Press Release for Immediate Release – 9th May 2022

Major drive to develop community gardens and share ideas across County Carlow and the EU.

As part of Ru:RBAN, which is an EU Urbact Project, the County Carlow ULG Group in association with Carlow County Council invites people who have a passion for Community Gardens to attend a International Community Garden Workshop being hosted in Carlow on 25th-26th May 2022.

Community gardens attract a wide cross-section of people across the entire socio-economic spectrum and include individuals who have little gardening experience as well as those who’ve been gardening for years, making them a great place to learn outside in a natural environment.

This two-day session will include peer review and learning, case study presentations and training and guidance from international expert groups which will explore and share best practice around the governance, management and development of Community Garden spaces.

Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council and a member of the Carlow ULG, Cllr. Fintan Phelan, said, “I’m delighted to support this new programme from Carlow County Council, which will help develop our community gardens around the County.” The Cathaoirleach continued to say, “It is widely acknowledged that Community Gardening is a healthy pastime that can make a valuable contribution to community development, positive social interaction, environmental awareness, and education. This is a wonderful opportunity for Carlow communities to engage with our partners across Europe to network and share ideas around community gardening.”

This is part of an EU Project called RU:RBAN which is funded under Urbact. RU:RBAN’s Good Practice is the Management model of Urban gardens in Rome to be transferred to newcomer cities that are geographically, historically and socio-culturally distant from each other, to ensure sharing of experiences to enhance the capacities of local governance. Transfer efforts will be ensured on the 3 well known and successful components the GP is divided into: 1. Capacity building, 2. Inspiring and training people to manage urban gardens (Gardenisers), 3. Governance & Regulations.

Participation is free of charge but places are limited.

RU:RBAN Community Garden Workshop BOOK HERE

or visit the Local Enterprise Office website at https://www.localenterprise.ie/Carlow

Presenters at the two-day workshop will include:

Silvia Cioli

Silvia Cioli is an architect who took part in many research projects during the layout of the new master plan of the city of Rome, having been introduced to a major understanding of the issues of sustainable and integrated urban planning and the complexity in today’s cities.

Andrea Messori

Andrea Messori is a trainer and project manager. He has been a Tool Fair general co-ordinator and is now a member of the Tools for Learning working group, specialising in the development of the Multilingual Educational Toolbox (M.E.T.)

Fiammetta Curcio

Graduated in Statistics and Economics. Working experiences: Statistical Analysis, Labour Market, Economic Development, Urban Sustainable Growth, Technology Transfer in SMEs, Migrants job reinsertion. Employers: Institute for economic research ECOTER, City of Rome - Dept. for Economic Development, University of Cassino.

Speaking about the RU:URBAN Community Garden Project, Economic Development Officer with the Local Enterprise Office, Pierce Kavanagh, said, “this new programme is part of the EU Urbact Programme and is designed as a knowledge sharing and networking programme across the European Union”. He continued to say, “Working with our partners in Spain, Croatia and Greece, and the lead partner city of Rome, along with our partners throughout County Carlow, this is a tremendous opportunity to share ideas, network, and develop the community gardens around the County of Carlow.”

Ends
For further information contact Kieran Comerford on  kcomerford@carlowcoco.ie on or by calling 059 9129 783


Photo Caption: Cllr. Fintan Phelan, Cathaoirleach Carlow County Council, Pierce Kavanagh, Economic Development Officer, Local Enterprise Office.