PRESS RELEASE
Stories of Change to Inspire Community-led Climate Action
Stories of Change is an exciting and ambitious new project that uses stories and photography to showcase community-driven solutions to the climate crisis. The project is one of only 15 funded by Creative Ireland through its €2 million Creative Climate Action fund.
The team behind Stories of Change believe that community, creativity, and solution-based thinking is critical in dealing with the challenges posed by the climate crisis. The project wants to move beyond simply raising awareness by igniting the imagination and inspiring change by showcasing local solutions and stories to encourage climate action.
The project will result in four exhibitions and celebrations, a documentary that highlights key people doing good work for the people and planet, and a website that catalogues and documents the stories and solutions of Ireland’s climate changemakers. The exhibitions will showcase portrait photos and stories and include the launch of ‘The Characters of Stories of Change’, a short video featuring the 40 community changemakers interviewed.
The first exhibition in Co. Clare launched with Burrenbeo, as part of Heritage Week last month and was a great success.
The next stop is Galway on Saturday, September 3rd at The Galway Sailing Club, Oranmore.
Why not start the day with a wild food foraging walk? Have you ever wanted to know more about our wild food plants and how to simply, safely and respectfully incorporate them into your diet? Join Olwyn Williams and learn basic plant identification, plant habitats and ecological connections as well as food and medicine uses for the plants.
If you’d rather water over woods, there will be a yoga workshop and sea dipping, facilitated by Kinvara native, Helen Colfer.
William from Wild Strands will be creating a feast celebrating local, sustainable producers, seasonal plant-based food and an often forgotten Irish heritage food, seaweed. People can sign up for feast prep workshops in the morning, to learn techniques on how to utilise seaweed as a nutritional addition to our everyday diet and help prepare the meal that will be shared with the community as part of the exhibition in the afternoon.
Climate chats, storytelling and a free workshop for kids take up the rest of the day, with local band, Gifthorse performing at the event’s close. We have a panel of experts who will be discussing how we can effectively communicate the challenges of Climate Change with our community. There will also be stalls from Galway Atlantaquaria, Leave No Trace, Climate Ambassadors and SAUTI-Youth Group.
You can buy your tickets for the foraging and yoga, as well as registering for your free place for the remaining events on Eventbrite.
The project will showcase and celebrate the stories of local people working on projects and programs for Earth care, People care, and Fair share. The stories will identify ways that local residents can actively engage in the climate conversation and showcase viable solutions for them to take action, support local, and make sustainable change.
Speaking about the project, LK Howells, the project creator and lead says, ‘’The narrative around climate change is often scary and overwhelming. It’s important to remember that we are not going into this blind. We have an incredible network of people here in Ireland that are making, creating, advocating and designing solutions for a better future. This project is about promoting those people, sharing their stories and celebrating their solutions to inspire community-led climate action’’.
The remaining exhibition launches and community celebrations will be held in Donegal and Kerry, in collaboration with partners Artlink, Climate Ambassadors, Essentially Eco, Leave No Trace, and SeaSynergy.
Book tickets for the events on the website storiesofchange.ie or through Eventbrite.
PHOTOS RELEASED BY: Jacqui Devenneyreed jacquidevenneyreed.com
CONTACT: Laura Kate Howells [email protected]
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Follow Stories of Change on social media:
Website – storiesofchange.ie
Facebook – www.facebook.com/storiesofchange.ie
Instagram – www.instagram.com/stories_of_change
Linktree: – linktr.ee/storiesofchange
Stories of Change is funded by The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. You can find out about the other successful projects at:
https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en/blog/creative-climate-action-fund-projects-announced/.
The Creative Climate Action Fund focuses on bringing a creative approach to illustrating and making the changes needed to fight climate change. Showcasing coastal light installations, pollinator walking routes, renewable energy-generating artworks, unique collaborations and much more, the 15 projects for 2022 were selected from an impressive 166 applications. More here: https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en/blog/creative-climate-action-fund-projects
Foraging and Yoga with Olwyn
Olwyn Williams is a yoga therapist and teacher, who also offers wild food foraging workshops and walk and talks.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildyogawithOlwyn
Helen Colfer
A native of the beautiful seaside village of Kinvara, Co Galway, Helen’s passion for sea swimming saw her being an integral part of the creation of Atlantic Masters Swimming Club founded in 2014. She has taken part in various marathon swims (10km +) and she is an official English Channel Swimmer as part of a three person relay team that swam the channel in 2018.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigstretchyoga.eu
Gifthorse
A self-described, “primitive group of muc savages from the palaeolithic era,” who have been playing on the streets of Galway since 2018. The band consists of four members; Tadgh Kelly on drums, Aron Burke on guitar and vocals, Colm Brennan on guitar and vocals, and Finn O’Callaghan on bass.
About our Partners:
Art-link – artlink.ie
Artlink’s mission is to provide the expertise and physical resources to build a strong sustainable visual arts culture, and contribute to the artistic and economic ecology of the northwest of Ireland.
Burrenbeo Trust – burrenbeo.com
Burrenbeo Trust is dedicated to connecting all of us to our places and our role in caring for them. This is carried out through over 25 different programmes each year. Developed after 10 years of experience, Burrenbeo Trust delivers a series of programmes engaging people with the natural, built, and cultural heritage of their area.
essentially eco – @essentially.eco.ie on Instagram
Environmental educators, events facilitators and sustainability consultants, their aim is to make living sustainably accessible and fun. Essentially Eco has designed education programs to creatively engage people on the topic of sustainability and social justice for ECO UNESCO, Concern, Sustainability Trust (NZ), Bristol University, Youth Reach, Google, Wellington City Council, among others.
Climate Ambassador – climateambassador.ie
The Climate Ambassador Programme is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce and is funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. The programme trains and supports individuals to become climate leaders in their community and has trained over 800 Climate Ambassadors since 2018.
Leave No Trace Ireland – leavenotraceireland.org
An Outdoor Ethics education programme designed to promote and inspire responsible outdoor recreation through education, research, and partnerships. As increasing numbers of people seek the beauty and exhilaration of outdoor travel and recreation, our collective mark on the environment and its natural processes increases.
Sea Synergy – seasynergy.org
Marine Awareness, Research and Activity Centre that offers a variety of meaningful activities, workshops, and adventures that empower all ages. Sea Synergy’s immersive experiences in the Skellig Coast’s rich local heritage and environment allow our clients to fully experience what Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way has to offer.
Wild Strands Caife, Marine Food and Eco-tourism – facebook.com/Wildstrandscaife
A Maritime Food Sustainable-Tourism company, it aims to promote nature-based experiences through four main strands, Slow Adventure Experiences, Education, Creative Wild Cooking and Tai Chi Qigong.
