On Thursday, 28th April PULCHRA Ireland hosted an online sharing event to honour the students, teachers, and stakeholders who have engaged with the Irish element of the European-wide project.
The PULCRHA project aims to bring together school students, local experts, community members, and other stakeholders to learn more about different sustainability challenges in the city in a collective manner. This school term PULCHRA Ireland is working with 5 schools with 7 TY cohorts.
This year Irish students are working on City Challenge 3.
5 secondary schools from across Ireland presented the key findings from their projects:
- Drimnagh Castle students presented their urban woodland – restoration project.
- Kingswood Community College students presented their urban woodland – restoration project.
- Portmarnock Community College students presented their coastal restoration project.
- St. Mary’s students presented their carbon footprinting project.
Key stakeholders were invited to speak about the significance of urban regeneration initiatives in the context of climate change and sustainable development.
- Maryann Harris, Nature-Based Solutions Lead, Climate Action Regional Offices, (The Dublin Metropolitan CARO supports and coordinates climate action undertaken by the four Local Authorities of South Dublin, Fingal, Dun Laoghaire‐Rathdown, Dublin City. My role is as Lead on Nature-Based Solutions.)
- Anna Davies, Professor, Geography, Trinity College, Dublin, and Stephan Hugel, Research Assistant, CONNECT, Trinity College, Dublin. They presented the Climate Smart platform, which gives the public the opportunity to learn about the challenges of climate change and the opportunities for taking climate action to deal with them.
As part of the knowledge sharing event, two partner schools from Greece and Italy were asked to present their projects
- Geitonas High School (Greece) presented on urban ecosystem restoration and city-official engagement
- ISIS Bassa Friulana (Italy) presented on their PULCHRA Park Restoration Project
In her closing remarks Alieen Bright, PULCHRA Manager in Ireland, remarked on the impact and positive benefits the students are making to their local communities. As a young person, it can be difficult to see the influence and difference you can make. Through the PULCHRA project you can really see the change these students are making. Citizen science, knowledge sharing, and partnerships with local stakeholders are a key part of the project. These students should be proud of the work they have done and are leaving a real legacy behind them.
