Climate sets a precedent for the future, and Galway City, beautifully located at the confluence of land and water, offers a wealth of geographic opportunity for a more sustainable tomorrow. As the Community Climate Action Officer for Galway City, you work with a Climate Action Team. Can you give us a run-down of this arrangement?

Each local authority in Ireland now has a Climate Action Team and Galway City Council is lucky to have a team of eight, which includes the Climate Coordinator, Climate Action Officer, Community Climate Action Officer, Engineers, Clerical Officer, and a Graduate. The team is led by the Climate Coordinator, who manages the team, seeks national and EU funding, and coordinates the climate mitigation and adaptation measures for Galway City Council and the wider City. The Climate Action Officer is responsible for implementing the Climate Action Plan 2024–2029, and the Community Climate Action Officer (currently myself) manages the Community Climate Action Fund and overall community engagement. 

The Climate Action Plan has the ambitious target for Galway to be a ‘Climate Resilient, Biodiversity Rich, Environmentally Sustainable and Carbon Neutral city by no later than the end of 2050’. It is our first Roadmap to achieving a 51% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and a pathway to climate neutrality by 2050. 

The Plan has 51 actions in total, including Governance, Buildings, Transport, Waste, Energy Usage, Biodiversity and the Westside Decarbonisation Zone. The Decarbonisation Zone is a pilot zone to test how far we can go to decarbonise our economy and society. The Plan really is a gamechanger for the city, as we now have a pathway to decarbonisation.  

As a Green-Schools Travel Officer and Environmental Awareness Officer in Galway City Council, you have worked with children and young people taking positive action for the environment. Can you speak to the crucial role younger generations have in climate action initiatives? 

From my time working as a Green-Schools Travel Officer for 12 years and subsequently Environmental Awareness Officer for the City Council for 3 years, it’s evident how innate a love for nature and the environment is for young people. They care passionately about the world around them and the climate and biodiversity emergencies we face. This was evident during the Fridays for Future movement and in the Youth Climate Assemblies organised by SAUTI Youth here in Galway. 

The younger generations with this passion are the future and they have a much keener sense of sustainability than my generation ever had. Climate action is more embedded in them and their decision-making, and from speaking to academics in the local universities, this knowledge and drive for sustainable solutions is becoming much more evident. 

In saying that, I believe many young people feel let down by adults and the perceived lack of urgency which accompanies climate action, and I would agree with them. I have been studying climate change since the late 1990s and only now do the local authorities have climate action plans and teams in place. It’s better late than never but we have a tough struggle to catch up. 

In September 2024, Galway City Council allocated €560,242 to 19 Community Climate Action Projects. These initiatives are great opportunities to engage local and broader communities in climate-friendly projects. Can you highlight a few exciting developments completed or on the horizon? 

All of the 19 projects originally awarded the Community Climate Action Fund are worthy of a mention and it has been a privilege to work with so many inspirational and engaged community groups. Under Strand 1 of this Fund, around €445,000 was allocated to 15 community groups in Galway City. Under Strand 1a, a further €114,000 was allocated for cross-border shared-island projects to four climate action projects involving two community groups in Galway City and two in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. 

Many of the projects are ongoing but there are some completed highlights. The 1st Port of Galway Sea Scouts have just completed Ireland’s first ever off-grid Scout Den, with solar panels and a battery. They are also planting grass and native bushes and trees for potential camping in the future, so we are very excited about this!  

Other exciting projects are Westside Resource Centre, which is installing a large PV Photo Voltaic (solar panels) system right in the heart of the Decarbonisation Zone, and Café Link, which has bought an electric cargo bike for food deliveries and is overhauling their recycling and reuse systems. 

As a Fermanagh man, I was able to use my connections to link in two organisations in Fermanagh and two in Galway City for the cross-border part of the Fund and strengthen the shared connections we have on the island. An example of these connections is Tuath of Terryland Forest Park in Galway and Friends of Little Woods in Fermanagh with their ‘Nature without Borders’ project – both are doing amazing work in nature conservation and visited each other to learn and share knowledge. 

University of Galway, Galway City Council, and PorterShed came together to present the 2024 Galway City Climathon, which will continue to be hosted every year by the Ryan Institute. Can you discuss your participation and role in this event, and how the occasion benefitted Galway as a city of the future?

I was proud to be invited to represent Galway City Council at the 2024 Galway City Climathon. This was my first Climathon and I was blown away by the ideas that the students came up with, including solutions to our city’s problems in transport, food waste, energy and biodiversity. Once the students had developed their project ideas, they would pitch it to myself and my two fellow judges. 

My role was really to bring expertise from the Council, having a working knowledge of many existing and new projects. I could ask the pertinent questions and throw the odd curveball into the mix! Overall, I feel the Climathon is a wonderful opportunity for the students to share and develop innovative ideas, actions and solutions to tackle local urban challenges in Galway City. 

Galway City Council launched a new climate festival in September 2024. Titled ‘Climate Inspirations – Communities in Action’, it aims to harness Galway’s creative energy and deliver on objectives in the recently adopted Action Plan. What community-forward takeaways arose from this celebration? 

The 2024 climate festival was the first of its kind organised by a local authority in Ireland. ‘Climate Inspirations – Communities in Action’ is an innovative, creative, collaborative festival which aims to change the narrative around climate action to a message of positivity. During the festival people enjoyed climate talks, street theatre, live music, comedy, a féasta (feast) for 150 people, and a ‘playful street’ and second-hand market on Middle Street – fun for the whole community! 

Post-festival surveys show that 83% of respondents rated the overall experience excellent or good and a fantastic 75% were inspired to take sustainable action. One of the key takeaways is using the arts and creativity to get the message out that climate action is a positive for individuals, families and communities.  

Celebrating the best of Galway – the arts, music, and creative culture – and using this to promote climate action makes people a lot more responsive than just saying ‘Here’s the science, now take action’. This new approach is really working, and we want to build on the festival’s success for an even better one in 2025. 

Lastly, Galway City and University of Galway have the benefit of a diverse, engaged, and passionate community. In your opinion, what are some core projects that have successfully been – or should crucially be – leveraged between the University and Galway City Council? 

The ties between the two organisations are stronger than ever, particularly between the Climate Action Team and various departments in the University. An incredibly successful partnership has been the Grattan Beach Sand Dune Restoration project between the Geography Department, the City Biodiversity Officer and Parks Team, and the Climate Action Team. Led out by Dr Kevin Lynch, it’s an example of how nature-based solutions work. This project aimed to reduce the amount of sand blowing up onto Grattan Road and buffer the impact of recent storms. 

Another brilliant example is the NetZeroCities project, a collaboration between Galway City Council, the Engineering Building Department, the NWRA, Atlantic Technological University Galway, and a local Sustainable Energy Community. 

The aim is to accelerate retrofitting in the private sector by identifying and removing barriers, increasing the number of trained people in the community, and helping people with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland‘s grant process. 

We really need to keep tapping into the expertise of both Universities. We hope to see these partnerships coming to the fore with sustainable energy projects including work on waterways, climate adaptation in the form of flood defence, and nature-based solutions and biodiversity projects to create greener spaces for all Galwegians. For successful climate action, and decarbonisation of the city by 2050, we need all sectors of Galway to work together, and University of Galway is a massive part of this. 

Learn more about the co-hosted Galway City Climathon here.