A new community garden is opening in Clongowes Wood College. In time this project will yield not only a food harvest but a creative space where hands and minds can gather to create wonderful communities which thrive. In time, food may only be a by-product of the relationships and community which is formed.

Land use requires a juggling act of different needs. Offices, housing, parking, green space, retail, transport and schools all vie for the same spaces.

In the right circumstances biodiversity and the natural environment has an incredible capacity to restore itself. In many cases we know what we need to do…

This issue is not only affecting the property market for potential buyers. Land hoarding and speculation also affects the delivery of social housing. Higher land values consume a significant part of the budget of AHBs – who deliver much of our social and affordable housing – and directly impact the final cost of the houses and apartments. This has an obvious immediate impact on how many units they can deliver. It is also an issue when calculating the financial outlay for affordable and cost-rental housing, which in turn affects the price of sale or rent of a unit and the overall long-term sustainability of a scheme.

Beyond agriculture we see this undervaluation of biodiversity every day. Developments fail to take care to protect existing habitats; trees are routinely cleared in the name of road safety, when they are deemed dangerous or to satisfy the demand for fuel. We value what we understand.

If this example of using public land for the ‘common good’ was followed by everyone – from individuals to businesses to the State – it would significantly improve our lives, as well as help with the multiple social and environmental crisis we are living with.

 “We must treat the Earth like we do our family and friends, and give it the right to be treated with kindness and respect” The second of two youth biodiversity citizens’ assemblies concluded in Killarney last weekend. This collection of young people gathered together to consider how we should move forward in the biodiversity crisis.… Read more »

“Climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying” – IPCC Climate change is not an event; it is not something that just has arrived or will arrive in the few years. It exists on a continuum, on a scaling ladder of disasters with previously impossible events becoming normal. We are already on this ladder, experiencing extreme… Read more »

Ireland has been awarded €12 million by the EU for the LIFE-IP PAF Wild Atlantic Nature project that will focus on the protection and restoration of its blanket bogs in the western and northern parts of the country. While this news suggests the prospect of healthy, better-functioning bogs, what does it actually mean for these… Read more »

Our series of guides for the upcoming general election will help you decide who deserves your vote. We cover the key facts about the issues, questions you should ask yourself, what to ask politicians who canvass at your door and how to interpret their answers. In this article, our Environmental Justice Advocate, Ciara Murphy pushes… Read more »