Monday 2nd September 2024, Dunhill EcoPark, Dunhill, Co. Waterford
At this event we entered a new, expanded and exciting phase and celebrated inspiring changemakers in the SE Ireland bioregion.
Launch programme:
Short film of bioregional changemakers
The neighbours you are slightly in awe of and resonate deeply with! As you know, some truly inspirational people live locally in our bioregion, people who have taken it into their own hands to demonstrate that things can be done differently. They work in ways that create value for nature and communities, while still generating essential financial returns. We have captured the stories of three such changemakers in our new short film. Do you resonate with the sense of pride of place and share their active hope for new ways to bring about change?
The new board and associates
The huge potential of a bioregional weaving approach
Bioregional weaving is here to stay! We have established a new non-profit entity and are now ready to work with partners and stakeholders for the long-term. Get to know the dedicated, experienced and inspiring individuals that either form our new board, act as strategic advisors or have taken a formal role as ambassador for BWL. Who are they, why did they want to be part of this, and what are their visions for the next decade or two?
Contributions from Una Fitzpatrick (National Biodiversity Centre), Thomas Ball (Sustainable Futures, KMPG) and Pieter Ploeg (Commonland).
Ray McGrath reflected on the role of being an Ambassador for BWL in SE Ireland and the potential for us all to be ambassadors for building awareness and positive changemaking.
Bioregional planning and map-making
1 bioregion, 4 Returns and 3 zones for 20 years
A key element in our new entity’s work going forward is the ‘Bioregional Strategic Plan’. It includes Bioregional mapping as a visual way of providing ‘a gift to decision-makers’ and as a powerful approach for communities to drive change rooted in their own sense of place. • Where is the SE Ireland bioregion on a map?
We viewed the new guidebook to the 4 Returns framework at the heart of our work • The three zones: mapping land-use into economic, combined and natural zones as a useful visualisation tool in holistic landscape restoration.
Community, social and artistic mapping: illustrating the more intangible, fundamentally important, assets to be cherished and nurtured in our future bioregion.
BWL’s new potential and identity
We have a new legal entity, website, office and more!
We celebrated progress to date, sharing our visons and hope for the bioregion, with drinks and bites to eat from local growers and makers.
The report from this collaborative event can be found here.
Does our approach resonate with you? Would you like to be involved? We would love to hear from you, contact us here