Call out for community climate action projects to join forces with Trinity researchers

Posted on: 19 October 2023

LEVERS, a Trinity-led Horizon Europe education project, is inviting applications from cross-sectoral alliances around the country to collaborate on a climate justice project in their area. The chosen project will ideally be formed by schools, community groups and other organisations within a region, and span a range of ages and demographics. The winning 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 group 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.

The call out was launched at an event in Trinity on Wednesday, October 18th as part of Trinity’s Climate Action Week programme.

Dr Mairéad Hurley, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Trinity, and Principal Investigator of the project explained: “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. The LEVERS initiative is looking to promote 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. We hope it will be the first of many such climate optimism journeys we can support.

"The LEVERS project is interested in particular in hearing about responses to climate crisis that are locally-led and focused on leaving no one out of the conversation. The successful applicants to this open call will co-design educational interventions that support learners of all ages to take meaningful climate action within their communities. Applicant groups must consist of multiple organisations, including at least one educational organisation, and at least one community/voluntary organisation or NGO."

Susan Heffernan, Project Manager, Mary Robinson Centre, said:

“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.”

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 subjects in Irish education. 

For more information on the application process, eligibility, selection criteria and key dates please email LEVERS@tcd.ie or visit www.leversforclimate.eu. Interested organisations may also avail of a free workshop delivered by LEVERS in partnership with Dublin City Council (DCC), on Thursday 16th November, 6:30-8:30pm, which will support applications to this open call as well as DCC’s Community Climate Action Fund. Contact LEVERS@tcd.ie for updates and registration information.

About LEVERS

LEVERS is a €2.4m Trinity-led education project that works across nine countries with eleven partners. Led by Mairéad Hurley, Assistant Professor in the School of Education, the LEVERS project has been funded by the European Commission, UKRI & SERI to investigate the potential of localised learning ecosystems to support community climate responses in nine countries: Ireland, the UK, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, and Cyprus.

The three-year project aims to embed collaboration and interdisciplinarity in climate education across a range of learning settings – formal, informal, adult and community education. The project will research the implementation of a transdisciplinary, lifelong-learning approach to science education in diverse settings across Europe, addressing the complex challenge of the climate and environmental crisis. 

More information on the LEVERS project can be found at www.leversforclimate.eu

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