Latest Laois Event: Workshop tour supporting Community engagement with Peatlands comes to Laois

Midlands Workshop tour supporting community engagement with Peatlands

Connecting Communities with Peatlands, which launched 18th October in Co. Offaly, is beginning a workshop tour of the Midlands. The Just Transition Fund project, led by Irish Rural Link (IRL)– the national network representing the interest of rural communities and the Community Wetlands Forum (CWF) – a representative platform for community-led conservation groups will host workshops in Laois, Offaly, Longford, Roscommon, East Galway, North Tipperary, Kildare and Westmeath over the coming weeks.

The workshops aim to assess community need for training to engage with their local peatland, whether it be through citizen science, building a boardwalk, or learning more about the ecology of peatlands.

The workshops take place in each county throughout the month of November into early December.

The priority of Connecting Communities with Peatlands is to provide community transitioning supports to community-led groups in the Wider Midlands region by supporting community engagement with peatlands.

A Just Transition refers to the ‘transition’ or change that a community experiences when climate action policies impact the community’s economic and social activities. Communities in the Midlands have been impacted by the closure of peat harvesting plants and the move away from extracting and burning peat for energy to establish renewable energy sources and rehabilitate peatlands for the storage of carbon, in line with National and EU climate action policies. This kind of transition can be very difficult for communities if the process does not include them.

Irish Rural Link and the Community Wetlands Forum realise the importance of community involvement in conservation of peatlands. The intended outcome of the project is to have community groups across the Midlands engaging in their own projects in relation to their local peatland, which in turn can support the local economy.

You can register for the workshops on Eventbrite by following this link here.

Community groups interested in engaging with their local peatland and individuals who may own peatland are encouraged to participate in ‘Connecting Communities with Peatlands’ and can contact aoife@irishrurallink.ie for further information on the project and on upcoming workshops.