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Community Climate Action Programme

The Community Climate Action Programme is a new programme to support small and large, rural and urban communities to take climate action at a local level.

 

-PLEASE NOTE THE 2024-2025 COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PROGRAMME APPLICATION PROCESS IS NOW CLOSED. INFORMATION ABOUT FUTURE ROUNDS WILL APPEAR ON THIS PAGE-

The Community Climate Action Programme is a new programme to support small and large, rural and urban communities to take climate action at a local level. Waterford City and County Council, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will support communities to promote and assist in the scale up of community climate action.

This Programme is an opportunity for groups to take a holistic approach in making their community less carbon intensive and more sustainable for the future. The Programme is open to a range of community groups – from those new to climate action to those with more experience.

If you have any questions in general how your group could take climate action locally, please get in touch with the Community Climate Action Officer who can offer advice and assistance.

There are two strands:

Strand 1- Action: Building Low Carbon Communities

Waterford City and County Council have been given an allocation of €564,000 for projects under strand 1. Under this scheme communities will partner with Waterford Council to carry out projects that have a direct climate action impact.

Strand 1a - Shared Island Community Climate Action

This strand enables communities and local authorities to carry out a cross-border project in partnership with a community in Northern Ireland. Unlike strand 1, Local Authorities have not been automatically allocated funding under strand 1a and is open for all communities to apply.

Waterford's CCAP Projects 2024-2025


-Small Projects-

Ballyduff-KiImeaden Community Garden Group

Project: Materials to expand community garden

Stradbally Tidy Towns

Projects: Bike parking, reintroduction of native apple trees, expansion of composting facilities, pollinator planting, water butts and school uniform recycling programme.

Waterford Area Partnership CLG

Project: Urban orchard, native trees, pollinator planting and water butt.

Naíonra KCK on behalf of Coolnasmear Community Hall

Project: 8kW of solar PV system, a 5kW hybrid inverter and 5kWh battery.

Clashmore and Kinsalebeg Community Council

Project: Orchard trail, native hedgerow planting and wildflower margin including removal of invasive species.

Tramore Eco Group

Project: Tree and shrub planting as part of their Biodiversity Plans.

-Medium Projects-

Ardmore Tidy Towns

Project: 9.35kW solar pv, 10kW hybrid inverter and 5kWh battery at St. Declan’s GAA Club, 14.875kW solar PV, 10kW inverter & 5kW battery at Ardmore Community Hall, bike parking and repair hub, community fridge, toy library and pollinator and biodiversity sanctuary spots – wild bee habitat, bat and bird boxes.

Kilrossanty GAA Club

Project: 16.2kW of solar PV, a 20kW invertor and hot water diverter, recycled planters with seating, mini orchard and other biodiversity planting.

Ballysaggart GAA Club

Project: 17.4kW of solar PV, 10kW hybrid inverter and a 10kW battery, upgrade pitch lighting to LEDs, community fridge, bike parking and biodiversity planting.

Villa F.C.

Project: Upgrade of pitch lighting to LEDs, bike and scooter parking and 180m native Irish hedgerow planting.

Dunhill GAA & Sports Centre

Project: Attic and cavity wall insulation, 6.9 kW of solar PV, bike parking, tree planting and a reuse sport equipment programme.

Top of the City Community Garden

Project: Continue to grow and expand community garden – insulating garden shed, bike parking, vertical growing spaces, rain water and filter system, green roof structures, raised pond, foraging areas for community hens, garden shredder and swap cabinet.

-Large Projects-

Tallow GAA Club

Project: Tallow community initiative – solar pitch lighting on astroturf at Tallow GAA; 8.7 kW of solar PV, a 5kW invertor and 6.5kW battery at Brideview AFC, water refilling stations, bike parking and pollinator planting.

Williamstown Sports Complex

Project: Upgrading pitch lighting to LEDs, bike parking, sports equipment reuse scheme and extensive tree and pollinator planting.

Causeway Tennis & Bowls Club

Project: Insulation of the walls and roof of older part of the building; 7.1 kW heat pump, 16.8 kW of solar PV with inverter and a 10kW battery, improved access ways for pedestrian and cyclists and replacement of degraded hedge with 100m of new hedging.

Ballymacarbry Community Centre

Project: 20kW of solar PV, a 20kW 3phase Hybrid Inverter, two 11kW EV charging points, bike parking and monthly swap shop for clothes and toys.

-Strand 1a Shared Island-

Affane Cappoquin Tourin GAA Club (Waterford) in partnership with Sigersons GAA Club Strabane (Tyrone)

Project: Affane Cappoquin Tourin GAA Club – 20 solar panels, a hybrid inverter and a 5kWh battery, upgrade recycling bins, rainwater planters, pre-loved sports kits programme, transformation of a dying ash plantation into an accessible biodiversity amenity space (reforestation of c.2000 native trees) and bike parking. Sigersons GAA Club Strabane – 30 solar panels and an inverter, replace diesel generator with a biofuel generator, convert diesel grasscutter to biofuel, rainwater harvester for toilets, green roof and bike parking.

 

Updates


Update Sept 2024: 

A celebratory launch event was held for all grant recipients of the Community Climate Action Programme on Saturday, September 28th in Mount Congreve, Waterford.

The groups were welcomed by Cllr. Seánie Power, Cathaoirleach of Comeragh District Council, who commended the participants on their volunteering spirit and commitment to improvements in their own localities.
The event was a mixture of speakers and group discussions to celebrate what these projects hope to achieve in the coming months to make their communities less carbon intensive and more sustainable, but also touched on topics which would assist in running projects and getting buy-in from wider community groups.

 

FAQs


Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some quick FAQs about the programme. Full details on the Programme are available in the Briefing Note and Guidelines for Applicants document, see Documents and Resources below.

Eligible communities must be a not-for-profit; be located in the operational area of the Waterford City and County Council; and be registered with a PPN or connected with other collectives such as the Wheel, Tidy Towns and /or a community group with Articles of Association or a Constitution, which hold an AGM, and for which approved minutes are available.

Examples of eligible groups include local charities, sports clubs, community groups, local environmental groups, social enterprises, Resident's Associations etc.

Projects must demonstrate the delivery of national climate action at a local level for strand 1 and on a cross-border basis on the island of Ireland for strand 1a. There are five programme themes and communities should try to incorporate as many themes as possible. The themes are:

  • Community & Energy
  • Travel
  • Food and waste
  • Shopping and recycling
  • Local climate and environmental action

Projects could be anything from retrofitting community buildings, installing bicycle parking, starting a community fridge, initiatives to promote biodiversity – the sky is the limit!

Ultimately there must be some sort of tangible – even perhaps measurable - end result which reduces or lessen the impact of climate change.

Direct climate action projects do one or more of the following - reduce/ remove greenhouse gas emissions; increase the production/ use of renewable energy; improve energy efficiency; increase climate resilience; enhance biodiversity; or contribute with the Just Transition. Awareness and education projects would be examples of indirect climate action projects. Those types of projects have a lot of merit and are needed, but they are not the focus of this funding.

Funding is available for 100% of the project and there are three project sizes eligible:

  • Small scale projects < €20,000
  • Medium scale projects €20,000 to €50,000
  • Large scale projects €51,000 to €100,000

Applications are no longer being accepted and the 2024-2025 projects have already been selected. When the next round of funding opens, interested groups will need to complete an application form outlining their project, benefits and costs. More details will be available closer to the time.

In the meantime, if you have any questions how your group could take climate action locally or would like to discuss a future project, please get in touch with the Community Climate Action Officer who can offer advice and assistance.

Community climate action takes a variety of forms, from simple clean-ups to community energy schemes to adaptation measures such as rain planters and tree planting to ease the effects of flooding. There are wonderful examples out there of community projects which reduce or lessen the impact of climate change, and in many cases help their areas to flourish.

Please read our “Examples of community led climate action projects” document below to learn about some wonderful community led projects. This case study document contains a variety of examples and also covers tips/ hints for running projects.

Contact Details


Susan Lee – Community Climate Action Officer

Email: climateaction@waterfordcouncil.ie

Telephone: 087 279 7577