Video of Seminar

Join Cork Environmental Forum and FEASTA (Foundation for Economic Sustainability) for our webinar BEYOND GDP, Governance and Budgeting for Well-being which will explore ways to transition to Well-being Governance and Budgeting in Ireland.  There is increasing acceptance that our current GDP-focused measurements of progress are a significant contributory factor to emerging environmental and social crises. At the same time citizens and policy makers are increasingly aware of the urgent need to identify and prioritise measures to improve health, care and quality of life.

In Ireland, the current government formation talks include discussions on how best to approach budgeting that will “focus on quality of life rather than economic growth”. The Irish political parties are joining the growing chorus of those who believe that a new direction is needed – “Our overriding focus is to improve the wellbeing of the Irish people and society………To assess the performance of a new Government, we must look beyond economic indicators. We will create new, credible, quality-of-life measures of individual and societal wellbeing and progress.” (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Draft Document to Establish a New Government)

This event is intended to support that process and will draw from experiences in Germany and Wales as well as updates on work in Ireland. Speakers include Dr Benjamin Held, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, FEST, Glyn Jones, Chief Statistician, Welsh Government and Sinead Bracken, Health Statistician, Central Statistics Office, Ireland. There will be a panel discussion moderated by Emeritus Professor John Sweeney.

Please book on Eventbrite and details on accessing the webinar will be forwarded to you.

The event is co-hosted by Cork Environmental Forum (www.cef.ie) and FEASTA – the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (www.feasta.org). It aims to stimulate  discourse on this very pertinent topic as we attempt to explore the tension in the current economic model and to look for more promising directions of travel.

This event will focus on what Ireland can learn from other countries who have already put in place a framework of measures for individual and societal well-being and progress. We will also hear what has been done to date, in particular, as regards environmental measurements and draw lessons from Ireland’s Wellbeing of the Nation Report.

Speakers

Glyn Jones, Prif Ystadegydd/Chief Statistician, Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

The Welsh Well-being of Future Generations Act aims to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales. The act establishes seven well-being goals as a shared vision for the public bodies of Wales. The Welsh Government has established National Indicators and Milestones to measure progress. The Auditor General and the Future Generations Commissioner help to ensure that the public bodies are accountable for their performance of the Act’s requirements. The most recent report, published by the Welsh National Statistics Office, is the Wellbeing of Wales Report, 2018-2019.

Glyn Jones has been the Director of the Wales National Statistics Office since 2013 and will speak about the progress in establishing and implementing Governance for Wellbeing in Wales.

Seminar Presentation

Benjamin Held, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, FEST
The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, Feasta, has been working with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, FEST, on the development of a composite indicator based on the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare Approach. This index has been adopted and implemented by a number of German Federal States, but not yet in Ireland. Benjamin Held will present the outcomes of this work in Germany.

Seminar Presentation

Sinead Bracken, Health Statistician CSO, Ireland
The Central Statistics Office, Ireland produced a Well Being State of the Nation Report in 2017. Sinead Bracken will present on the process that led to the development of the Irish Wellbeing Report and used to select the Wellbeing Indicators and the broad range of indicators that the CSO maintains in the Environmental Indicators Ireland Annual Report.

Seminar Presentation

Emeritus Professor John Sweeney
Emeritus Professor John Sweeney has been a member of the Geography Department at Maynooth University since 1978. John has taught courses in climatology, biogeography, geomorphology and environmental resource management at Maynooth University and a number of universities in North America and Africa. He has published over 100 scientific papers and authored/ edited/co-authored 4 texts on various aspects of climatology and climate change in Ireland. Professor Sweeney contributed to the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He is also a regular contributor to print and broadcast media on matters related to climate change science and policy and received the inaugural award for achievements in journalism from the European Meteorological Society in 2014.

Panel Discussion
Prof. Sweeney will moderate the Panel Discussion that will include questions from participants. Some aspects to be explored include;

· The factors that supported the establishment of Well Being Based Government
· The Process used to select the Well Being Indicators
· How successfully the Well Being Indicators have been incorporated into Government Budget Decisions?
· What have been the most striking findings so far from the existing well-being measurement programmes, with regard to the relationship between well-being, consumption levels and resource use?

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & RESOURCES

Beyond GDP, Governance and Budgeting for Wellbeing Resources

The last decade has seen major advances in the measurement of wellbeing in national statistics often involving extensive public consultation processes.  Incorporating these metrics and frameworks into policy decision-making has often involved the passing of new wellbeing legislation.  Most countries are also working to align their wellbeing statistics with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  This website includes some background information on wellbeing initiatives from a number of countries who were consulted or who participated in the CEF-FEASTA Beyond GDP, Governance and Budgeting for Wellbeing Webinar.  It also highlights work being done in international collaborations and by non-governmental organisations.

Ireland

In Ireland political parties are joining the growing chorus of those who believe that a new governance and budgeting approach is needed that will focus on quality of life and not just economic growth.  The main political parties recently commented that; “Our overriding focus is to improve the wellbeing of the Irish people and society………To assess the performance of a new Government, we must look beyond economic indicators. We will create new, credible, quality-of-life measures of individual and societal wellbeing and progress.”  While Ireland is still in the early stages of establishing this approach to governance you can read more about the work being done in this area here.

Scotland

Scotland is leading the way in creating an economy in which wellbeing is as fundamental as GDP (Gross Domestic Product) when measuring success.  Scotland’s National Performance Framework (NPF) was launched in 2007, put into law in 2015, and last refreshed in 2018. The NPF sets an overall purpose and vision for Scotland.  You can read more about their approach to wellbeing here.

Wales

Wales is one of the four devolved administrations of the United Kingdom with law-making powers. Sustainability has been a long-standing priority for Wales and the decision to legislate for it has both political and historical foundations.  An increasing awareness of both the social determinants of health and the global challenges related to them led Wales to legislate for sustainability through the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act of 2015. Its implementation process mirrors that of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. (UN SDGs) You can read more about their approach to wellbeing here.

Germany

In 2013, Germany’s political parties stated the following in their Coalition Agreement: “We wish to align our policies more closely with the values and hopes of German citizens and we will therefore conduct a dialogue with them in order to gain an understanding of their views on quality of life issues. […] We will use this dialogue as a basis for developing a system of indicators for reporting on quality of life in Germany.  This system will provide clear and understandable information at regular intervals on wellbeing in Germany and the progress made with efforts to improve it.”  You can read more about their approach to wellbeing here.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland (NI), the principal mechanism for assessing societal wellbeing is the wellbeing framework of 12 outcomes that was refined during 2016-2017. This framework, which contains 49 supporting population indicators, overarches the NI Civil Service Outcomes Delivery Plan and progress on the outcomes and indicators is currently reported through an Outcomes Viewer overseen by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

United Kingdom

For the UK as a whole, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has a National Well-being Programme. The well-being dashboard, which is updated twice a year, provides a visual overview of 43 headline national well-being indicators and can be explored by the 10 areas of life (domains) or by the direction of change.

Other countries with well-known Wellbeing Governance approaches include New Zealand and Iceland.

International Collaborations for Wellbeing

Non-Governmental Organisations working for Wellbeing

Wellbeing in Ireland.

Research has been carried out previously in Ireland concerning well-being, including the NESC report– “Well-being Matters: A Social Report for Ireland”.This report identifies people as being at the centre of economic and social progress, and highlights the limitations of GDP as a measure of society. Members of the Whitaker Institute in the National University of Ireland, Galway, have also carried out much work on the development of a set of societal well-being indicators for Ireland.

In 2018 the CSO published The Wellbeing of the Nation.  This new publication, with over 30 indicators across eight areas of society, attempts to address the question how do people feel about their lives as a whole.  Commenting on the data, Statistician Damien Lenihan said: “This publication attempts to measure wellbeing, which is influenced by many factors including the economic conditions of the country, the health of its population, and the educational attainment of its people”.

The CSO also produces a range of other key wellbeing related reports on social, health, environmental and economic indicators as well as work related to the SDGs.

The Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment has been assigned responsibility for preparing Ireland’s first SDG National Implementation Plan and the Voluntary National Review (VNR). The first National Implementation Plan was published in early 2018. The Plan sets out arrangements for interdepartmental coordination, stakeholder engagement and periodic progress reporting at national and global levels. Ireland’s first VNR was submitted to the UN in June 2018, and formally presented to the High-level Political Forum at the UN Headquarters in New York in July 2018.  These reports can be found here

Wellbeing in Scotland.

The National Performance Framework (NPF) provides a clear vision for Scotland with broad measures of national wellbeing covering a range of economic, health, social and environmental indicators and targets.

Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

The Act requires that the government will focus on achieving goals that improve the wellbeing and quality of life of the people of Scotland.  It requires a vision for Scotland to be developed in consultation with the people of Scotland and progress towards this to be measured.  Specifically, the Act places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to consult on, develop and publish a set of national outcomes for Scotland. The Scottish Ministers must also regularly and publicly report on progress towards these outcomes and review them at least every five years. When setting the national outcomes, the Scottish Ministers must have regard to the reduction of inequalities of outcomes which result from socio-economic disadvantage.

New National Performance Framework launched in 2018.

In 2018 the National Outcomes were specifically aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as set out in the Programme for Government.  The 2018 National Performance Framework includes 11 National Outcomes that reflects the vision of the Scottish People for “the kind of country we want to be”, and 81 National Indicators that will be used to track and measure progress towards achieving them.  The NPF is also Scotland’s framework to localise the UN Sustainable Development Goal’s Scotland  (SDGs). 

The Scottish Government’s National Performance Unit is responsible for delivery, oversight and monitoring of the Programme for Government and National Performance Framework (NPF).   You can download Scotland’s 2019 Wellbeing Report here

Wellbeing in Wales

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 defines Sustainable Development in Wales as: “The process of improving the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales by taking action, in accordance with five sustainable development principles (Long Term, Preventive, Integration, Collaboration, Involvement.), aimed at achieving the seven well-being goals.” Each public body must set and publish well-being objectives. A summary of the act can be found here.  A video of the act can be viewed here.

You can download The Wellbeing of Wales Report 2019 here

The act outlines the roles and responsibilities of The Auditor General and the Future Generations Commissioner. The Auditor General for Wales has begun to examine the ways in which organizations are making changes towards applying the Wales SD Principle and the 5 ways of working, and how they are working to involve citizens and stakeholders in delivering well-being.

The general duties of the Future Generations Commissioner are to, “Promote the sustainable development principle, in particular to act as a guardian of the ability of future generations to meet their needs and encourage public bodies to take greater account of the long-term impact of the things they do.” And to “Monitor and assess the extent to which well-being objectives set by public bodies are being met.”

You can read the Welsh National Review of Progress towards the 2030 SDG Goals here

Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, How Wales is leading the way on intergenerational justice: One Young World 2019

Wellbeing in Germany

Germany’s “Wellbeing in Germany – what matters to us” initiative is designed to provide a benchmark for effective policymaking.  To find out how people define “wellbeing”, the government initiated an extensive national dialogue in 2015.  This revealed that people have a very broad and diverse view of what constitutes wellbeing.  This was integrated with the findings of other national and international research projects and discussions, to select 12 dimensions and 46 indicators for the current status and trends in wellbeing in Germany.

The indicator system  (last update: March 2020) shows the current situation and long-term trends in wellbeing in Germany. It highlights areas where action is needed – in politics, the economy and society – and makes forward and backward steps both measurable and transparent.  You can download the German 2020 Wellbeing report

The interactive report presents information on the twelve dimensions opening with health (you then need to click on ‘Healthy Throughout Life’ to choose one of the other dimensions).  This website provides access to data and facts and makes it possible for people to experience and share the many aspects of wellbeing also on mobile devices.

Germany’s National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS)

You can find Germany’s latest NSDS 2018 here.  This aligned with the UN’s 17 SDGs and focuses more on sustainable global responsibility.  You can download the Indicator Report from the Federal Statistical Office here.  Germanys SDG Reporting Website can be found here.

International Collaborations for Wellbeing

Scotland’s First Minister gave this TED talk (ten min) in 2019 about the importance of WEGo and why governments have a responsibility to prioritise wellbeing.

Wellbeing Economy Governments Group

Scotland established the Wellbeing Economy Governments Group with Iceland and New Zealand in 2018 to collaborate in pursuit of new ways to improve wellbeing.  The Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) is a collaboration of national and regional governments promoting sharing of expertise and transferrable policy practices. The aims are to deepen their understanding and advance their shared ambition of building wellbeing economies. WEGo, which currently comprises Scotland, New Zealand, Iceland, and Wales, is founded on the recognition that ‘development’ in the 21^st century entails delivering human and ecological wellbeing.

Environmental Award Ceremony energises, inspires and gives hope

Cork Environmental Forum’s Awards Ceremony held on Wednesday 27^th November at the Firkin Cane Centre was an event that reflected youthful activism alongside the hard slog of decades of work by very worthy recipients across all categories of the Awards.

CEF Chairperson James O’Donovan pointed to “the strengths we have in Ireland to make the positive changes required and that this event is a recognition of just some of those contributing to this trajectory”.

Whilst not shying away from the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change that challenges us all, Bernadette Connolly said “this is a chance to pause and reflect on what is being achieved by all the individuals, groups and organisations being honoured here this evening”.

The Lord Mayor, Cllr. John Sheehan and Mayor of the County, Cllr. Christopher O’Sullivan were in attendance, presenting a number of Awards both enthused by the revealing and insightful inputs from nominators and recipients throughout the evening.  

The youth activism and commitment to change were represented across three of the recipients, Saoi O’Connor who received the Outstanding Individual Award for her leadership role in striking in Cork and galvanising the commitment of others to raise awareness and communicating widely on the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. 

The Fridays for Future Cork, who join forces with the Schools Climate Action Network received a commendation for their consistent commitment to calling on the Government to honour the Paris Agreement and act on climate change and in organising hugely successful Marchs’ in Cork to maintain the focus and pressure. In accepting the Award they didn’t miss the change to encourage us all to show solidarity and join in the March on this Friday the 29^th November and Saoi even got the large audience energised by joining in their now familiar chant for action.

Introduced by Niamh Guiry who nominated them the UCC Environmental Society received a commendation to acknowledge the trojan work they do both on and off campus to promote sustainability and for having mobilised students to undertake climate action rallies, to support the efforts of the UCC Green Campus and for initiating many great project including one currently on consumption.  

The Business and Commercial award went to Douglas Street Business Association, accepted on the groups behalf by Peter Murphy, Sinead Cotter, Val O’Mahony and Breda McCarthy, for their collective leadership in concrete efforts to transform the street to a more liveable and attractive area which is both good for business and good for the community. Paul McGuirk, Cork City, Local Enterprise Officer, in his introduction to the group said “they were an outstanding illustration of what can be achieved by people working together for their area through collaboration”.

Christopher Moran accepted the Commendation for NeighbourFood and shared his own very positive experience of working with this model of providing local food to the communities of Cork that also supports a wide range of primary producers, including the apple juice from Future Orchard Trust here tonight.

The Winners under the Community & Voluntary, the Public Sector, Sustainable Agriculture and the Lifetime Achievement Award were reflective of years of dedicated work in support of the environment and a more sustainable future across a range of disciplines.  

The Award to Tony Lowes, Friends of the Irish Environment and Dr. Aíne Ryall, Co-Director, UCC Centre for Law and Environment highlighted the importance of environmental justice. Tony may have exceeded his allotted acceptance speech but gave an insightful overview of the work of “Friends” and signalled the threat the changes to the Planning Bill pose. Both Declan Walsh, Lecturer in European Law, UCC nominator and presenter Atttracta Ui Bhroin, Environmental Law Officer at the Irish Environmental Network and Vice-President of the European Environmental Bureau outlined the depth and breadth of Dr. Ryall’s work, her exemplar example of public service, ensuring open access and public engagement to information on environmental law, her significant voluntary contribution on the Aarhus Compliance Committee and her own activism. For their tremendous contribution in this vital area both these awards were highly merited.

Introduced by nominator Tad Kirawoski, and presented by Maria Young, Cork Food Policy Council the mother and daughter team of Madeline McKeever and Holly Cairns who run Brown Envelope Seeds were acknowledged for the significant work they do in continuing to provide open pollinated seeds which are a very important basis for diversity and resilience in the food system. A striking comment from Madeline is that “100 years ago I would not be receiving this Award as this is what every grower was doing, and the fact that all this time later these seeds have been passed down through other hands”. 

The final Award of the evening went to Mark Boyden and was presented by Dr. Simon Harrison, UCC School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science and UN Water Capacity Centre.  Mark is a lifelong environmentalist who has dedicated himself to engaging people with the water around them, and inspiring people to come together over this fundamental resource. Having founded the Coomhola Salmon Trust and the Streamscapes programme in 1989 which has been delivered throughout the island of Ireland Mark is such a worthy recipient of an Award that recognises his decades of contribution to an inclusive catchment management approach as well as in the broader context in his role as Chairperson of the Sustainable Water Network. It is apt that he is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 to coincide with the opening of the “Streamschool” which has been a lifelong ambition and is an incredible resource of a river aquarium in Coomhola where he is based. Mark was very keen to clarify that he has a lot yet to contribute and will continue to do so as he encouraged us all to rewild ourselves which may unlock what we need going forward.

In her closing comments Bernadette Connolly said the issues at the root cause of climate change are also those causing unprecedented loss of nature and the solutions for both are complementary, as Edward O’Wilson said “If we save the living environment, the biodiversity that we have left today, then we will also automatically save the physical environment. If we only save the physical environment, then we will ultimately lose both.

Cork Environment Forum is honoured to be able to recognise the actions of all those who received Awards this evening as you are not only providing real inspiration but are making a world of difference and giving much hope and leadership.

She thanked all those who had taken the time and effort to make nominations for this year’s awards and the adjudication panel, Catriona Courtney, Darren McAdam O’Connell and Derry O’Farrell, CEF Committee members and Justin Byrne, Irish Environmental Network.

Kevin Casey of Bogwood Studio for the beautiful prizes, elegant unique herons sculpted from bog oak and yew buried for 1000’s of years beneath the midland bogs and to Martha Cashman, More Clay Less Plastic for the wonderfully colourful birdfeeders.

To Diane Cusack for taking the photographs throughout the evening. Special thanks was given to all the CEF members and voluntary management, as well as the support we all receive from friends, family and colleagues who sustain us on a constant basis. A final thank you to Ann Rea and all the wonderful team at the Firkin Crane Centre and to Cork City PPN for kind sponsorship towards the Awards Ceremony.

Background information on Cork Environmental Forum and the Awards:

CEF is a not for profit organisation based in County Cork, Ireland.  We work to promote sustainable development in the region by connecting with key community groups and running our own programme of sustainability events and projects.  Our philosophy is based on local agenda 21 principles and our members represent a cross section of society in the county, brought together by their desire for local action on their environment.

Established in 2001, the Cork Environmental Forum Awards honour the sometimes little known actions of groups, organisations and individuals around the county that have contributed to the health or richness of the Cork environment.  The awards are split into different categories according to different pillars of society, nominations are accepted from CEF members and any member of the public for actions that are in keeping with the spirit of sustainable development and community resilience. 

Cork Environmental Forum is delighted to announce the 2019 Environmental Award Winners who are all so worthy of this accolade. The winners across the 4 main CEF Pillar categories reflect youth activism on climate change and biodiversity loss, the importance of environmental law and justice and collective business leadership. Preserving seeds and local growing are highlighted by the winner of the Sustainable Agriculture Award and the Board are honouring a lifetime of dedication to the management and protection of catchments with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Awards presentation will take place at the Firkin Crane Centre,  Shandon, Cork on Wednesday 27^th November 2019, starting at 7 pm where we will be joined by the Lord Mayor and Mayor of the County who will also present Awards.  The event will include a wine reception with light refreshments. All are welcome.

Cork Environmental Forum (CEF) is seeking nominations for its Annual Environmental Awards 2019 .

Nominations closed on 10th November 20019

CEF has held its Environmental Awards ceremony since 2001 which aims to acknowledge and honour the sometimes little known actions of groups, organisations and individuals around the county that have contributed to the health or richness of the Cork environment.

Awards are nominated under the four main pillars of the Forum , Public Sector, Business and Commercial Sector , Community & Voluntary Sector, Individual Category and Sustainable Agriculture. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award is given from time to time at the discretion of the Management Committee.

Nominations are accepted from CEF members and members of the public for actions that are in keeping with the spirit of sustainable development and community resilience, including raising awareness on environmental sustainability. The Awards have proven to be a very positive public acknowledgement of the work that groups, individuals, communities and businesses undertake every day to improve their environment and that of the wider community. With the increased awareness of the biodiversity and climate change emergencies there has been a surge in activity by people and communities, so please nominate any person, project or organization that you know is contributing in this way.

Details of previous winners here.

The best slow and sustainable Fashion Show in town! 2019 will be even more entertaining and as well as all our favourite Vintage and pre-loved retailers will also feature some upcycled outfits by St. John’s College. Lots more detail soon but for all the fashionistas out there please note this one in your diary. Bookings are available on EventBrite.

Model Call-Out – part of the unique essence of this show is that anyone can parade down the red carpet. Do get in touch with bernadette@cef.ie if you’d like to strut some style this October. 

The Rebel Pedal is Cork’s iconic annual bicycle parade hosted by the Cork Environmental Forum in association with Cork City Council and Cork Sports Partnership. 

Originally established in 2000 to highlight European Car Free Day it evolved in support of European Mobility week. 

The Rebel Pedal continues to be a fun cycle for the broad community of Cork. This event highlights the positive aspects of cycling as an easy, healthy, joyful and family-oriented activity as well as a convenient means of transport in Cork City. This unique event has always contributed greatly to forming and galvanising a community of cyclists around the city. It also provides a ‘safe’ environment for many who would be nervous of cycling around the city and shows what a pleasant experience it really is. Cork hasn’t made the leap yet to Car Free despite our efforts for 19 years, lets hope 2020 will be the turning point! 

The after pedal picnic at Fitzgeralds’ Park will feature music new band The Four Maldehydes (Klaus Harvey is part of the band), maybe an icecream from the natural Food Bakery, games and prizes. 

8th June 10am -1pm Marine Life Marine Litter – 1 Lapps Quay, UCC Business Centre

Cork Environmental Forum Awards Ceremony showcases and recognises the dedication and work of individuals and groups across Cork caring for our environment.

The packed audience attending the Cork Environmental Forum (CEF) Awards Ceremony at the Firkin Crane Centre on Wednesday 28^th November, were inspired and energised by the commitment, leadership and dogged determination of all the Award recipients who are taking action to improve our environment.

Derry O’Farrell, CEF Secretary, thanked everyone who made nominations to the Awards in 2018 and the panel, made up of James O’Donovan and Helen Barrett, CEF and Justin Byrne, Irish Environmental Network, who had the unenviable task of selecting the Winners in each category. He also referenced the recent wake-up call reports of the International Panel on Climate Change, the World Wildlife Fund and just on Tuesday the UN Report on Emissions. Whilst CEF was early to the table in understanding the urgency of looking after the environment, the situation is so much worse than in 1995, however, finally people are perhaps beginning to take notice and get more engaged in action and tonight is about celebrating such leadership at a local level.

Karen Loxton, Cork Nature Network introduced Chris Moody, winner under the Outstanding Individual category, who exemplifies the commitment and dedication to wildlife and care of the environment through his work on the Cork Otter Project and his efforts to protect and restore the River Bride. Chris was presented with his Award by the Lord Mayor, Cllr. Mick Finn. Chris thanked all the others involved in the project and his family who are always such a support and a motivator as he wants his children to also enjoy the river and the presence of the wonderful wildlife it supports including the charismatic otters.

Richard Leahy made the introduction to Barry O’Connor who was acknowledged with an Outstanding Individual commendation for his vision and unstinting work in setting up Refill Ireland, which helps to reduce plastic waste whilst providing easy access for the public to water refills. Being rolled out in Cork in conjunction with Cork City Council and CEF, again the Lord Mayor did the honours with the presentation to Barry who had travelled from Dublin to be there. Barry is very motivated in his quest to eliminate plastic waste and is hoping to roll the Refill project out throughout Ireland, he complimented Cork is being one of the forerunners to embrace the initiative.

Bantry Bay protect Our Native Kelp Forest is the Community and Voluntary Category winner for their efforts to protect the marine environment. Tomas O’Sullivan gave an outline as to why the group set-up and how it has brought together the varied interests of the coastal community to fight the mechanical harvesting of the local kelp in the Bay.  The group through the campaign are deepening theirs and the communities knowledge of the many benefits and services of kelp and the complex but fragile marine eco-system. They are also networking with other coastal communities throughout Ireland to support and work together to protect our coast. The Award was presented by Mayor of the County, Cllr. Patrick Gerard Murphy and in his acceptance speech Declan Bevan wished that everyone present could see our magical underwater world which is such a valuable resource. He also highlighted the positive impact of the campaign, despite the effort, work and resources people have put in, the unforeseen consequence has been to forge links and strengthen the communities around Bantry Bay.

A commendation under the Community and Voluntary category was presented to Schull Community College Incredible Edible Community Garden for the transformation of a piece of waste ground into an organic edible garden with food for people and other species. Catherine Quinn, in her introduction gave credit to the students who are working closely with many other groups in the community to spread and develop the impacts of their initiative. There is an ethos of Wellbeing at the school and this is being reflected in a Wellbeing garden space

Derry O’Farrell , nominator of Cork City Council, the winner under the Public Sector for their initiative to eliminate single use cups in the council and provide all staff with a reusable cup, gave credit to their foresight in introducing this initiative to a large public body. It is very replicable for other public and private organisations and you need someone to take the lead. Derry who is passionate himself in trying to eliminate waste also acknowledged the Council’s ongoing efforts in waste reduction, by moving towards a more circular economy with support of initiatives such as Refill and Boomerang Enterprises. Noel Murtagh, Senior Engineer, Environment and Recreation collected the prize but referenced that it is his colleague Mary Walsh, away at present, who had the determination and vision to follow through in implementing the elimination of single use cups in the Council. Justin Byrne, Irish Environmental Network in presenting the prize complimented Cork City Council and the importance of large public bodies in providing leadership.

Siobhan Hardiman who nominated TWIG Refill Shop in Clonakilty outlined her reasons for nominating this new enterprise, as she said “the TWIG that grew from the Olive Branch” in bringing this waste free shopping option to Spiller’s Lane in Clonakilty. Not only is TWIG contributing hugely to waste minimisation for the conscious consumers throughout West Cork it is also adding to the businesses environment of the town and with the addition of a room overhead that is used for many community activities. Andie Beatty and some of the team were there to collect the prize which was presented by Olan Hodnett, Down2Earth Materials, who referenced their own efforts to reduce waste and harm to the environment as suppliers of low impact, low carbon food service disposables.

Mary Wedel, proprietor of An Tobairin, nominator of the winning Sustainable Agriculture initiative, gave an insight into the dedication and innovation of the Sinnott family in providing the most wonderful organic produce from a small holding near Ballinhassig. Stephen Sinnott, in accepting the Award for his enterprise Food for Humans thanked his customers, the local businesses and restaurants who have supported him and especially his wife Bridget and wider family. Ian Kilgallon, Gas Networks Ireland, presented the Award and mentioned their own efforts in conjunction with Ballyhoura and farmers to more towards renewable gas.

Bernadette Connolly, MC for the evening and Coordinator of CEF congratulated all of the winners again and commended them for the wonderful and inspiring work you are doing which is also an actionable commitment to making our environment better. She referenced Kevin Casey, Bogwood Sculptures, who is the creator of the unique and beautiful herons from ancient oak and yew buried beneath the midland bogs and Martha Cashman, ceramic artist who is responsible for the Clay Birdfeeders.

Bernadette also thanked Ann, Tony and all the team at the Firkin Crane for their support and hospitality every year, Diane Cusack for the photos, the sponsors of the Awards Down2Earth materials and Gas Networks Ireland. Thanks also to Cork City and Cork County Councils who are the main funders of the work of CEF on an annual basis. Special thanks were given to all of the volunteers and members of CEF, including a very dedicated and active Management Committee and members who engage voluntarily throughout the year o so many initiatives from planting trees to surveying the Coast. Some of them prepared the refreshments this evening including Murielle Pelay, John and Sofia Barimo, Richard Leahy, Matt Jones and Anna Pozzati currently on placement with CEF.

As referenced by Derry at the beginning the UN report says we need drastic large scale effort, this is somewhat overwhelming. Such large scale effort, needs greater national and global leadership and ambition, but we in CEF believe it also relies on replicating and growing the effort every individual and project has shared here tonight.  Positivity begets positivity and your efforts and leadership in implementing different practices which are focused on a more sustainable approach is what ordinary people really need and now want.

So as we come to the close of another year we look forward with renewed hope from the experiences you have shared and the broader understanding that is growing in our society that our environment is the very basis of our continued existence and that we can all get involved in changing the course we are on.

CEF Annual Environmental Award Winners Announced 

We are delighted to announce our Annual Environmental Award Winners for 2018. We thank all of those who engaged with the nomination process this year, without your interest and support the Awards wouldn’t continue to be such a great event.

National Reuse Month 2018 returns for the 3rd year and aims to inspire you and provide you with the skills and tools to reuse more At Home, At Work, and At Play.

For example, you might already reuse by getting shoes resoled rather than replacing them, or borrowing books from the library. To cut down on waste and greenhouse gas emissions, we are asking everyone to go further in October and beyond by prioritising repair, buying second hand and upcycled, borrowing, swapping and refilling.

To inspire you even more CEF in conjunction with the Southern Waste Region office and Cork City Council bring you another year of showcasing Upcycling for Your Home and a Glitz and Glamour Fashion Show at St. Peter’s Exhibition Centre on Saturday 27th October. Workshops at 12pm “Rethink Your Junk”, 1pm Upcycling for yarns and fabrics and 2pm Repair Cafe.