Roscommon County Council has designated Roscommon Town as the Decarbonising Zone (DZ) for the county — recognising its role as the county’s central hub with its mix of public, commercial and residential functions, and its suitability as a test‑bed for climate‑action initiatives adapted to a rural/mid‑sized town context.
Current Footprint for the Roscommon Town DZ is approximately 9.46 tCO₂eq per person per year
County Roscommon Climate Action Plan 2024-29“Roscommon County Council, through collaboration and engagement with the local community, businesses, individuals, state agencies, departments and relevant bodies, will deliver an ambitious range of climate actions in Roscommon Town to showcase innovation and secure opportunities in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy.”
Roscommon Town is a key service centre for the surrounding county, and as such offers a unique opportunity to pilot decarbonisation measures — from energy‑efficient public buildings to community-led renewable energy, biodiversity projects, and climate-resilient infrastructure. This combination of functions, community cohesion, and opportunity for innovation makes Roscommon Town an ideal candidate to lead rural climate action in Roscommon County.
The official launch of the DZ was celebrated publicly in October 2024, marking the beginning of coordinated climate action for the town.
The DZ aims to contribute to a future that is low-carbon, climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, and socially inclusive
Community Engagement
The Roscommon Town DZ process is community-led, with active participation from the Sustainable Energy Community (SEC), the Roscommon Transition Town Team and Tidy Towns groups. These groups deliver the majority of on-the-ground initiatives, while Roscommon County Council acts as a conduit, providing funding, advice, coordination, and technical support.
Governance structures are being formalised to broaden representation, ensure inclusivity, and provide clear avenues for residents, businesses, and organisations to engage with DZ initiatives.
Sustainability Practices in the Roscommon Town DZ
Roscommon Transition Town Team
The Roscommon Transition Town Team is a community-led group supporting local climate and sustainability action within the Roscommon Town Decarbonisation Zone. The group has been actively involved in the Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) programme, contributing to the development of an Energy Master Plan for Roscommon Town and supporting local awareness-raising around energy efficiency, retrofitting, and low-carbon living. Please see the Roscommon Town Energy Master Plan here.
Working collaboratively with Roscommon County Council and national agencies, the Transition Town Team helps build local knowledge, capacity, and participation in climate action at community level. Interreg Europe has highlighted the Roscommon Transition Town Team as an example of ‘Evidence of Success’ for this practice due to the projects achieved across the county. See more here.
Bringing nature into the town: Loughnaneane Park Biodiversity Project
Roscommon County Council in collaboration with the NPWS, the Council’s Biodiversity Officer, and local community groups, helped launch a three‑year biodiversity and green‑space upgrade for Loughnaneane Park, right in Roscommon Town. With new maintenance regimes, invasive‑species control, tree management, reduced herbicide/pesticide use, enhancements to the lough and pond area (with plans for a renewable‑powered pump), and wildflower/hedgerow planting, the initiative combines climate action with improved community green spaces. It’s a clear example of how community engagement in nature‑based solutions supports ecosystem resilience and can help deliver both mitigation and adaptation benefits. The project is supported by the Local Biodiversity Action Fund and shared publicly as part of the Council’s 2024–2029 Climate Action Report.
The Quad Youth Centre
The Quad Youth Centre is a partnership between Roscommon Lions Community Youth Centre and Foróige. The centre was set up in 2009. It is a community-based facility where very valuable work is done in volunteer-led clubs and staff-led programmes. There are youth development projects which include courses on sustainability and climate action. The building itself has been fully insulated and various small-scale upgrades carried out internally to improve its energy performance over the years, including the use of more energy-efficient equipment. The Quad was assessed as part of the Energy Master Plan developed by the Roscommon Transition Towns SEC. This master plan contains targeted recommendations for reducing energy consumption and improving sustainability in a coordinated and measurable way. The Quad is now looking for funds to carry out the recommendations. See their Facebook page here.
Active Travel & Sustainable Mobility Projects
Roscommon Town DZ also benefits from a series of active-travel projects designed to make walking and cycling safer, more accessible, and better connected to schools, neighbourhoods, and local amenities. One such project is the L7055 Ardsallagh Woods Active Travel Project — a 1.35 km shared pedestrian/cycleway that enhances sustainable travel options while integrating nature-based solutions, improved habitat features, and sustainable drainage systems. This green corridor strengthens biodiversity along the route and provides a safe, attractive link between the town and nearby recreational areas.
A second flagship initiative is the Roscommon Town Schools Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge Project, a strategic new bridge spanning the Dublin–Westport railway line. When completed, it will provide a vital safe-travel link between the town’s primary and secondary schools, supporting healthier active travel habits for students and reducing school-related traffic congestion. These projects demonstrate how climate action, mobility, safety, and biodiversity can be jointly delivered within the Roscommon Town Decarbonising Zone.
Energy‑efficient public buildings and institutional action
As part of the ongoing climate‑action programme, public buildings in the town are being retrofitted — upgrading lighting, improving heating and energy systems, and exploring the installation of renewable energy sources like solar PV. These actions aim to reduce emissions from institutional buildings, which remain one of the top three emission sources for the DZ. Energy performance is tracked and reported annually in the Council’s annual implementation reports, in line with national climate legislation. To learn more please see the Council’s 2024–2029 Climate Action Report.
Commercial buildings and local businesses are also playing a role in decarbonisation. Please see the video on Casey’s filling station, which showcases a renewable energy model suitable for large-scale commercial premises, here.
Supporting grassroots climate action: Community Climate Action Programme
Through the Community Climate Action Programme, local not‑for‑profit and voluntary groups — such as community associations, Tidy Towns, and citizen networks — are eligible for funding for projects like home energy retrofits, EV charging points, community LEDs or lighting upgrades, waste/recycling hubs, community gardens, pollinator or mini‑forest projects — and when successful, these contribute directly to DZ goals. This creates an open door for residents and local groups to shape the town’s low‑carbon future.
Annual Implementation Report for Climate Action & Adaptation
The DZ is integrated into the Roscommon County Council Local Authority Climate Action Plan Implementation Report 2024–2029, which monitors progress on mitigation, adaptation, and DZ objectives while ensuring transparency, accountability, and adaptive management of climate action initiatives.
Climate Resilience & Adaptation — Storm Preparedness and Risk Management
Lessons from Storm Éowyn, during which Roscommon Town experienced extended electricity outages, show the importance of being prepared for storms: in energy supply, infrastructure, and community systems.
By promoting local renewables, decentralised energy, and green‑space improvements which also serve ecological and community‑health functions, Roscommon Town is prepared not just for emissions reduction, but for adaptation to long‑term climate changes.
Roscommon County Council’s Age Friendly Unit, with our Older People’s Council (OPC) and Climate Action Team, and Roscommon Tidy Towns Association, organised a six-week, six-step climate action course for the over 60s during January 2025.
The course, which was free, explained climate change and suggested some helpful actions over a relaxed cup of tea. The course was open to anyone over sixty years of age, as well as individuals or groups who wanted to learn about climate change in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Another Turn Repair Café
Tools Library
The Tools Library in Roscommon helps local people to borrow tools and equipment instead of buying things that are only needed now and then. This ‘shared resources’ idea reduces the consumption and use of materials and supports the circular economywhere things, after they are used by one person, are not thrown away. Instead, someone else uses them for another reason idea. So it lowers the carbon footprint that comes from manufacturing and waste.
Wind Turbine Course
Roscommon County Council, in partnership with the Galway and Roscommon Education Training Board (GRETB), runs a DIY wind turbine course funded through the EU Just Transition Fund. People taking part learn how to build a small-scale Hugh Piggott wind turbine from scratch over a series of weekend workshops. They gain practical skills in woodwork, electrical work and metalwork while improving local resilience and awareness of renewable energy. The course supports upskilling toward the low-carbon economy and is planned to continue through early 2026 with even more workshops planned for the future.
The same workshop hosts are also developing an EV maintenance and awareness training.
International Collaboration: Erasmus Projects
Roscommon Town DZ also benefits from Erasmus+ projects, which bring international knowledge, skills, and innovation to support local climate, biodiversity, and circular economy initiatives:
- Planet Pulse – Ongoing climate-action project helping communities monitor environmental change and take practical steps to reduce impact.
- Biodiversity & Climate Change Champions – Completed project raising awareness and promoting local nature-based solutions.
- Empowering Creative Circular Entrepreneurs – Completed circular economy project helping small businesses adopt sustainable practices.
- CirculYOUNG – Ongoing project engaging youth in creative, community-based circular economy initiatives.
- C-Sustain – In-progress project promoting sustainable circular practices in urban and rural settings.
These projects complement local DZ initiatives, bring international best practices, and strengthen the community’s capacity for climate mitigation, biodiversity, and circular economy action.
Get Involved
If you would like to discover more, help out, or join local climate-action work in the Roscommon Town DZ, please contact: 📧 climate@roscommoncoco.ie
By taking part you will help make a strong, sustainable, and low-carbon future for Roscommon Town.
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