The Kingfisher Project at Blarney Park Allotments is transforming an ‘urban waste ground’ on the banks of the River Poddle at Kimmage into a community resource for education, knowledge, engagement and social capital building.

This winter the people at Kingfisher will use solar and wind power to germinate plants that will then be shared with schools and the community where they will be planted and grown with support from the Kingfisher team.

They will also create an inventory of local flora and fauna which aims to capture and describe every plant, insect and animal in the Kingfisher Project ecosystem. In turn this will be used to monitor the health of the area’s biodiversity as well as a teaching resource for school and community groups visiting the project.

Kingfisher Project

The Weight is a large scale temporary mural that will overlook Crumlin Road and the Grand Canal. It is a collaboration between artists Sarah Bracken Soper, Holly Pereira and the local residents whose concerns about climate change will be incorporated into the mural that will be completed at the end of October.

Change Clothes Crumlin is a new temporary clothing reuse hub for the area. They will run three events during Reuse October which will feature repair and upcycling workshops, clothes swapping facilities and an exhibition which will raise awareness about the impact of the fashion industry. To find out more follow @clothescrumlin.

Change Clothes Crumlin

The ReCreate Ireland facility in Ballymount saves tonnes of materials from landfill every year. Their ‘creative reuse’ policy encourages the public to reuse materials in all kinds of creative and inventive ways, giving them a new lease of life. They are bringing the fabulous potential of ‘creative reuse’ to life within the Crumlin community with two exciting projects.

CuriousB is a pop-up outdoor creative re-use event space for curious learning, creative exploration and play. Constructed almost entirely from reused materials – it showcases what can be created if we think outside the box.

WonderMaker is a 12-month creative engagement programme for Montessori and early years settings, teaching them sustainability principles to integrate into their curriculum, introducing the idea of green play and assemble/dismantle activities. It also encourages them to work towards becoming plastic-free settings (no plastic toys), advising them on how to build their own upcycled play areas using reuse materials and running a programme of nature-based workshop sessions for their staff.

Is It All On You?

Is It All On You? is a multimedia project combining documentary film, events and social media campaigns created by Beta Bajgart and Olga Tiernan.

The idea of creating behavioural change around climate action, assumes that the choices available to us in order to do this are easy, readily available and that we are the ones, choosing to do the opposite. But the reality of that for many, is quite different and this will be explored in every aspect of the programme.