Cork County Council is marking the European Sustainable Development Goals Week with a series of events focusing on climate action. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals to transform our world, adopted by all 193 members of the United Nations. Their overall objective is to create a better world, and a better life for all, by 2030. The goals have a strong focus on the environment throughout.
The main event of Cork County Council’s promotion of the SDGs is the webinar and podcast ‘Let’s Talk About Climate Change’ in collaboration with the School of Applied Psychology and the Institute for the Social Sciences in the 21st century in UCC. The webinar will appeal to all age groups and give useful tips and insights on having conversations about climate change.
The 45 minute episode features American psychologist and expert climate communicator Professor Mick Smyer, Liz Downes from Cork County Older Persons Council, Cork students Alannah Wrynne and Darragh Walsh along with representatives from Cork County Council. The webinar and podcast is available on the Council’s YouTube channel and Soundcloud page.
Additional events include a series of masterclasses being run by the Local Enterprise Offices and UCC to help small and micro enterprises understand environmental sustainability. The workshops get underway on Tuesday, October 18th.
Cork County Council has also published a thought-provoking collection of stories about climate change written by older citizens from Cork. The book ‘Voices of Experience’ is a unique insight into how older people have experienced climate over their lifetime and their message to future generations. As a special gift to citizens for the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals, a free copy of the book can currently be collected to keep from the branch libraries. It is also available to download from the Council website, to borrow from the libraries and to view on the libraries Borrowbox.
The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins said, “We love to talk in Ireland, but the issue of climate change is one that many of us tend to avoid. However, we cannot avoid it any longer and we need to engage with people of all ages. We know that the crisis is causing children and young people to worry which is why I’m delighted to see student Alannah Wrynne joining Prof Smyer on the webinar and podcast. Eco-anxiety is one of the topics that is up for discussion and I hope that viewers will find it helpful. The webinar will also be made available to schools across the county.”
Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey added, “The Strategic Development Goals are the blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. The 17 goals tie in with the Council’s work across all departments. We are about to embark on developing a Climate Action Plan for Cork County. We have started the baseline emissions study and we really need the input from Cork residents and communities to develop a meaningful plan that we all will own and deliver together. We will be hosting public consultations and events over the next year and look forward to strong engagement.”
Other Cork County Council initiatives that tie in with the Sustainable Development Goals include initiatives to tackle period poverty, improve energy efficiency in people’s homes and reduce waste.
Free eco-friendly sanitary products are available across the Council’s network of 25 branch libraries and 4 mobile libraries. Energy saving kits are also available to borrow from Midleton, Macroom, Mallow, Bantry, Clonakilty and Mitchelstown libraries. While two social enterprises, Cycle Sense in Skibbereen and Northside Community Enterprise (NCE) in Farranferris, Cork City, are creating affordable paint using waste products collected from local authority civic amenity sites.
