Ireland's Greenest Town

Project

267548

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

Ireland's Greenest Town

Full concept/idea title

Description

Ireland's Greenest Town is an initiative for Ballina to become a model town for the green transition. By creating a shared vision for an inclusive, sustainable, net zero and ultimately green future we align community and government action in a way that maximizes their potential. Combined with a 'total' approach to the transition where Energy, Mobility, Economy, Ecology and People are considered holistically, this creates a powerful momentum for the green transition that is inspiring real change.

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

Ireland's Greenest Town is an initiative for Ballina to become a model town for the green transition. By creating a shared vision for an inclusive, sustainable, net zero and ultimately green future we align community and government action in a way that maximizes their potential. Combined with a 'total' approach to the transition where Energy, Mobility, Economy, Ecology and People are considered holistically, this creates a powerful momentum for the green transition that is inspiring real change. Ballina has a high unemployment, a high vacancy rate, fuel poverty and little public space. Although there is a high level of disadvantage in the town, there is also a great community spirit with various grassroots groups driving change by organizing clean-ups and preserving areas for nature. The concept for Ballina to become Ireland's Greenest Town is to harness that community spirit towards a shared goal, one that can be all encompassing and town wide. This shared goal allows all members of the community to contribute and is supported by best practice in the form of an umbrella framework. The framework is designed by urban and sustainability specialist with the input of the community and local authority. From this vision we are beginning to see individual action that aligns with the overall ambition. An important part of getting buy-in has been to show that going green means improving individual lives in terms of well being, prosperity and connection to nature. By clearly illustrating this and defining pathways for how we can realize this, we have achieved a high level of buy-in. This is allowing us to realize the beautiful, sustainable, green future that we know is needed while also empowering the people of the town to improve their lives for the better. Individual behaviors and mindsets are critical to realizing the green transition. Our ideas is simple. Collective Vision = Collective Action.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

Total Approach We are proposing a 'total' approach to sustainability and the green transition. Transformation on the scale required has many opportunities for the economy, society and the environment. If these are understood in a holistic manner, where changes in energy systems also consider the potential for biodiversity and new forms of economy for example, the rate of transition is not only accelerated, it’s amplified. This total approach means a more effective use of resources giving ‘more bang for your buck’. When a solar farm integrates the principals of agrivoltaics or when new cycle-way infrastructure is used as an opportunity to create an ecological corridor, the whole become more than the sum of its parts. Through the alignment of action in the Ballina towards the goal of becoming Ireland's Greenest Town, we are able to push green initiative and overlap opportunities. Strategic Approach - using best practice We have identified 5 core areas for the green transition, Energy, Mobility, Economy, Ecology and People. For each of these we have one high level and measurable target that allows is to focus our action. For example, from a mobility point, we want to become a 10min town. To archive each target we have 3 strategies that crucially work on an individual and a town wide level. This gives us the ability to communicate simply and give clear direction and support to achieving the goals. The strategic approach is taking the form of an action plan document which on a local authority level is identifying key projects and policies to achieve the transition and on an individual or group level is giving a guidance and support to empower grassroots action.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

Redefining what it means to be green and sustainable is a critical part to the success of the initiative. Typically green policies or projects are not always well received in lower socio-economic communities like Ballina where they are either seen as not being relevant to the individual or worse, they are seen as reducing your quality of life by restricting usage of resources. So how do we change peoples perception of sustainability to one that's positive? When wind turbines are constructed by a private company for commercial gain, a community will object on an aesthetic point of them ruining the landscape. But when the energy is community owned, there are no such objections. A critical aspect the the success of sustainable projects from a community perspective is visualizing their benefit for the individuals and the community. This approach of visualizing the benefits of sustainable practices and technologies has been key to the development of the initiative and achieving buy-in from all the stakeholders. We show how mico-generation can be empowering, how shared space can be exciting, how walking and cycling can be liberating and how a bio-divers Ballina can be beautiful. Now that people see these potentials they are excited to make them real. We have set the ambition to be realized through the projects which are being defined and the community action which is inspired by the vision.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

Community action and empowerment was the inspiration behind the initiative and it is the continuous source of it's energy. In order to realize the transition to a green future, we must align all our efforts. From the bottom-up, this means empowering individuals and groups by setting up pilot projects, giving supports  in the form of expertise, connections and funding possibilities and providing a ‘how to’ toolbox  of ideas and methods to get things moving. Community champions are already coming forward with projects that contribute to the vision such as the Ballina Sensory Park. We are actively  working to foster these self-initiated projects and create a ‘green ecosystem’ that encourages this community activism. In setting out the action plan document, we are hosting community engagement & participation workshops where we are encouraging locals to think about the future of the town and make proposals for the green transition. The results of this co-design will be reflected in the action plan. These have been digital but as we ease covid restrictions, they will also be held physically. We have also set up a comity for the initiative with a wide base of community representation that includes minority ethnic and religious groups and aims for gender equality. This comity is envisioned as a representative body that puts forward the views of the community and also feeds back the projects of the initiative to the members of the community that they represent. We are aware that online communication isn't suitable for everyone so this is a critical network for us to ensure we are reaching everyone in the town. This initiative is about enabling a community to lead the way in the green transition while improving their own lives. This can only be achieved through an inclusive process.

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

Collective Vision = Collective Action Most projects or plans towards a sustainable future start with an analysis of what needs to be done. While this is indeed needed, it misses an important point. Changing individual behaviors and mindsets is critical to realizing the green transition and this is not achieved by policy documents or high level plans. This is achieved by inspiring people to action and giving them ownership of the vision. Rather than starting with what needs to be done, we've started with why going green is going to benefit you, your family and your community. We start with why setting the ambition to become Ireland's Greenest Town is a goal that we should all work towards from an individual and community level to a local authority level. The shared vision becomes a tool that achieves stakeholder buy-in and creates an alignment between bottom up and top down action. By starting with a vision we have a momentum which is being built on by self-initiated actions. It's also become a way of attracting expertise and pro bono support from specialists that would not ordinarily work with a town like Ballina. These include a world-leading engineering firm, a world-leading architecture and urbanism firm, two national universities and a national energy supplier. The vision is a mechanism that allows us to be both bottom-up and top-down, individual and collective, expert and amateur. Asperation is a better future is one of the strongest human motivators to change and action. Ballina is aspiring to become Ireland's Greenest Town, to realize a more inclusive, beautiful and sustainable future.

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

Following the public presentation of the vision to become Ireland's Greenest Town in December of 2020, we have set up a representative comity, had the municipal district vote to adopt this as a goal to be realized by 2025, had a Green Town charters drawn up for the various stakeholder groups, had the formation of a community energy group, seen initiatives from various community groups, schools, clubs and businesses and had the offer of support from various experts to achieve the goal. In the coming months we will have the publication of a town wide bio-diversity plan and a community energy plan. We are currently in the process of securing funding for the completion of the action plan document which will be used as the main roadmap for the delivery of the ambition. This document is supported by the local authority with the input of the experts and community and this will define the key targets and projects need to achieve them. It will also map out the funding opportunities to bring this to realization. It's expected to be completed by the close of 2021. Parallel to this, other projects will be initiated which include a grassroots community empowerment strategy with the aim of helping support existing community actions and inspiring new ones. The third will focus on top down policy and the provision of physical Infrastructure with detailed plans for realization. These are expected to be finished by May 2022 Lastly, we are securing funding for a Green Town coordinator who will work on a full time basis to support the community activity, align with the local authority and ensure that the necessary projects get realized.

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.