: 

·       Planning for a New Ireland

·       Protecting our Natural Resources

·       Emerging Environment and Health Issues

·       Advances in Water and Wastewater Management

·       Research Supporting Better Regulation

·       Greening Irish Enterprise

This programme will be complemented by flash presentations and poster displays to further showcase ongoing work.

For more information and to register, please go to: http://www.eventelephant.com/EPA_ResearchConference2010



May 26, 2010

The Big Jump: Take the plunge! July 11th at 15.00h

 

Everybody will swim in the rivers the same day, at the same hour, in all the European rivers, from the sources and the glaciers to the oceans.

 

The Big Jump: Take the plunge!

Rivers are the irreplaceable arteries of Europe which move across all

boundaries, sustaining people, communities, businesses, and our

ecosystems.

This summer, hundreds of thousands of Europeans will

simultaneously jump into Europe's major rivers and lakes, all at the

same time on the same day, showing their support for protecting and

improving the health of Europe's water.

July 11th at 15.00h

For too long politicians have failed to live up to their promises on protecting Europe's waters. The Big

Jump is a huge, wet wake up call that people from all across Europe want their rivers and lakes back

in a clean, healthy state.

Wake up the politicians and make that splash!

Right now, many rivers and lakes are in a poor state due to pollution from unsustainable industrial

and agricultural activities and other human impacts. Important progress has been made in the last

decade, but there is still a clear need for increased action if Europe is to achieve the water targets

politicians committed themselves to (established in the EU's Water Framework Directive).

During this International Year of Biodiversity, the Big Jump is a huge opportunity to tell Europe's

leaders that they must take more action for supporting life in our waters – and that we to have more

clean river to jump into in five years time!

In 2005, 250,000 people from all corners of Europe took part in this action, and 2010 promises to be

an even bigger event. The 2010 Jump could trigger a huge European-wide water restoration effort, if

we make a big enough splash! Join us!

How to participate?

Associations, companies, municipalities, sports clubs & individuals are all welcome to celebrate and jump!

Check out our website for jumping sites in your region.

You can also organise and coordinate an event yourself, big or small, even with your family and friends. Jump

into a river or a lake, organise a temporary river beach, a debate or a party on the riverbank. Even if you can't

swim in the water, something can be done to highlight the problem.

Your event presents a great opportunity to show local problems and innovative local solutions for your country

and for Europe.

Interested? Please check our website, contact us and spread the word!

Information: infos_bigjump@ern.org, - www.bigjump.org (English, French & German)

Overall Coordination: European Rivers Network (ERN)

Follow us on Facebook!

Main Partners: European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

 


May 25, 2010

Brown Envelope Seeds Open Day 6th June at 3pm


Brown Envelope Seeds Open Day will take place on Sunday 6th June at 3pm

All are invited to walk around the gardens, where all our seed is grown, the farm, where we produce organic beef, and the young broad-leaf forestry plantation.

There will be a working horse demonstration by Sandra Schmid, and Catherine Fennell will be signing her new book 'Home Grow & Cook What You Sow'.

There is no charge for the event. All are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Directions: To get here you drive towards Ballydehob form Skibbereen on the N71 until you pass Church Cross post office and Aughadown church, on your right which is about 4 miles. Then you turn left for Loughmarsh, Lisheen, Cunnamore Turk head etc. Pass Lisheen school and church until you get to Minihanes pub. Then turn left after the pub following the sign post for Turk Head. After about a mile you will come to a crooked crossroads where you go straight again following the sign for Turk Head. After that my house is the fourth on the right about another half a mile. When you see the see the Brown Envelope Seeds sign you are here. Its about 3 miles off the main road which is further than most people expect.

Anyone interested in taking part in a working horse workshop, on the day, should contact Sandra at bluedoor@eircom.net 027 66472



May 24, 2010

E-Working/Remote Working in West Cork


The West Cork Development Partnership invites you to a launch of a report on the potential for E-Working/Remote Working in West Cork by Batt O'Keeffe, T.D.,  Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Innovation

Date: Monday, 31st May, 2010

Location: Castle Hotel, Macroom

Time: 2pm

 

The report, commissioned by the West Cork Development Partnership and

conducted by PA Consulting,  explores the opportunities for the continuing

development of e-working in the West Cork region. Its content explores:

· Definitions  and suitability of e-working in a local context

· Mapping of available broadband by type and location

· Benefits, productivity gains and the creation of an E-working environment

· E-worker skillsets and availability in West Cork

 

The full report will be launched on the day and can be downloaded directly from www.wcdp.ie free of charge following the launch

 

To attend please contact Lisa Cashman at  023 8834035 or lisac@wcdp.ie.

 

 


May 20, 2010

Bike Maintenance Course Cork City

Cork Community Bikes Workshop

We have had enough interest in a bike maintenance course over the past few weeks to start a course. I would suggest an evening course over three weeks. This will cover the basics of bicycle maintenance. If people want to learn more we can extend it for another two weeks.

The course will cover:

- Basic safety check / Maintenance- oil & clean
- Tube repair / tyre replacement / wheel alignment
- Brakes : systems and adjustments
- Gears : systems and adjustments

The learning outcomes would be that you should be able to maintain your bicycle in safe working order and be able to make basic adjustments to you bicycle yourself. You should also be able to identify when your bike needs a service.

Cost: €30 for the three sessions.

Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm

Location: Cork Community Bikes Workshop
http://www.corkfoyer.ie/foyer/contact/index.shtml

Dates: Any weekday evening.

Those who are interested please get back to me with evenings that
would suit and I will see if we can find an evening to suit everybody.

Bring your own bike or that of your nearest and dearest to get the
most out of it.

Thanks,

Garrett Blake
085 7517 463


Dunmanway Jobs and Training Forum

Dunmanway Job Seeking, Enterprise, Employment & Training Forum

 

Public Information Morning

 

Friday 28th May 2010 from 10.00am to 2.00pm

Euro Bar  – Function Room

The Square, Dunmanway

 

 

Agencies, organisations and services will be present to meet with members of the public.

 

 

Come along and find out what support and opportunities are available to you. 

 

Light refreshments and children's play area provided

 

 

Agencies present on the day will include

 


·         Dunmanway Family Resource Centre

·         Dunmanway Enterprise Network

·         Dunmanway Adult Basic Education Service

·         Dunmanway Community Council

·         Dunmanway Credit Union

·         Maria Immaculata Community College

·         West Cork Citizens Information Service

·         West Cork Development Partnership

·         And many more

 

·         West Cork Enterprise Board

·         National Learning Network

·         F.Á.S

·         Community Welfare Services

·         Employability Service West Cork

·         County Cork VEC Adult Education

·         Department of Social Protection

·         Bank of Ireland

 

May 14, 2010

World Naked Bike Ride in Cork!

If anybody is interested, the World Naked Bike Ride is coming to Cork again this year, early in the morning of Monday 19th July. People can join up for it either by emailing the WNBR Collective at myrebelcounty@gmail.com or if you are on Facebook, by joining the page at http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=938#!/profile.php?id=100001105208007&ref=profile

Over 150 people have signed up so far so it should be a fairly impressive gathering. The WNBR is a global movement against car culture. Tons more information about it can be found on Wikipedia.
__._,_.___


Mapping the Golden Circle

New research by equality think-tank TASC:

Bantry House Country Courses


 

Just launched:

One day courses this summer at Bantry House:

* Bee Keeping
* Working Horses
* Organic Gardening
* Willow Basket making
* Keeping Organic Poultry
* Orchards and Fruit Trees

All the courses include lunch in the Bantry House café.

You will find full details on how to book, prices, dates and course
tutor profiles on the website:

http://bantryhousecountrycourses.com

May 13, 2010

'Building a Cycling Culture: A Sociological Exploration of the Issues'

"Annual Research Lecture" of the Dublin Cycling Campaign:

The talk will be presented by Dr. David Horton (University of Lancaster, UK) and it is entitled 'Building a Cycling Culture: A Sociological Exploration of the Issues'.

It takes place in TCD on 20 May in the Edmund Burke theatre in TCD's Arts Building (lower ground floor) at 7:30 pm and entry is free. You are most welcome to attend.

Please note there is no car parking on the campus but those who come by bike are well catered for!


May 12, 2010

Transition Day and the Island Gathering


Below information on this yeas Convergence Sustainable Living Festival.
I always find the event great for re-energising and I would recommend it to all of you.
This year I am also on the other side of the fence facilitating the workshop on Community Energy.  
Please spread the information to your group and organisations.

'A Day In Transition' From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience
The Greenhouse, St Andrew St. Dublin 2
€10  * Saturday 30th May 2020 * 11.00 – 18.30– only 100 places. See www.cultivate.ie for full details

The aim of this day is to bring Transition initiatives from around the island together to share what is working and what is not, to introduce the process to those getting started and to explore ways forward in Ireland. As well as the scheduled workshops, there will be exhibits, ongoing discussions and information sharing throughout the day. If you are in transition, thinking about it or want to know more, come along.

11.00 Community Media – Building our capacity to communicate our message and utilise local and community media.
11.00 Community Resilience – The story of Cloughjordan Ecovillage and the building of sustainable community.
11.00 Creative Recycling – Turning waste into useful products. Workshop for 10 to 18 year olds.

13.00 Community Food – Exploring the benefits of setting up gardens and food systems in the community.
13.00 Community Energy – An introduction to the potential of anaerobic digestion.
13.00 Reskilling with Re-dress - A hands-on workshop in basic alterations... buttons, seams and hems.

15.00 Community Currencies - Stories of experiments in making our own money.
15.00 In Transition – Screening of the first detailed film about the international Transition movement.
15.00 Community Supported Agriculture – Stories of CSAs from North Tipperary and West Cork.

17.00 Getting into Transition – Stories from around Ireland, training opportunities and details on how to set up a Transition initiative.

This is part of the Convergence Festival see www.cultivate.ie


Bandon Community Allotments Open Day Sunday 16th May 1.30 pm


*Bandon Community Allotments Open Day Sunday 16th May 1.30 pm*

Bandon Community Allotments is a not for profit, community organised project
offering food growing plots to the people of Bandon. On Sunday 16th May 2010
we are officially launching the Allotments with a *Grow Together Community
Picnic*. Come along to tour the allotments and join in the celebrations.
Plenty of family entertainment on the day with music, face painting, fun
games and competitions like Wellie Throwing, Wheelbarrow Races, Tug O War,
Make your own Scarecrow, prizes and more. Bring a picnic!

Thanks and congratulations to the small group of dedicated people that have
helped to bring this about and to Cork County Council for making the land
available. The allotment garden is located in Cloughmacsimon – a short
distance off the bypass, right behind Coláiste Na Toirbhirte. It's set on a
gentle south facing slope,  with well drained light soil that should produce
some superb veggies. There's compost available on site and work will shortly
begin on creating a new entrance, car park, perimeter fencing and water
supply. Plots are available in 2 sizes 5x7m for €80pa or 5x10m for €100pa.

www.bandoncommunityallotments.com or email bandontransition@gmail.com or
Transition Bandon on Facebook or tel: 0238852922 for more details




May 11, 2010

Confirmation of Irish Environmental History Network Meeting, May 13th


I'm pleased to confirm that volcanic ash from the Icelandic eruption
does not look like interfering with our next meeting of the Irish
Environmental History Network, which will feature a talk by Dr. R.
Linden Kay of the UK's National Environmental Research Council (NERC),
on "Infrastructure for Collaborative Environmental Research". The talk
will take place this Thursday (the 13th) from 4pm in Trinity College,
Dublin, in the Arts Block, Floor 6, in the IIIS room.

All are welcome, and some more details about NERC and Linden's
interests can be found below.

http://www.tcd.ie/longroomhub/iehn/

***
NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research,
training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences, and
coordinates some of the world's most exciting research projects,
tackling major issues such as climate change and environmental
influences on human health.
More information about NERC, including a short introductory video, can
be found at the link below.

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/about/work/whatwedo/

Linden is particularly interested in promoting collaboration between
Ireland and the UK through NERC.


Convergence Festival Dublin 27-28th May Tipperary 31st May-1st June



Convergence is Cultivate's annual sustainable living festival,  please contact Mike at mike@cultivate.ie or by mobile: +353 (0) 86 7835595 for further details. 

Thursday 27th May

13.30 – 17.00 | €Free | Cultivate | Greening our Communities: An EPA Sponsored Green Communities Network Event

The Green Communities Network is a joint initiative of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the EPA and An Taisce to encourage the growth of green communities in Ireland.  The objective of the network is to radically increase the numbers of individuals and communities living, working and playing in a more environmentally sustainable manner to bring about real and measurable reductions in environmental impact in areas such as waste, energy usage, water usage and carbon footprint. 

But what are the hallmarks of a green community? There may already be communities in Ireland that are well on their way to being 'green' and environmentally sustainable.  This half day session will bring together community and environmental initiatives from around Ireland to enquire into what it means to be a 'green community' and explore strategies for our communities, in the broadest sense, to become green, smart and sustainable.

20.00 – 21.30 | €10 / €5 | Cultivate | The Green New Deal from Below:  Cooperative and Bottom-Up Opportunities of the Green Economy

Gavin Harte the former National Director of An Taisce and the founder of the eco-village in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary will facilitate this panel discussion and conversation into the potential for grassroots, community and cooperative approaches to a Green New Deal. Panelists include Duncan Stewart, broadcaster and environmental activist; Ann Irwin, the National Co-ordinator of the Community Workers Cooperative; Ray Doyle from ICOS, the umbrella organisation for co-operatives in Ireland; Shirley Gallagher, a social entrepreneur and manager of the Cleantech Network supporting SMEs in Ireland; and Chris O'Leary, a former Cork City Councillor with a background in cooperatives and community organising.

Friday 28th May

Bottom of Form

09.00 – 17.00 | €60 / €40 | Cultivate | Rethinking the City - 'The Resilient City': How Do We Creatively Transform Our Cities to be Green, Smart and Sustainable? | Full Schedule & Registration Form

This conference brings together stakeholders from a wide variety of sectors for a radical rethink on how we transform our cities to be green, smart and sustainable in these challenging times.

What are the converging challenges facing our cities? What actions and changes do we need to make to future proof our buildings, develop smarter transport systems, and heat and power our neighborhoods? How do we reduce our energy dependency, reduce carbon emissions and build resilience in our cities? How do we motivate people to participate in addressing the ever more complex problems facing us today?  All of this requires a systemic and multi-disciplinary approach to enable the development of sustainability and resilience in our communities. This Convergence conference brings the ideas and people together to explore how we do this.

19.30 – 21.30 | €5 | Wood Quay Venue | The Creative City – People and Places: With David Engwicht - Creative Communities International

Ever wondered what it might be like to live in a city that encourages people to reach their fullest creative potential?  What would such a city look like?  How would it feel to live in such a city?  David Engwicht, artist, writer and street philosopher, unpacks what it takes for a city to become a creative city and why every resident has the power to make their city a place that nurtures the creativity of its residents.

The Wood Quay Venue is located in Dublin City Council Civic Offices in the heart of the city. The entrance to Wood Quay Venue is from the walkway directly behind the amphitheatre in the Civic Offices Park.

Monday 31st May

Cultivate and Tipperary Institute present…

09.00 – 17.00 | €Free | Tipperary Institute, Thurles, Co Tipperary | Rethinking Education for a Sustainable Ireland

What are the models of education we need to meet the challenges of today?
How do we transform our education system to help us move towards a sustainable Ireland?
How can we ensure that learners and educators are equipped to deal with future shocks?

This conference brings educators, learners, state and civil society organisations together to…

  • Challenge the dominant educational paradigm
  • Explore the education needed for developing resilience and sustainability
  • Highlight and promote innovative and successful approaches to learning

Tuesday 1st June

Cultivate, Tipperary Institute, Sustainable Projects Ireland Ltd. and Carnegie UK Trust Present…

10.00 – 16.00 | €30 | St Kieran's Hall, Cloughjordan | Investing in Ourselves: Realising Jobs and Capital for Communities

This event explores how to enhance community assets and create jobs and livelihoods in our localities. Topics covered include social finance, mutuality, cooperatives, community land trusts, asset development, energy bonds and other ways for communities to invest in themselves and become economically viable.   Programme includes:

  • Designing Financial Institutions for a Shrinking Economy, Richard Douthwaite, FEASTA
  • Identifying, Utilising and Optimising Community Assets, Kate Braithwaite, Carnegie UK Trust
  • Development of Community Land Trusts, Bob Paterson, Community Finance Solutions, UK

... plus case studies, the launch of the Carnegie Manifesto for Rural Communities and a tour of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage.


SmartOcean Strategy



SmartOcean: Harnessing Ireland's Potential as a European and Global Centre for Ocean Technology

A major innovation strategy, designed to bring together two of Ireland's greatest assets – its ICT sector and marine natural resources - was recently released for consultation. The SMARTOCEAN Strategy was compiled by a Working Group comprised of representatives of companies, research institutes and State agencies that have identified ocean innovation as a possible 'game changer' for Ireland, by focussing our existing ICT cluster and significant investments in science and technology on our 220 million acre marine resource.  Ireland now has the opportunity to utilise its largest natural resource – the ocean – as a catalyst for innovation and to leverage opportunities to develop new products and services for global markets in marine renewable energy, environmental monitoring, and water management as well as established markets in oil and gas, aquaculture, maritime transport, tourism, and the management of coastal erosion. 

Submissions to the draft consultation document are invited from all interested parties. Details may be viewed at www.marine.ie/home/SmartOceanI.htm.   The full programme for the SmartOcean Workshop is available to download from: http://www.marine.ie/home/SmartOcean.htm



May 10, 2010

Food Security & Climate Change Conference


CONFERENCE 
Food Security & Climate Change in Africa -
A Community Solution

Africa Day

  

This event is open to the public, and is available to attend free of charge.

It is being held as part of a nationwide programme of activities taking place in Ireland to celebrate 'Africa Day. 

To find out more about this year's Africa Day programme click on the link above.

Self Help Africa & Climate Change

Read more about Self Help Africa's work on climate change adaptation.  Follow the link below:

Climate Change adaptation
"Food Security & Climate Change in Africa" is the subject for a conference to take place at University College, Dublin, on May 20th next.

The event is being organised by Self Help Africa in association with the School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine at UCD, who will host the event.

It is being held as part of the programme of events taking place nationally to mark 'Africa Day',  and will be opened by Minister of State for Overseas Development Mr. Peter Power. 
Participants :

Professor John Sweeney -  
One of Ireland's leading climatologists, Prof. Sweeney is a lecturer at NUI Maynooth. He was one of a panel of scientists to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their work on climate change, and has worked in Africa.
Prof Mike Gibney -  Prof Gibney is a leading international authority on human nutrition, and a lecturer at UCD's School of Agriculture and Food Sciences. He was a member of the Irish Government's Hunger Task Force. 
William Chadza -  Director of CEPA, the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy in Malawi, Mr. Chadza is an advocate for climate change adaptation, and a campaigner for government policy development in this area.
Eric Yao -  The Co-ordinator of The Africa Centre, Dublin,  Mr. Yao also owns a farm in Ghana,  and can speak at first hand of the effect that climate change has had on his activities.   
Jenny Rafanomezana - Policy & research co-ordinator at Self Help Africa, Ms Rafanomezana will speak about community led adaptation measures being implemented to assist small-holder farmers to adapt to a changing climate.


To find out more about this event and to notify us of your interest in attending, click on the link below. This event is a free admission event, with seats assigned on a
first come, first served basis.
More Information
Self Help Africa - Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.  Reg. Charity Number 6663               www.selfhelpafrica.org

Irish Environmental History Network Meeting, May 13th


The Irish Environmental History Network is pleased to announce that
its next meeting will feature a talk by Dr. R. Linden Kay of the UK's
National Environmental Research Council (NERC), on "Infrastructure for
Collaborative Environmental Research".

NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research,
training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences, and
coordinates some of the world's most exciting research projects,
tackling major issues such as climate change and environmental
influences on human health. More information about NERC, including a
short introductory video, can be found at the link below.

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/about/work/whatwedo/

Linden is particularly interested in promoting collaboration between
Ireland and the UK through NERC, and the meeting is open to anyone
interested in attending. It is to be held in Trinity College, the Arts
Block, Floor 6, in the IIIS room, Thursday May 13th, from 4pm. There
is slight uncertainty about this date and time thanks to the Icelandic
volcano, but the date and time will be confirmed on the 12th.

Irish Environmental History Network website: http://www.tcd.ie/longroomhub/iehn/


May 7, 2010

New videos on our blog: Allotments and Community Supported Agriculture

We've just posted some great new videos on our blog from the Growing Together event on 6th March which was co-hosted by SECAD.

These are of the talks on Allotments by Eoin O'Callaghan and on Community Supported Agriculture by John Dolan.

They can be found here.

Environmental Pillar: Some Environmental Resources

Dear All

 

I hope you have all had a good Spring.  I am writing now to offer a couple of resources that you might like to connect with.

 

The first is the IEN weekly newsletter.  IEN is the Irish Environmental Network, and is the body that acts as secatariat for the Pillar.  You can subscribe to the newsletter and indeed contribute to it.  You will find it at www.ien.ie

 

The second is the quarterly magazine produced by Comhar, the National Sustainable Development Council, which highlights actual best practice examples from around the country.  Comhar are very keen to get input to the magazine, and the Pillar would recommend that you engage with this possibility, as it is a free way of propagating key actions for change.  To find out more please visit http://www.comharsdc.ie/themes/index.aspx?TAuto=9 

 

Finally, Ireland is in serious trouble at the ECJ (European Court of Justice) on a range of environmental issues.  At the beginning of this year the state had the highest number (c.25% of the total against all states) of cases in the second stage of prosecution, which leads to fines.

The latest news on this is:

Ireland is facing a trip to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and possible fines for ignoring a ruling urging it to comply with environmental impact assessment legislation.

On Wednesday, the European Commission said Ireland had still not changed its law to make sure fish farm developments undergo impact assessments before approval. It urged the member state to comply as soon as possible to avoid possible fines.

 

 

 

Kind regards

 

 

Michael Ewing

Coordinator

Environmental Pillar

of Social Partnership

Knockvicar

Boyle

Co Roscommon

Tel: 00353 (0)71 9667373

Mob: 00353 (0)86 8672153

Skype name: michaelk.ewing

www.environmentalpillar.ie

 


May 5, 2010

Open Food Forum



A Taste of West Cork food festival takes place this September and an open forum for this year's festival will be held in the West Cork Hotel at 8 p.m. on Thursday May 6th to which everyone is welcome. This is a call for anyone connected with food, growers, fishermen, farmers, retailers, restaurateurs, chefs, nutritionists, distributors or anyone simply mad about food to come along on Thursday night to an open forum. Have your say about what you want from the food festival, what you would like to see and how we can make it better. There will be some interesting speakers (short speeches assured!) and a very warm welcome. A Taste of West Cork food festival is for the people of West Cork so come along and help make the 2010 festival an even greater event for everyone. Refreshments will be served.

May 4, 2010

Courses in May at The Hollies


Courses in May at The Hollies:
for more info and for bookings please visit
 
www.theholliesonline.com or ring 023 8847001

Email: info@theholliesonline.com

Wild Food Foraging

9 May 2010
9.30 am – 5 pm
This course is specifically open to families. It is also mainly
outdoors. If the weather forecast is particularly wet for the day we'll
postpone it and arrange an alternative day.
If you bring children you will be responsible for them. For collecting
seaweed we'll be walking between rocks at low tide. This may influence
your decision on the age of children you feel confident to bring.
Booking is essential, as we need to know how many people come.
We'll meet at Long Strand near Rathbarry (on the cliff side) and
collect a variety of edible seaweed and other seaside plants. After
this we'll drive to The Hollies and visit two other places where we'll
collect different plants. This will ensure that you'll get to know
plants from a variety of habitats.
In this course you'll learn to identify many edible plants visible in
this season, how to prepare and eat them. At the same time we'll point
out which plants are poisonous.
You'll also learn about some medicinal uses.
Lunch is included in the course fee. In fact, you'll be part of
preparing it by using the plants we collect.
We'll also show you how to use specific plant identification books in
order to deepen your learning.
This course will inspire you to continue your path of food foraging.
Course fee: generally € 60 per adult, teenagers € 20, children under 13
free…if in doubt talk to us

Growing Food in a Polytunnel

A 1/2 day course with Selvi Iyilikci and John Conway.

Saturday,15th May 9.30 am – 1.30 pm

Cost: €40

Growing food indoors in a green house or polytunnel brings an exciting
addition to your garden. You can enjoy vegetables throughout the year:
a variety of tender crops in summertime, delicious greens, herbs and
lettuces in wintertime.

 We will look at how to put up a polytunnel,different ways of
'protected' cropping,seed propagation and successional sowing which
enables you to continuously harvest and abundance of vegetables
throughout the year.

Selvi and John have been building up a successful market garden over
the past few years, are selling on farmers markets and are running a
veggie box scheme.



Forest Garden Course

1-day Edible Forest Garden Workshop

Saturday June 5th 10.30am - 4.30pm

with Graham Strouts
Derryduff Mor, Coomhola, Bantry

Come and enjoy a day at Graham's Permaculture Plot in the beautiful
Coomhola valley, near Bantry, to learn how to design an edible
permaculture food forest with perennial vegetables and ground covers,
trees, bamboos and fruit bushes, and get hands on experience of no-dig,
no-weed methods.

Cost: €40 waged, €25 unwaged. Places limited, please book early:
Contact: Graham Strouts email: graham@zone5.org <mailto:graham@zone5.org>

Phone 086 8539900 or 027 66931

Please bring outdoor work clothes and boots and packed lunch. Tea and
coffee provided


Scenario Planning Workshop: West Cork – A 2020 Vision


The West Cork Development Partnership will host an intensive two day Regional Scenario Planning Workshop on Thursday 20th and Friday 21stMay, 2010.    Details of which are as follows:

Venue: Inchydoney Lodge and Spa Hotel, Clonakilty

Time: Thursday 20th May 9.30-4.30 and Friday 21st May 9-3.30 pm

Cost : 20euros  for lunch (only payable in advance)

By drawing together community, economic, social and environmental issues, the workshop will seek to create a powerful future planning tool and visioning framework that will:

  • Deepen an understanding of how global events and conditions shape local decision making
  • Identify and understand the key influences, trends and dynamics that will shape West Cork over the next 20 years.
  • Create and describe four plausible long term scenario's for the West Cork vision
  • Seek to develop  a shared vision for the region.

The success of the workshop will require participation from a broad range of local stakeholders including but not limited to the Public Sector; Community Organisations; Local Authorities; Youth; Health and Social Care; Environmental, Enterprise and Business Networks as well as representatives of Key Local Economic Sectors, Information Technology, Advocacy and Cultural Organisations.  For further information on the workshop, its context, structure and objectives please contact Ian Dempsey at 023/8834035 or ian@wcdp.ie.

Interested parties who would like to participate over the two days should contact Charmaine Brosnan at 023/8834035 or charmaine@wcdp.ie for an application form.

Attendance at the workshop will be strictly limited to pre-registered and approved applicants who can commit to full and active participation on both dates.