‘O/Mapping: Layering Creativity into the Deep Mapping of the Places Where We Belong’ brings people together to explore their connection to place and then expand upon that through storytelling, art, weaving and shared experiences within the local landscape.

The first O/mapping gatherings will take place in June 2025 in the Anne Valley. Artists, farmers, historians and everyone else in the community are invited to collaborate to create ‘deep maps’ — visual and narrative representations that capture the past, present, and imagined futures of our rural space. Three artists will subsequently respond to this event, design workshops accordingly, and at a second gathering invite participants to weave, walk/listen and draw. This ‘O/Map’ approach to creativity will thereby bring the outcomes of deep-mapping into new representations, internally and externally, of the places we belong to.

Layering geographic, landscape, ecological, heritage and culture is characteristic the practice of bioregional mapping. Introducing creativity a distinct additional layer will be of interest to the current blossoming international movement of bioregionalism - and how we make bioregional maps. The learnings from O/Mapping will be replicable to other bioregions in Ireland and beyond. The outcomes can form the social-ecological foundation for creating collective, positive futures in multiple landscapes.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.