Here at Leave No Trace Ireland, education and awareness about responsible environmental recreation and practices is at the core of our mission. Our audience includes the public, communities, schools, corporate organisations, public institutions, services and more.
But now, we are engaged in a project to help expand that audience – to help educate policymakers and consultants who are engaged in implementing the EU Green Deal at a local level.
What is “GoGreen” all about?
“GoGreen – Local Action for the EU Green Deal” is a European Erasmus project and has six partner institutions from across the continent. Environmental policies are just as important at local level as they are on a national level. It is the shared hope amongst the partners of the GoGreen project that this toolkit will provide resources, case studies and best practice advice on how to effectively implement impactful EU Green Deal policies in local communities.
The partnerships include three municipalities, (Lousada – Portugal, Zoersel – Belgium, and Soto del Real – Spain), two NGOs (Leave No Trace – Ireland and Aspea – Portugal) and a research centre (Synthesis – Cyrpus). Together, the partners will create an educational toolkit, which will convey best standard practice for implementing a wide range of environmental topics, such as, transport, biodiversity, energy, planning, social engagement and more. This toolkit will be created by the partners who will go on a number of field study exchanges throughout Europe. This toolkit will be tested on various participants from relevant sectors, who will provide feedback on its effectiveness. The project will run for 3 years, and is due to be published in 2025.
Irish Exchange
The first meeting was hosted by Leave No Trace Ireland in Westport on the 14th March 2022. The two-day event introduced the project to the partners, who then began the planning process. Leave No Trace kindly thank all the local business in Westport town who helped to make our first exchange a great success, and for the “céad míle fáilte” shown to our guests. We would also like to thank Cllr Peter Flynn for joining us on our introduction day and for his invaluable input.
Status
The project is now underway, with a second meeting in Zoersel, Belgium in Sept 2022 and a recent training course in Feb 2024 in Lousida, Portugal, focusing on biodiversity, conservation, and land management. Leave No Trace’s Ivana Connor attended the event 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.
The final training session is scheduled for the end of May in Westport.
Leave No Trace Ireland invites local government representatives who may be interested in the project to reach out for more information.
