Environmental and Sustainability Initiatives
Here are tools that help you on develop a community sustainability organisation or group. The tell you what the challenges are in this area of community action, and shows you how to overcome them.
Swift Conservation: a once common bird being brought back
Swift Conservation Ireland is a volunteer led initiative working on the conservation of the swift in Ireland. The project began with Lynda Huxley. Her interest in swifts began while working at ATU Mayo campus in Castlebar, where there is an established colony of the birds. She began recording numbers and studying nest sites on campus in the summer months, and noticed that fewer birds returning each year. She decided to set up a nest box project to provide secure breeding sites to help conserve – and then grow – their numbers
Boomtreebees – from tiny creatures to a BIG result
Boomtreebees is a conservation and natural beekeeping project in Ireland which is all about protecting the native Irish honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera). They make semi‑natural habitat (log hives) to serve as nesting sites, and do research and education to share what they have found out about how to help bring back the Irish honey bee in the wild. They have helped Irish bees make more than 200 wild bee hives.
OURganic Gardens – a smallholding with big lessons
OURganic Gardens is an outdoor teaching garden in northwest Donegal. They teach people how to grow food and work with nature, not against it. It’s a place where people can come together to learn, volunteer, and enjoy the outdoors through classes and garden tours. It helps other people and groups do similar gardens in their own place.
Farming Rathcroghan Scheme – Sustainable Farming in an Archaeological Landscape
The Farming Rathcroghan EIP project gives advice and support to farmers in the local area on how to farm in an historically important landscape, to look after and improve the landscape, while protecting bio-diversity, carbon sequestration and improving water quality. This is important because farmers need to work with forms and rules while at the same time make a living.
Stone Wall Festival — Rebuilding heritage the regenerative way
What started as a small, hands‑on community weekend became an example of regenerative tourism (where vistors make a place better while they visit it): visitors learn a traditional craft, rebuild a section of wall, and leave a visible legacy on the Great Western Greenway.
Working with Nature: The Rosmurrevagh Dunes Conservation Project
The Rosmurrevagh Dunes Project is a very strong example of community-led ecological restoration based in observation, care, and long-term commitment. Started by local farmers in 1996, the project began as an answer to bad erosion and . Over time, it became a leading example of learning together and how to protect the land from the sea using natural ways and not just building walls. Today, Rosmurrevagh is known as one of Ireland’s strongest sand dune systems. This was not just against erosion from the sea, but because the community learned to work with nature.
Old Irish Goat Project – Reviving Heritage for a Resilient Future
What started as a search for a lost native breed has grown into one of Ireland’s most innovative examples of community-led climate action. In Mulranny, County Mayo, a local group came together to protect the Old Irish Goat — a rare and ancient animal deeply connected to Irish culture. Today, their work blends conservation, education, and land management in ways that support both biodiversity and climate resilience.
Mulranny Community Futures & Promenade (Case Study)
A Scottish-style, household-led consultation gave Mulranny a clear, shared brief: footpaths, safer crossings, and a seafront civic space. With a Village Design Statement (2012) to turn that mandate into drawings, the community and council delivered continuous footpaths, traffic calming, and the Mulranny Promenade—even during austerity—shifting the N59 corridor from car-dominated to people-first and setting the stage for later climate actions.
Creative Climate Action: Art and Sustainability in Westside (Case Study)
Westside Resource Centre’s community-led projects bring creativity and climate action together to engage residents in meaningful ways. Projects like “Painting the Planet” and “The Air We Share” use art and science to make sustainability understandable, start conversations about environmental issues, and strengthen community connections. Read the full case study to learn more about this work and what they are able to do.
Community Energy: A Practical Guide to Reclaiming Power
A full guide all about community energy. It covers everything you need to build a core team, , keeping a group running, getting in touch with the wider community, and technical aspects of energy production, distribution, supply, energy savings, heat,...