Cork City Council welcomes FEEL Project Partners to Cork
Cork City Council welcomed the project partners to Cork for the first study visit, an event to showcase the frugal practices and services available to residents in Cork. The event held on the 13th & 14th of March at the Lifetime Lab, welcomed partners from Frederikshavn in Denmark, The Liguria Region of Italy, Mazovia Energy Agency from Poland, and many organisations from within Ireland. The Lifetime Lab is the old waterworks in Cork built in the 1800’s, the building has been remodelled keeping the heritage of the waterworks and the rotors but also making the space available for students for learning opportunities, a glimpse of history for visitors and as a meeting place for conferences.
Guided by Bernie Connolly of Cork Environmental Forum, the meeting kicked off with our Community Climate Action Co-ordinator Peter Medway, spoke about the need to work collectively with communities and elected officials to achieve climate neutrality and ensure a brighter future in Cork. Brian Cassidy, presented on the Ardrostig Housing Development, an estate designed with low tech and sufficiency in mind. With accessible bus routes, 34 bicycle spaces, active walking routes, limited spaces for cars, and essential services all within walking distance, residents are encouraged and empowered to choose a more frugal lifestyle. The partners visited the estate on Thursday 14th to see firsthand the accessibility and sufficiency example that Ardrostig estate offers.
Gobnait Ni Neill of Codema Energy Agency in Dublin spoke about the Energy Saving Kit, an intriguing toolkit that can be used to check the energy efficiency of a home by the homeowner. Started in 2013 in three locations in Dublin as a pilot action, the kit proved very popular and was rolled out nationally to 24 public libraries after four years, available free of charge to homeowners. Ben Hussey of Bishopstown Library delivered a quick demonstration of the kit, and it was available for the attendees to view for the duration of the study visit.
Keeping with buildings and focusing on low tech, Katherine Fitzgerald of Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) detailed the schemes available for upgrades. Simple measures like attic insulation can reduce heating costs substantially over the year and cut emissions from residential buildings. Giovanni Impoco, the Circular Economy Lead with the Irish Green Building Council presented the Circular Roadmap project being developed in Ireland to progress circularity. Construction or demolition contributes 50% of the total weight of waste generated in Ireland. By implementing a circular model for construction, Ireland can significantly reduce this weight and keep resources in use for longer. Giovanni introduced three ideas to inspire innovation and creative thinking around the topic- Extended Producer Responsibility, Product as a Service and Designing Products for Deconstruction enabling easier recycling.
The afternoon session began with a Welcome for the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Kieran McCarthy. The Lord Mayor spoke about the ambitions and vision of Cork City as a leading European City, one that is determined, progressive, diverse, and inclusive. The Lord Mayor also chorused the need for cooperation with others and fostering interregional learning across regions. Cork has a history of involvement with European Projects including Interreg Europe, Horizon 2020, Life and the European Commission’s 100 Net Zero Cities by 2030 which Cork is a member.
The last session of the day focused on the Bikeshare Scheme available to citizens in Cork. Presented by Andreas Saul-Rotne of the National Transport Authority, the scheme offers a simpler route to avoiding traffic jams by renting a bike and choosing active travel to get around the city. Since its inception, users in Cork have travelled over 200,000 kilometres with most ending at Kent Train Station. The final presentation of the day was from Brian McCarthy, an entrepreneur from Cork City whose lockdown project of a city rooftop farm has inspired him to undertake the expansion of the farm within the city limits supplying sustainably grown organic food from a farm to fork concept boosting biodiversity and cutting food miles.
Thursday’s meeting kicked off looking at the actions that are going on within Cork City Council. The first action, presented by Erin O’Brien focused on a pilot of composting food waste. Bokashi bins use the addition of microorganisms to waste, increasing the speed of breakdown and cutting emissions Ellen Murphy then highlighted the issue of waste produced by using single use nappies with over 4,000 nappies used before toilet training. Ellen has introduced a scheme in collaboration with Cork University Maternity Hospital and other local authorities around Ireland to use cloth nappies and make them available to new mothers. The scheme has been fully allocated with over 50 people choosing cloth nappies potentially cutting 200,000 nappies in landfill.