€860,000 allocated to Community Groups through Climate Action Fund

15/05/2024

Up to 23 community groups are on course to receive up to €860,000 to support the city’s climate and biodiversity ambitions with the announcement of the recipients of Cork City Council’s Community Climate Action Fund supported by the Department of Environment, Climate & Communications.

Amongst the groups who will benefit from this funding are hurling and football clubs, rugby clubs, gardening projects, community centres, community associations and a heritage building ( see notes to editor for further detail). There are three categories of funding: small (less than €20,000), medium (€20,000-€50,000) and large (€50,000-€100,000). The fund will run over 18 months and will be supported by a dedicated Community Climate Action Officer employed by Cork City Council. The projects funded will enable communities to carry out significant energy efficiency upgrades, deliver cargo bike libraries, composting, community gardening, green walls, tree planting and solar pv roofs amongst a host of other projects that will reduce carbon emissions and support community climate resilience.

Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy said: “This Community Climate Action Fund is of strategic importance and will benefit communities long into the future. The works will provide real value for money and a reduction in emissions. After the global energy crisis in 2022, communities are looking for ways to become more resilient. This fund will help groups save on operating costs so they can put their energies into the work they do best in their communities, rather than fearing the next utility bill’.

Colette McCarthy, treasurer of one of the beneficiaries, St Finbarrs Hurling & Football Club, said: “Access to this fund has changed the climate action landscape for St Finbarr's as a volunteer-run club, allowing us to turn a pipedream into a tangible reality. Submitting our application focused our actions. We now have a sustainability committee and have undertaken an SEAI funded Energy Action Plan - and that's all before hearing the news that funding has been approved! We are excited to get started and be leading out on climate action in Cork City.’’

In a good week for climate action in the city, Cork City Council also learned that it has secured €500,000 from the European Commission to roll out a project, in conjunction with UCC, to support people make the shift from cars to walking and cycling. Cork City Council will work in partnership with Dublin City Council and the Environmental Research Institute at UCC on a joint EU funded project entitled ‘BUILD CAPA-CITIES', as part of the EU Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, Net-Zero Pilot project.

The project will help Cork City Council to deliver on a demand for increased pedestrianisation in the city. Last year our household survey found that 86% of respondents, and 93% of those young people between 16 and 34 years, supported more pedestrianised streets. Promoting the shift from cars to other modes of transport, including walking, is healthier, cheaper and better for the environment.

Cork City Council Chief Executive Ann Doherty said: “Cork City Council is delighted to be working with Dublin City Council and partners on this initiative as we must explore innovative approaches that will help us dramatically accelerate climate action. We are committed to positive climate action and are excited to trial practical measures with our local partners. We are committed to working with everyone to meet the challenge of climate action, realise the potential benefits and make our city more sustainable and resilient”.

Community Climate Action Fund

The Community Climate Action Fund Strand 1: Building Low Carbon Communities is funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. €860,000 has been allocated to Cork City for projects run by community, voluntary and non-profit groups located in the local authority operational area.

The projects will address one or more of the following five themes:

Community energy
Travel
Food and waste
Shopping and recycling
Local climate and environmental action

Community Climate Action Programme

Tab A – Cork City: Applications Recommended for Funding under strand 1 of the Community Climate Action Programme in Cork City Council Area

	Lead Partner Organisation	Project Name	Overview	Funding Recommended
1.	Sundays Well RFC	Carbon Neutral by 2030	Updating club buildings to be more energy efficient overall, with this funding being used for Solar PV. Onsite reusing of training gear aimed mainly at younger players.	€20,000
2.	Blackpool Foyer Social Gardening	Blackpool Foyer Social Gardening Group	A community gardening project that brings together those who do not have access to gardening at home themselves, and also experience social isolation. With this funding they are using their agency to make informed choices around access to freshly grown food and increasing biodiversity with products more aligned to their values.	€832
3.	Shandon Area Renewal Association	Shandon Green Gardens Allotment	This project will increase the output of produce from an established community gardening project. The investment will enable them to engage in more circular approaches to waste and composting, whilst also increasing the ability of the group to gather, supporting existing members and becoming a more welcoming space for new members.	€4082
4.	Blackpool Community Centre	Blackpool Community Centre	This group commits to a small building project which will decease heat loss from their main building. As part of a multipronged approach, they will increase biodiversity in their community garden and house an onsite water refill fountain to reduce plastic use and waste.	€7179
5.	Cope Foundation	Bonnington Training Centre Composting Awareness Campaign	Cope proposes to install compost bins at all 29 sites around Cork City and use this compost to support and supply compost for the community growing project at the Bonnington site. This project will increase yield and create a close waste system within Cope. It will have a multiplier effect of increasing awareness of composting with the wider community connected to Cope. The implementation will be supported by the students enrolled in the QQI Training Course.	€9570
6.	The Lough Community Association	The New Lough Community Garden	This project proposes to develop a larger, more efficient community garden that will serve the community better than their current very limited set-up. They propose water harvesting for the garden from their main building, site clearance, building of raised beds with a large sized polytunnel.	€15,000
7.	Waterloo Renewal Group	Waterloo Native Plantation.	This project will plant native Irish trees and fruit trees with the goal of sequestering carbon, improving air quality and reducing flooding risks, while also providing co-benefits of increased access to fresh fruit and nuts for local communities	€2021.53
8.	The Glen Resource Centre	Community Composter & Polytunnel Project	The Glen proposes to increase the scale of community composting on site in the Glen including on site supportive building works. They will be compliant with all legislation, and potential serve as a best practise model of expanded community composting.	€19,835.12
9	St. Lukes Community Garden	St. Lukes Community Garden	A proposal to take an existing community garden to the "next level" of community composting and cooperation. They will procure the necessary capital items for community composting, implement supportive building works, whilst also assuring compliancy with the necessary legal licences. This would make a good case study for best practices for community composting and collaboration.	€47,152
10	Civic Trust House	Respecting Heritage, Respecting the Planet: Letting a 300 year old building lead on sustainability	This project proposes to upgrade an existing and highly visible heritage building with sustainable measures that that cut across three themes. It has the potential to serve as a case study for community actions such as this in a high profile heritage building.	€44,396
11	Lantern / Green Spaces	Let's Get Composting in Cork	A collaborative project to support community groups to collectively move away from peat-based compost to a circular, closed-loop, waste-reducing composting mechanism. The project relies on high quality networks with governance and financial oversight from and experienced lead organisation.	€39,802
12	St Vincents Football and Hurling Club	Complex Carbon Footprint	This project proposes to upgrade all internal and external lighting at the highly-used sports club. It will also make use of green spaces to improve biodiversity in the area with all the potential health and community co-benefits.	€50,000
13	Bishopstown Lions Club	Doublegreen Sustainability Hub	A multi-pronged approach to building and developing a low carbon community in the Bishopstown around Murphy’s Farm. Whilst managed by the lead applicant the project will look to improve energy efficiency, water harvesting, waste reduction and biodiversity measures across a large campus of buildings, sports facilities and community gardens in the area.	€22,000
14	Douglas Street Business Association	Green Walls Douglas Street	The implementation of a Green Walls initiative in a city centre community with considerable collaboration between residents and the business community. This also follow on from a previous Climate Action Unit project that supported local communities to develop Community Climate Action Plans.	€36,278.50
15	Upper Glanmire Community Association	Installation of solar panels and EV Charger	The installation of PV Solar Panels, and EV Charger with all associated works.	€28,940
16	Ballyphehane Community Centre	Large Scale Energy Upgrade	A project to support a community group already heavily invested in the Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) process to realise their community’s energy upgrades.	€25,000
17	Piarsaigh Huling & Football Club	LED Upgrade & Tree Planting 2023	This project proposes to upgrade all internal and external lighting at the highly-used sports club. It will also make use of green spaces to improve biodiversity in the area with all of the potential health and community co-benefits.	€25,000
18	Railway Park Cork Community Group	Railway Park Greening & Activity Track	A project to implement an activity track that will support young bicycle riders to learn basic skills and complementary re-greening landscaping.	€25,000
19	Social and Health Project (SHEP)	SHEP Community Climate Action Project	A large-scale project that involves installation of Solar PV, Bike storage and outdoor garden classroom with a community engagement mobilisation project to support dissemination and community activation for climate.	€100,000
20	St Finbarr's Hurling and Football Club	Climate Action Fund Project	This large-scale project proposes to upgrade all internal and external lighting and to install Solar PV and bike storage. It will also make use of green spaces to improve biodiversity in the area with all of the potential co-health and community co-benefits.	€100,000
21	Newbury House	Mayfield Community Climate Impact Committee	A project that brings together a geographically community working in a collaborative way to support climate actions in each of their sites. It builds on a previous Climate Action Unit project that supported the Mayfield community to develop their own community climate action plan. This project sees the implementation of the community climate wishes in real, impactful and meaningful ways.	€69,717.97
22	Churchfield Community Trust	Growing Places for Wellbeing - Collaborative Pathway to Sustainable Climate Action	An urban composting project that brings together multiple stakeholders from across the community of Churchfield. Its vision is to create a closed-loop waste system that turns significant amounts of waste into compost for the local growing project. This project will benefit the community by creating connections between diverse communities. They will all come together on the two hectare St Mary's Health Campus has become a focal space for health and well-being on the northside of Cork city.	€100,000
23	Fairhill Fairfield Community Association	Fairhill Community Garden	This is a "ground up" project to establish a garden which can serve as an ignition spark to further climate actions. This project is underpinned by the values of collaboration and "Just Transition".	€100,000
	Total Fund Allocation			€859,667.27

Climate Neutral & Smart Cities Mission | Net Zero Cities Pilot Cities Programme

The Pilot Cities Programme supports European cities to test and implement innovative approaches to rapid decarbonisation, working across thematic areas and functional silos in support of systemic transformation.

The Programme seeks to address all urban systems contributing to climate-neutrality, including mobility, energy systems and the built environment, material and resource flows, natural areas, cultural/social/financial/institutional systems, and accessible public spaces.

The first (2022) and second (2023) cohorts of Pilot Cities have already embarked on their two-year journey towards climate neutrality within the Pilot Cities Programme, implementing innovative approaches, solutions, and services, to reduce carbon emissions and initiate transformational change. This May, a third cohort (2024) of Pilot Cities has been selected to join the portfolio, expanding the Pilot Cities Programme to a total of 104 cities.

Net Zero Cities Pilot Cities Programme

Horizon Funding

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion. It tackles climate change, helps countries to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.

Horizon Europe the EU’s funding programme for research and innovation (europa.eu)

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