Go Green Exchange:
Portugal 2024
February 2024:
In February Ivana Connor from the Leave No Trace Office along with distinguished experts Dr. Kevin Lynch from the University of Galway, Caítlín Flanagan, World Climate Sustainability Lead at Deloitte, and Patrick Jackson founder of Picker Pals went to Lousida in Portugal for a third GoGreen Training event.
The four-day training course focused on biodiversity, conservation and land management. Through sharing their experience in Portugal each partner got the opportunity to learn new ideas and concepts to implement in their own country.
During the trip the group witnessed the excellent work being done on invasive species in coastal areas and how the city of Porto is being protected through the use of sand dunes.
The group also visited a forest purchased by the town council that includes inclusive pathways for people of all abilities, a forest school for children, multiple man made lakes to increase biodiversity.
The final training session is scheduled for the end of May in Mayo, Ireland.
Leave No Trace Ireland is one of six partner institutions involved in the ‘GoGreen – Local Action for the EU Green Deal Project’. Included are three municipalities in Portugal, Belgium, and Spain, two environmental NGOs (ASPEA – Portugal, Leave No Trace – Ireland) and a research centre in Cyprus that will lead the project.
The Go Green partner organisations are:
- Synthesis Centre
- Município de Lousada
- Gemeente & OCMW Zoersel
- ASPEA Associação
- Ayuntamiento Soto del Real
- Leave No Trace Ireland
The European Green Deal aims to transform the 27-country block from a high- to a low-carbon economy, without reducing prosperity and while improving people’s quality of life, through cleaner air and water, better health and a thriving natural world.
The green deal will work through a framework of regulation and legislation setting clear overarching targets – a bloc-wide goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and a 50%-55% cut in emissions by 2030 (compared with 1990 levels) are supposed to be at the core – alongside incentives to encourage private sector investment, with action plans for key sectors and goals such as halting species loss, cutting waste and better use of natural resources.
