Latest News & Announcements

10 Waterford schools participating in water theme

Thursday, November 14 2019 – An Taisce’s Green-Schools programme has teamed up with Irish Water for a seventh year to support schools working to gain a Green Flag under the water theme.  The water theme aims to increase awareness of water conservation among primary and secondary school students. In Waterford 10 schools across the county are currently working on the water theme.

This academic year just over 97,000 students and 8,000 teachers around the country will undertake the Green-Schools water theme in their school. As part of Irish Water’s sponsorship of the water theme schools will be invited to attend water workshops, take part in the annual poster competition, apply to be Water Ambassadors and, following their application for the Green Flag, all schools are in with a chance to be named Ireland’s Water School of the Year 2020.

Ambassadors and artists

This year will see the return of the Green-Schools Irish Water Poster Competition and the Ambassador Programme for secondary school students. The poster competition will focus on this year’s UN World Water Day theme and asks students to create posters focused on water and our changing climate. Secondary school students will also be able to enter a group video, a new element to this year’s competition.

This year’s Ambassador Programme for secondary schools has seen high levels of applicants as secondary school students become more focused on climate action and helping their environment. Training days for successful applicants began in early November and focus on equipping students with as much water-based knowledge as possible alongside communication skills training and a visit to a water treatment plant.

Water Workshops for primary and secondary schools in 22 locations around Ireland have also started for this academic year. These workshops focus on peer to peer learning and the invited students leave with action plans and resources to assist them in undertaking the water theme in their school.

Cathy Baxter is the Green-Schools Manager: “We are delighted to be celebrating the seventh year of our partnership with Irish Water. The support we’ve received has allowed us to create and develop resources, events and ongoing initiatives to assist schools as best we can with their work on our water theme. The fruits of this can be seen in schools like our award winning schools each year, who have achieved incredibly low water use and a strong school-wide culture of water conservation.”

Commenting on the partnership, Richard O hEadhra, Irish Water added: “Irish Water is delighted to continue our sponsorship of the Green-Schools programme and particularly the water themed flag.

“Irish Water is delighted to be working with young people in schools throughout Ireland through the Green-Schools programme to encourage new and innovative ideas about water use and water conservation. Through this education, awareness and action based programme we can improve and secure this precious resource that is vital to the environmental, social and economic life of this country for future generations. Let’s continue the conversation about conservation.”

ENDS

For queries contact Ciara Norton, cnorton@eeu.antaisce.org, 087-0679947 or press@water.ie

Please view our Green-Schools sponsorship launch video at https://youtu.be/DhpHw1O4SIc

Issued on behalf of the County and City Management Association (CCMA)

CHARTER REFLECTS COUNCILS’ AMBITION TO LEAD ON CLIMATE ACTION

29 October 2019: Councils stand ready to lead on climate action and have huge ambition for what the local authority sector can achieve with government support, Michael Walsh, Chair of the County and City Management Association (CCMA) said as a new Local Government Climate Charter is introduced today.

The new Charter was developed in consultation with the local government sector and commits signatories to a number of objectives to address the climate challenge and advocate for climate action and behavioural change among citizens.

The Charter reflects the extensive work councils are already undertaking and have planned in the area of climate action.  Of significant note, all councils last month published Climate Adaptation strategies that set out the measures each will take to respond effectively to climate change and to enhance resilience to its impact.

Michael Walsh, CCMA Chair said, “Climate change is the defining issue of our time. It requires a serious and urgent response. Councils recognise that we have a duty to capitalise on our unique position to lead lasting change for the country.

“Councils anticipated and planned for the enhanced role now falling to us and have positioned the sector over the last number of years to build on the expertise and competencies we have to work with all sectors of the community to provide the local leadership necessary to bring about real and meaningful change.”

Mr Walsh added: “Councils are thinking ambitiously and creatively about what we can do to have real impact. We are thinking big; for example, we have a plan to train all 29,000 local government employees to lead and animate climate change issues at a local level.”

Climate Action Plan

The Climate Charter is one of the measures included in the government’s Climate Action Plan to Tackle Climate Breakdown, which names local authorities as Lead Partners in 7 Actions and as Key Stakeholders in a further 22.

“The Government Action Plan is a measure of how involved councils will be in addressing the climate challenge. Already, we are making progress across a range of areas, reducing the carbon footprint of our internal operations, increasing the energy efficiency of our housing stock, prioritising climate considerations in development planning and actively engaging our communities on climate issues. We are ready to build on what we have achieved,” Paddy Mahon, Chair of the CCMA Environment and Climate Action Committee said.

Among the wide-ranging actions required of local authorities under the Government Climate Action Plan are to:

• undertake deep retrofits of local authority buildings and social housing stock;
• develop and implement cycle network plans for all major cities;
• develop a sustainable transport plan for all cities with a population exceeding 75,000;
• climate-proof development plans and deliver National Planning Framework objectives for compact growth;
• deliver technical and behavioural change training to local authority staff;
• support the development of one-stop-shops for residential and commercial energy efficiency;
• develop an online checklist for companies to measure their sustainability;
• manage low emission zones including through pricing policies and restricted access;
• roll out Electric Vehicle charging network and deploy electric vehicles within council fleets;
• develop plans for ‘decarbonising zones’; and,
• implement a new National Waste Prevention Programme and Regional Waste Management Plans.

Paddy Mahon emphasised that councils are already undertaking significant climate mitigation and adaptation measures from within existing resources:

• All councils have prepared and will implement Climate Adaptation Strategies.
• Four Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) have been established as a shared local authority service to support capacity within the sector and act as a catalyst for wider change.
• Climate and environmental sustainability are key considerations for councils in their strategic planning and day-to-day actions across all service areas, most significantly in planning, transport, housing, lighting, waste management, and economic development.
• Councils are leading the way on electric vehicle charging points, walking and cycling routes, waste management, biodiversity and other key areas.
• Councils are to the forefront in responding to extreme weather events caused by climate change such as the flooding, storms and drought of recent years.

ENDS

For further information or to arrange an interview with a CCMA spokesperson, please contact Michael McHale, Local Government Management Agency: 01 6332407 / 087 4135641 / mmchale@lgma.ie

About the CCMA

The County and City Management Association (CCMA) is the “representative voice” of the local government management network. Its members are Chief Executives of the County and City Councils and the Assistant Chief Executives of Dublin City Council.

See lgma.ie/en/ccma