University College Cork

Corca Dhuibhne 2030 - Dingle Peninsula 2030

The Dingle Peninsula 2030 sustainability initiative is a collaborative endeavour involving academia, industry, local government and society. Partners are actively collaborating with the local community, schools, business, transport, and farming sectors on the Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry, in rural Ireland, to enable the broader societal changes required for the sustainable transition.

The initiative is having a direct impact on how the community on the Dingle Peninsula is responding locally to the global challenge of climate change and the energy transition, and it is enabling local stakeholders to include climate action and sustainability in their development plans, with a focus on creating ‘green jobs’ and enhancing quality of life.

MaREI (the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and the Marine) is taking a transdisciplinary engaged research approach, documenting and disseminating the learnings so that they can be shared nationally to help inform other communities, stakeholders and policy makers.

Top 3 Learnings

1. Effective community engagement in climate action requires investment and support to facilitate inclusive dialogue and enable communities to collaborate with other stakeholders to co-create workable solutions. This supports the principles of the European Green Deal and Ireland’s Climate Action Plan. It also contributes to enhancing science capital, social cohesion and resilience, helping people to respond effectively to the climate challenge -environmental challenges.
2. Investment in engaged research on climate action and sustainability is important in building societal capacity required for the energy transition, enabling stakeholder engagement and supporting the necessary attitudinal and behavioural changes required.  Researchers require training and support to undertake engaged research which facilitates stakeholder engagement and involvement across the research life cycle enabling collective action on workable solutions.
3. Collaboration and trust building are critical to success in delivering impact in sustainability projects. At the heart of this project is a collaborative network that brings together a diverse range of stakeholders - ambassadors and trial participants, west Kerry dairy farmers, community energy mentors, the local community, schools, business, transport and farming sectors.