From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
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Biodiversity initiatives in Nephin, sustainable tourism community projects in Bunratty, creative coastal resilience proposals for the Maharees, community engagements in Carlingford — these are just some of the 43 creative projects included in the €5.8 million Creative Climate Action Fund announcement made today by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ministers Catherine Martin and Eamon Ryan.
Following the success of Creative Ireland’s Creative Climate Action Fund in 2021; the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of the Taoiseach announce the 43 successful recipients of the €5.8 million Creative Climate Action Fund II – Agents for Change. This Creative Ireland initiative supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empowers citizens to make meaningful behavioural changes.
Highlighted projects include:
The Creative Ireland Programme, in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is funding 40 recipients. A further 3 recipients are funded as part of the Shared Island initiative of the Department of the Taoiseach.
Speaking today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said:
“The inclusion of three significant cross-border projects in the Creative Climate Action Fund, under the Shared Island initiative, signifies the ongoing government support for ambitious activities which benefit the whole island and bring people together around common concerns. In this instance the funding will help to develop awareness, through creativity, of climate change, the single greatest threat facing humanity today. We must be the generation that turns the tide on climate change and biodiversity loss. The ongoing Shared Island dimension of the Creative Ireland Programme will harness the power of cultural creativity to bring communities together across the island.”
Commenting on the announcement, Minister Martin said:
“The success of our inaugural Creative Climate Action initiative is hard to deny. The first 15 projects were in equal parts exciting, thoughtful and ambitious. The ambition of the artists and the communities involved were made manifest by dramatic light installations that demonstrated rising sea levels in Galway and Wexford, immersive agricultural programmes in Dingle and Tipperary, decarbonising projects in Limerick and Waterford, and the regeneration of repair and reuse culture in Westmeath.
"However the real value of the initiative was the unrelenting desire for meaningful change amongst all those involved. I believe the projects that we are launching today will drive that momentum for change even further. I want to congratulate the breadth of imagination and considered thinking involved in each of these 43 initiatives. It is wonderful to witness and a real privilege to support.”
The Creative Climate Action Fund II: Agents of Change is unique in that it pairs creative minds with experts in climate science, sustainability and biodiversity, all with the aim of connecting the public to the profound changes that are happening in our environment, society and economy arising from climate change and can transform that connection into behaviour change or climate action. The fund received 239 applications from an array of disciplines and industries; Architecture, Creative Facilitation, Film, Participatory Design, Visual Arts, Cultural Heritage, Theatre, Service Design, Dance, Literature, Music, Traditional Arts, Festivals, Circus, Publishing and Press, and Animation and Augmented Reality.
Welcoming today’s announcement, Minister Ryan said:
“Climate change can be such a huge issue that people can too often feel overawed, or that it’s something they can’t do anything really meaningful about. This change can be achieved through fully exploring avenues for innovative and creative ways to inspire people to take action. Once again the Irish cultural sector and our enterprising communities have responded with initiatives that will challenge us all to make the changes needed to secure a better future for us all. This is exciting and important work and I wish to commend everyone involved.”
The 43 successful awardees will establish projects spanning the island of Ireland, including 3 Ignite projects funded under the Shared Island initiative (Antrim, Down and Fermanagh). The fund supports projects under two strands. Strand 1, Ignite, will support 19 large-scale interdisciplinary projects with extensive public engagement on a national level these will run until 2025. Strand 2, Spark, will fund 24 projects to pilot new ideas for public engagement at a local, community, or community of practice scale. These projects will be completed by the end of 2024.
The Creative Climate Action fund is an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications that supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.
The fund was first launched in 2021 by Ministers Catherine Martin and Eamon Ryan. It sought collaborative projects that could meaningfully connect people with profound changes happening in the environment, society and economy arising from climate change, using creative, cultural and artistic approaches to transform connection and awareness into climate action.
The ‘Creative Climate Action II: Agents of Change’ programme is a joint initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
The programme called for creative projects which:
It is part of the Programme for Government; "Support Creative Ireland in its ‘Engaging the Public on Climate Change through the Cultural and Creative Sectors’ initiative" (p88).
Creative Ireland connects people, creativity and wellbeing. We are an all-of-government culture and wellbeing programme that inspires and transforms people, places and communities through creativity. We are committed to the vision that every person in Ireland should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential.
The Climate Action Fund was established on a statutory basis in 2020 to provide support for projects, initiatives and research that contribute to the achievement of Ireland’s climate and energy targets, and for projects and initiatives in regions of the State, and within sectors of the economy, impacted by the transition to a low carbon economy. The Fund is resourced from a number of sources, including proceeds from the levy paid to the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) in respect of relevant disposals of petroleum products, after the funding requirements of NORA have been met.
The Shared Island initiative is a whole of government priority to engage with all communities and political traditions to build consensus around a shared future on the island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The Shared Island initiative is backed by the government’s Shared Island Fund, with at least €1 billion out to 2030 ring-fenced for delivery of all-island investment commitments and objectives in the Programme for Government and revised National Development Plan 2021-30; informed by a programme of engagement with people across the island through the Shared Island Dialogue series and a comprehensive policy research programme, which provides a stronger evidence base and analysis of the island Ireland across a range of economic, environmental and social areas.
The Shared Island dimension to the Creative Ireland Programme seeks to deploy creativity on a shared island basis to: Increase opportunities for cross-community cultural and creative initiatives between children and young people; Support local authorities to enhance networks of creativity in support of vibrant and inclusive people-to-people and community-to-community partnerships; Position Ireland as a global leader in demonstrating the value of creativity and mental health including in post-conflict societies; Deepen collaborations for a more environmentally and socially sustainable island.
€730,000 is being contributed to the Creative Climate Action fund as part of the Shared Island dimension to the Creative Ireland Programme. This funding is being provided for projects with a strong all-island, north-south or east-west partnership and dimension to the activity, or where an entire project is conceived and delivered on a Shared Island basis. Further detail on the Shared Island Initiative, including this aspect of the Creative Ireland Programme, is available at www.gov.ie/sharedisland.