The LAPN Events and Locations Working Group met in Portlaoise in January 2011, to discuss its plans for 2011, create synergies, share resources among the group and build upon the successes of 2010.
The group includes: Sharon Carroll, Galway City Council (Sharon.Carroll@galwaycity.ie); Michéal OCoileáin, Kerry County Council (mocoilea@kerrycoco.ie); Pauline McDonagh, Limerick County Council ; Sinead Fox, Cavan County Council (sfox@cavancoco.ie); Mary Stack, Cork County Council (Mary.stack@corkcoco.ie); and Sinéad Ní Mhainnín, Galway County Council (snimhain@GalwayCoCo.ie). The Working Group is faciliated by the Clean Technology Centre, as part of the LAPN.
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In Galway there is a plan to green the Galway Arts Festival in 2011. It is an annual 2 week event that runs in July. There are 6 main venues (these will be the focus of the key LAPN work this year) and the local committee and council are very interested in the proposal. As it is an annual event there is a desire to start this year and then build on the work each year. Some areas of the city have already been active in greening their localities.
In Kerry, there are a number of festivals around the county this year but the main focus would be the Dingle Food Festival in October. The festival includes 50 food serving venues around the town as well as dedicated food markets. Disposable food packaging would be a primary target as well as waste segregation and the development of usable data. Work will also continue in Killarney National Park.
In Limerick and Clare the main work already done relates to Thomond Park and the Cliffs of Moher and reusable and compostable packaging has been a focus for these.
In Cavan, there were many good experiences and findings from the 2010 Green Fleadh – An Fleadh Ghlais. The local authority is hoping for some new ideas in 2011 to build upon them. Committee commitment was of huge importance from the beginning and this commitment was put in action from the start with regard to paper and leaflet use. In addition to waste there was a big push to reduce leaks as well as issuing hippo bags for toilets. Over 60 businesses were involved. A lot of PR was generated – radio, tv, local papers. The launch was a very important kick off and gave the green initiatives a public profile – made them real too. All involved then signed up to a charter (commitment to greening the fleadh) and these business were then given support.
The fleadh was carbon neutral and this was achieved by off setting the carbon impact by planting oak trees.
In Cork The Midelton Food Festival was the focus for 2010. It is well established and though it is just a 1 day festival there is usually about 15,000 people there. 100 stall holders participate and in recent years there has been an environmental awareness campaign with specific adverts about travel to and from the festival. They also have a puppeteer who provides information about waste during the festival. There are environmental messages all over the festival especially at the waste stations and this worked really well in the past.
The main focus areas to date have been:
1. Travel
2. Awareness raising
3. Stall holders
In 2011 further plans relate to new work in Fota Island Wildlife Park. Much of the experiences form the Cliffs of Moher may well be transferable. This has been a great benefit.
In Galway County other activities are also planned regarding small localised festivals all year long where litter is a problem for the towns involved. A set of guidelines for festival organisers to reduce the impact would be a very useful tool for this kind of event.
The group is also hoping to build upon the experiences of the greening of the Wexford Arts Festival in 2010.
James Hogan, CTC, outlined the work done on developing a green events guide for Failte Ireland, and on the greening of the Wexford Festival of Opera. Based on this and ongoing work, it was decided by the Working Group that a concerted effort would be put into the development of guidelines and norms, which could be applicable to events throughout the country.
As a follow up on Monaghan County Council’s Master Composter Programme, Dr. Compost himself Craig Benton revisited St. Tiarnach’s School in Clones to ensure that the wormery that was built during the summer during the master composting programme was still operational.
The students from the schools Green Committee learnt all about worms and worm poop!
The enthusiasm of students was clearly evident and it is certain the worms will be well fed and well looked after in their new home!
A summary of the Local Authority Prevention Demonstration (LAPD) Programme from 2006 – 2009 has now been published. The Programme, which was supported by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of the National Waste Prevention Programme (NWPP), demonstrated a wide range of successful projects involving 14 local authorities. These have improved resource efficiency (waste, water and energy) practices in local businesses, communities and within the local authorities themselves, with significant cost savings.
Click here to download the full report.
Click here to see a quick infographic of the results for LAPD and LAPN.
The report highlights the sucesses of the programme over a four year period, whereby local authorities undertook ambitious actions across a range of sectors including:
- Public Administration
- Business
- Communities
- Farms
- Schools and 3rd level institutions
- Healthcare
- Retail
Hospitality and Tourism
Cost savings included:
- Direct cost savings: > €873,000 per annum
- Waste prevented/diverted: > 2,300 tonnes pre annum
- Water consumption reduced: > 37,5000 tonnes per annum
- Energy reduction: > 1,530,000 kWh per annum
More than 2,500 people participated in LAPD, with 300 audits and 26 people were trained in Waste and Resource Use Prevention.
The capacity built up within local authorities, and the ability and experience of the personnel involved, can ensure successful development of future resource efficiency programmes within Ireland. Indeed, Irish local authorities can now be regarded as leaders in this respect.
Claire Kelly & Dr Mary Stack of Cork County Council [Local Authority Waste Prevention Network] have challenged all stallholders at the Midleton Food & Drink Festival [September 11th] to become a Green Member and implement environmentally sustainable practices at their stalls.
Those that agreedwere rewarded with a Green Member Flag which will be on display on the day.
This year the Midleton Food & Drink Festival Committee worked closely with the Waste Prevention Unit of Cork County Council to Green the Festival. It was achieved through the participation of all stakeholders, including event organisers, volunteers, stallholders and visitors.
To learn more about the Greening of Midleton Food and Drink Festival click here
To hear a podcast of a radio advert for the Festival Greening click here
Cavan is gearing up for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2010 which will be the first Green Fleadh – ‘An Fleadh Ghlais’.
As part of its work on the Green Fleadh, Cavan County Council is undertaking several initiatives and working with pubs and restaurants in Cavan Town and environs, providing them with:
- An Enviromental Policy
- Advice about waste, energy & water
- An assessment of the premises
- The identification of prevention measures
- Advice about forming a GreenTeam & Action Plan
- A documentation folder for the project
- A Green Fleadh window sticker for their premises, and
- Advice about joining an Eco-Label system etc
So far the uptake has been 99%.
Cavan County Council took out an advertisement in local media inviting businesses to enter into the Fleadh Ghlas which has been very successful and has provided two workshops this year for the hospitality sector. It is also incorporating Fair Trade into the programme and Cavan Town Council is applying for Town Fair Trade Status. Most of the caterers are already serving Fair Trade coffee but had not put up the relevant logo signage or put it on the menu.
Publicans in the town are examining a range of options about using the environmentally friendly ‘Fleadh Cup’ for outdoor drinking.
Local Hotels have become Members and are working on the Green Hospitality Programme.
Cavan County Council has invited a list of 15 large businesses & industry to take part in the Green Fleadh by entering into the Green Business Programme.
Posters have been produced to summarise the individual projects of the Local Authority Prevention Demonstration (LAPD) and Local Authority Prevention Network (LAPN) programmes. Click on the images to see the full posters and more information:
The following posters also summarise the whole programme – click on the images to learn more:
The Local Authority Prevention Network conference will be held in Croke Park on Thursday 3 June 2010.
The EPA has organised a conference to inform local authority managers and others about the range of waste prevention and resource efficiency programmes being carried out by local authorities as part of the National Waste Prevention Programme.
All relevant local authority staff are encouraged to attend, in particular those interested in hearing of the savings that can be delivered through waste prevention and resource efficiency programmes and on the contribution that such programmes can make to greening the economy and the economic recovery in general, in addition to meeting various environmental policy objectives and commitments.
Over the course of the day there will be a comprehensive exhibition featuring results and case studies from all the LAPN participants and some of the other prevention partners in the National Waste Prevention Programme.
There is no charge to attend this event.
Contact m.lambert@epa.ie by Wednesday 26th May should you wish to attend the meeting. A welcome dinner is planned for the night before at the Croke Park Hotel, offering an informal networking opportunity. Please indicate if you will be attending this dinner or if you will be attending the meeting only. Please also let us know if you have any special dietary requirements.
Delegates should make their own accommodation arrangements – a special overnight B&B rate of €95 has been negotiated with the Croke Park Hotel for conference delegates.
Click here to see full Conference Details
Click here to see some background material on the Local Authority Prevention Network
Cork Institute of Technology, with support from the Clean Technology Centre, hosted a food waste reduction fair on November 26 – 28th, 2009. This event was part of the European Week of Waste Reduction (EWWR) and it also served to
act as an awareness raising event in CIT under the Green Campus CIT EPA CGPP project.
As part of the fair:
- CIT Canteen offered green lunch options with produce sourced locally
- There was an exhibition in the Nexus with information stands and composting demonstrations – waste reduction tips and recipes.
- A low waste meal prepared by the Hospitality Management students under Seamus Forde in the Tourism and Hospitality restaurant.
- A food waste ebooklet was launched at this meal.
- Kevin Dundon, Celebrity Chef, gave a a cookery demonstration in the Tourism and Hospitality demonstration kitchen
The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) is a 3 year project supported by the Life+ Programme of the European Commission until 2011. In 2009, the Week will take place from the 21 to the 29 November 2009.
In Ireland, the EPA National Waste Prevention Programme (NWPP) is the national organiser for EWWR. Invitations have been issued to prevention partners to get involved and over 30 events are scheduled by 15 organisations.
Projects Proposed in the Republic of Ireland
Purpose of EWWR
- To raise awareness about waste reduction strategies and about the policies of the European Union and its Member States on this subject
- To promote sustainable waste reduction actions across Europe
- To highlight the work accomplished by various actors, through concrete examples of waste reduction
- To encourage changes in the behaviour of Europeans (consumption, production) in everyday life.
Who is EWWR for?
For European citizens who participate in actions set up by Project Developers during the Week and learn about the kind of waste reduction habits that they can take up in everyday life.
These EWWR Organisers act as coordinators of the Week in the area covered by their authority, thereby ensuring the registration and validation of actions proposed by various Project Developers.
For “Project Developers” interested in carrying out awareness raising actions on the subject of waste prevention during the Week, with the aim of informing the greatest possible number of citizens. These Project Developers register their proposals for EWWR actions through the national, regional or local Organiser covering their area.
For those public authorities across Europe that have competence in the field of waste prevention that responded to a Call for Interest launched by the official partners of the project.
EPA National Waste Prevention Programme is the national organiser for EWWR in Ireland who will update this webpage from time to time. Confirmed events to take place during the week will be posted here. Partner organisations have been invited to participate including those implementing the NWPP, Green Homes, Green Business, Green Hospitality, Green Schools, Packaging Prevention and Food Waste Prevention/Home Composting programmes.
The 1st LAPN Plenary Meeting will take place on Wednesday 2 December 2009 at Mount Wolseley Hotel, Tullow, Co. Carlow
The theme of this meeting is: “Spreading the Word”
Dr. Gerry Byrne of the EPA wil welcome the delegates and provide a brief update on the National Waste Prevention Programme – prevention partners, EWWR, etc.
The meeting will also be addressed by EPA’s Jonathan Derham, who will speak about Waste Prevention and the new Waste Framework Directive
There will also be presentations by Dermot Cunningham on the LAPN, Kara Flannery on greenbusiness.ie and local authority LAPD personnel who will speak about their projects.
The Plenary is open to Local Authority Staff. If you wish to attend, contact Odile le Bolloch of the EPA. email: o.lebolloch@epa.ie or tel.: 053-9160600
