Ireland's Greenest Town
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project 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, carbon free 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 pathway for the green transition that is inspiring real change
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
MOTIVATION THROUGH INSPIRATION
In early 2020, Inspired by an amazing grassroots effort in cleaning, greening and reviving Ballina, the idea for the town to become Ireland’s Greenest town was formed. This ambition is a response to the urgency of the current situation in relation to climate change but also a recognition of the huge social, economic and environmental opportunities that come with going green. The Ireland’s Greenest Town initiative is bringing all stakeholders together on this journey with the aim of empowering the community to take action on an individual level while defining town-wide strategies and projects to achieve our goal. Ballina understands that the future is green and is going to lead the way, becoming a model for the green transition by building an inclusive, sustainable carbon free future.
Key objectives for sustainability
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.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
A new beauty - Green beauty
Key objectives for inclusion
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.
Innovative character
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.
