LEVERS is inviting applications from cross-sectoral alliances from anywhere in the Republic of Ireland to collaborate on an 18-month-long project to take collective action to address an issue of climate justice in their area. These alliances should be formed by schools, community groups and other organisations within a region, and span a range of ages and demographics.
The selected applicant group will be supported by Trinity researchers and LEVERS partners, to create a community project through which learners of all ages will work together towards a sustainable and just future for their area.
The selected area will receive:
- Financial assistance up to €15,000* to realise their project
- Access to expertise in climate change and sustainability education, design thinking and community co-creation
- Professional learning for teachers, youth educators, community leaders and others involved in the project
- Support to design, activate and promote a community project
- Assistance to create a long-term plan for the project beyond the 18-month period.
LEVERS Ireland calls for responses to the climate crisis that are locally led and focused on leaving no one out of the conversation. The successful applicants to this open call will create educational interventions that support all persons to take meaningful climate action within their communities. Over 18 months LEVERS will work with this community to explore factors causing and affecting local climate issues, and to co-design solutions to this problem, with a focus on education and lifelong learning. Utilising the connections and resources in the LEVERS project, participating communities leverage their own unique assets to create the sustainable futures they want to see.
LEVERS is interested in hearing from groups who are keen to take climate action in their community, work collaboratively across sectors and disciplines, and experiment with new ways of thinking and acting which may lead to big changes. Applicant groups must consist of multiple organisations, including at least one educational organisation, and at least one community/voluntary organisation or NGO.
Futher details on the call are available at LEVERS Ireland Open Call Document FINAL or email levers@tcd.ie for further details You can apply at this form https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=jb6V1Qaz9EWAZJ5bgvvlK9xQATRrE7dEmSGoK6ol3spUMVpDSEM4TDM3NThNM0QwS1lJUjNUUkVRTi4u
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Since its launch in March 2023, LEVERS has been consulting with artists, activists, adult educators, biodiversity champions, charities, cultural organisations, community groups, educators, government bodies, local authorities, libraries, NGOs, researchers and scientists working on topics related to climate justice in Ireland. Over the past four months, the LEVERS team has been carrying out interviews with experts, attending conferences and networking events, as well as hosting three public consultation workshops. The aim of this work was to map climate change education and community initiatives in Ireland, and to understand some of the challenges facing those working in the field.
The insights from these workshops were submitted to the Department for Environment, Climate and Communications’ Climate Conversations Consultation in August 2023, and used to shape this Open Call. The key findings that emerged among these stakeholders were a desire for more professional support and networking opportunities, an emphasis on the importance of equity and inclusion in the climate change conversation, and a request for sustainability and climate issues to be more central to all subject in Irish education etc.
As the world becomes increasingly unpredictable, it is becoming ever clearer that we need to move beyond our old ways of planning for the future. We need to break down boundaries and borders if we are to work together for a flourishing future for all. Education has a huge role to play in that, but we also must remember that learning happens in so many settings beyond the walls of a school, throughout our entire lives – and now, more than ever, we need to learn new ways to live together in changing times. LEVERS is calling for a cross-community, intergenerational, localised and creative approach to learning about how to care for our locality and everything within it – including one another. We’re firmly of the belief that “ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine” and we’re excited to identify groups to work with us as part of LEVERS – we hope it will be the first of many such climate optimism journeys we can support.’
-Dr. Mairéad Hurley, Assistant professor, School of Education, Trinity College Dublin
‘Climate action at community level is perhaps the most empowering way for communities to achieve climate justice and address the issues they face directly. The Mary Robinson Centre is excited to see projects like LEVERS which embolden schools and communities to take a central role in climate justice projects in Ireland’.
- Susan Heffernan, Project Manager, Mary Robinson Centre