PPN Members Meet the Wicklow County Council Climate Team
On Saturday 23rd March Wicklow Public Participation Network (PPN) welcomed member groups from across the county to An Tairseach Organic Farm & Ecology Centre to meet the Wicklow County Council Climate Action Team.
The members of the Climate Action Team present on the day included Mark Costello, Climate Action Coordinator, Jim Callery, Climate Action Officer, Julie Sammiller, Community Climate Action Officer, and Sarah Rubalcava, Environmental Awareness Officer. Each individual team member described their role and participants were given an insight to their areas of expertise and their current and future work.
Jim Callery presented the new Climate Action Plan outlining work programmes under the five core themes of the plan.
Julie updated participants on the Community Climate Action Fund, thanking all the community groups that submitted applications. She informed the meeting that a process of screening and evaluation of project applications has commenced within the local authority and this process is expected to conclude in early May. Following the evaluation in Wicklow, a list of recommended projects will be forwarded to the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment for departmental consideration. It is expected that applicants which have been deemed successful will be notified by late summer/ early autumn.
Mark advised those present of the new Biodiversity Officer, Hannah O’ Kelly, who unfortunately could not attend on the day, and provided information about her work.
Participants also got to meet Breege Kilkenny, Director of Services and Marc Devereux, Senior Engineer for Climate, Environment, Recreation and Amenity.
A question and answer session highlighted the need to increase communication on Climate Change and Climate Action in the county and demonstrated a commitment by all to deepen our engagement on Climate Action, utilising all resources available to build a better future for the county. Participants had an opportunity to chat with members of the team informally during a guided tour of An Tairseach’s farm and shop and over lunch. All were very impressed with An Tairseach’s production of a diverse range of organic produce and the facilities in the Ecology Centre.
Grainne Quinn from Wicklow PPN said “It was wonderful to meet so many people and learn about the amazing work that community groups are doing to try to mitigate against climate change and biodiversity loss. The information sharing and interaction between the community groups and the local authority staff was very encouraging, and we hope the networking and peer support between the groups continues. Wicklow PPN will continue to facilitate these connections going forward”.
Breege Kilkenny, Director of Services, Wicklow County Council said “Climate Change and Biodiversity loss affects everyone, and we need a diverse response to its challenges, developed in collaboration with communities. This will allow us work together to deliver on the opportunities for a decarbonised future, that maintains well-being for all in the county, while restoring the capacity of our natural systems to respond to changes in our climate. The community engagement in developing the Climate Action Plan was very encouraging and we are grateful to Wicklow PPN for helping us to keep these lines of communication and connection open. We look forward to continuing this engagement and working with community groups to implement the actions in our Plans and strategies.”
Click HERE to access the presentation from this event.
