The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is delighted to announce the 15 successful recipients of the €2 million Creative Climate Action fund. This Creative Ireland initiative supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empowers citizens to make meaningful behavioural changes.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said; “I believe that the creative community has a vital role to play in bringing the urgency of climate change to the forefront. This is why we are the first EU country to launch such a creative climate fund. These projects confirm that creative approaches to community engagement, backed up by academic science, have the imagination and impact to demonstrate that a sustainable future is possible.”

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD said; “We know that addressing climate change is a transformational cultural challenge. Our culture shapes how we interact with our environment – through our habits of consumption, ideas about nature, what we value as meaningful, and what we think is possible and impossible.

“Our recent Climate Conversations with communities and individuals while preparing the climate action plan have told us that people want to be supported and inspired to make changes. I believe projects like these will help spark imaginations and to make tangible what ‘carbon footprints’ and ‘climate action’ really mean for individuals and communities.”

Fifteen projects from around the country were selected from an impressive 166 applications. Find out more about the projects below.

A series of-farm based creative events, Field Exchange will support farmers to implement agricultural practices that combat climate change both in and above the soil in Tipperary.

Repair Acts Ireland is a 16-month pilot project that will highlight the care, repair and reuse of objects in Westmeath.

For Corca Dhuibhne Inbhuanaithe 2030, an artist will work with traditional farmers and the Dingle Creativity Hub to highlight why diversification from current farming practices is necessary.  

Worker’s Villages will see The Irish Architecture Foundation work with residents of three Bord na Móna villages in the Midlands regarding the changing future for locals and will reimagine a more sustainable future for their communities.

ACT Waterford is county-wide project that will work with five communities to promote energy saving, wildlife diversification, increased use of public transport, the development of carbon sinks and challenge current consumption habits.

Part of a community engagement project that will radically reimagine the town’s energy supply, The Callan Energy Store – a pop-up energy store in the heart of Callan, Kilkenny – is an initiative led by Asylum Theatre Productions and Loosysmokes aerial circus company.

Working in Irish, Baint an Aeir/Hope it Rains will see artists and the community co-create renewable energy-generating public artworks in Connemara. These works will power local services and draw attention to energy consumption/reduction. 

"This initiative supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural changes"

Led by scientist Niamh Shaw and Dublin City Council in consultation with the community of Crumlin, Creative Climate Action Crumlin will activate a series of climate projects to raise awareness, enhance the natural world and change lifestyles. 

Decarbonising Together will see five Limerick community groups identify an aspect of decarbonisation that matters to them and then work with a creative partner to explore and enable behavioural change in their daily lives.

Stories of Change is an intergenerational creative roadshow travelling to four counties that will showcase local solutions to the climate crisis through the visual medium of photography, storytelling and food.

The KinShip Project will engage the public on climate action through a community creative action programme at Tramore Valley Park, a 170-acre park developed on a reclaimed landfill site in Cork City.

Rising is an interdisciplinary arts project led by Brokentalkers Theatre and TCD. It will support the communities of Dublin’s Docklands to creatively explore the complexities of climate change, inspire local action and act as a model for communities nationally.

Línte na Farraige is a set of striking visual light installations designed by Finnish artists that will be placed across three Irish coastal sites in counties Dublin, Wexford and Galway. The installations consist of illuminated horizontal lines that represent future sea levels and storm surges.

Ripple will use a co-design process to explore how the community of Ballina can reimagine and transform their local green space through the use of water as a resource and as a means to improve climate resilience.

A creative collaboration with local artists, poets, historians, videographers and musicians, iconic Dublin football club Bohemian FC has announced The Bohemian Way walking trail. It intents to use creative methods to build real change within communities to fight climate change.