On 16th September, Vicky Donnelly of Galway One World Centre, did a training session with Clare PPN reps and other interested individuals on Understanding and Challenging Racism. We would like to thank Vicky for a very informative and thought-provoking session. The training slides can be accessed here: Anti Racism Sept 2020
On the 15th September , Clare PPN hosted an online presentation from Liam Dromey, the Climate Adaptation Regional Office Coordinator for the Atlantic Seaboard South Region which includes Co Clare. The presentation took place via zoom and was attended by people from various environmental and community groups from across Clare, Galway and Limerick.
This presentation outlined the role and function of Ireland’s four ‘CARO’s’ and was followed by feedback and questions. The presentation \was organised at the request of Clare Environmental Network and Clare PPN’s Environmental College Member Groups and we are grateful to Mr Dromey for his willingness to engage with our members.
A PDF of the slides can be accessed here: Presentation to Clare PPN 15.09.2020
Clare Public Participation Network invites all member groups to attend its first online Plenary Meeting which will take place on Monday 12th October at 7pm.
What is a Plenary Meeting? Plenary meetings are the main decision making forums for Clare PPN -at these meetings all member groups are invited to attend and to put items forward for the agenda for discussion or for inclusion in the work plan of Clare PPN. At each of these meetings the staff and secretariat of Clare PPN present an update on the work, finances, and activities of the PPN from the preceding three months and present their work plan for discussion and input from member groups for the forthcoming three months.
Online Meeting: Due to the Covid-19 restrictions this Plenary Meeting will be held online via zoom. Any member or person who would like to receive training in how to use Zoom should email newsletter@clareppn.ie and William Hederman will arrange a session with you to help familiarise you with how to participate using this tool. You will need a smart phone or computer and an internet connection to use zoom. If possible each member group should nominate someone who has these facilities to represent them at this Plenary Meeting. If any group is unable to attend online please feel free to send us submissions or items for our agenda via email to admin@clareppn.ie or by calling us on 087 1617375.
Call for Agenda Items:
All current member groups can propose agenda items for this meeting on or before October 5th 2020 . Please send these using the subject line ”Agenda Item Plenary Meeting” to admin@clareppn.ie
Clare PPN’s representatives who sit on 11 boards and committees in the County will also have an opportunity to present updates from their committees and to take any questions or input from member groups at this meeting.
For part of this meeting Members will be split up into three groups – representing the three colleges of Clare PPN – Environmental, Social Inclusion and Community & Voluntary and asked to identify their priorities for Clare PPN to address until the end of 2020.
At the beginning of each plenary meeting we will present an introduction to the PPN for new member groups and a question and answer session will be held.
Help us imagine a better Clare for future generations
Fill out our short ‘Vision for Community Wellbeing’ survey about what your area needs – and you could win a prize for you or your organisation
How can we make Co Clare the best it can be for this and future generations? We want to hear what your vision is for a community in which all people can thrive. Complete our short survey for a chance to be one of four winners of a €100 voucher or a €500 for an organisation.
Here at Clare PPN we are excited to be undertaking a really important project – we want to hear the views of people and groups from across the county to produce a Vision for Community Wellbeing. This will be a kind of proclamation for Co Clare, setting out our shared vision for the kind of community we want to live in, a document that will guide us when we engage with the local and national policies and plans that affect all our lives.
You can play a key role in creating this vision by taking some time to think about what you value most about your area and community already, and about what your area and community needs to make it the best it can be for the many generations to come. When you’ve given it some thought we would like to invite you to take a few minutes to fill out our survey.
The survey is anonymous and confidential, although we will publish the findings and use them to inform Clare PPN’s work. However, to help encourage people to take the survey we are offering great prizes and if you would like to be in the draw for these prizes we need your email address.
Prizes: one person in each of Clare’s four Municipal Districts will win a €100 voucher for a local outlet of their choice. And one person will win our bumper prize of €500 for an organisation of their choice. You can nominate any PPN member organisation in the final question of the survey.
No one will be identifiable from any report or publication arising from the survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Clare_Wellbeing
What is community wellbeing?
We often think about wellbeing in terms of good physical and mental health, but it can also describe the wider conditions we need as individuals and communities to have a better quality of life, a healthier environment and increased prosperity. Some of these are things we can easily measure, such as the number of pre-school places, or how quickly an ambulance can get to a sick person. Others are less easily measured, such as our pride of place, our heritage and the way in which we all look after each other. All aspects of community wellbeing are interconnected and that’s why our survey includes questions on a variety of topics. For example, if our natural environment is poor, it can affect our mental and physical health as well as our economy.
Why is the Vision for Community Wellbeing important?
The Vision for Community Wellbeing will set out the hopes and aspirations of people in Clare and of the members of Clare PPN. It will be a written statement that we can use to base our suggestions and submissions on when we engage with local and national bodies. It can help us as the PPN to take a longer term view of how Clare might develop into the future. The PPN and all our voluntary representatives will use this Community Wellbeing Vision as their mandate and work towards having it recognised and supported by all the bodies we engage with.
By considering all aspects of society, people, the environment, economy and democracy together, wellbeing can help us to identify and prioritise positive actions that can be taken by local and national governments, as well as by communities. Communities themselves need to participate actively in setting out their shared view of what their community would be like if it were the best that it could be.
How will this process work?
We are inviting you, the people and community organisations who live in Clare, to shape this Vision for Community Wellbeing, under headings such as health, social and community development, the environment and public participation. See diagram below.
We had planned to hold public consultation workshops in each of Clare’s four Municipal Districts. However, this has not been possible, due to the Covid-19 and the restrictions it has imposed on us and so instead we are beginning the process with an online survey. After the survey is completed we will organise online meetings to discuss the results for each Municipal District and gather any further ideas from those. The results of the survey and meetings will help to create a Vision for Community Wellbeing statement for each Municipal District and one for the county as a whole.
You can help to shape the future of life in Clare by filling out our short survey about your or your organisation’s hopes and aspirations for your community:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Clare_Wellbeing
The survey will close on Tuesday, October 6th. We look forward to hearing from you!
On July 31st, 2020, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, opened a short public consultation process in relation to the Draft Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020, also known as the ‘Forestry Bill’. The deadline for submissions was Friday, August 28th.
If passed, the Bill would significantly reduce the ability of members of the public and environmental NGOs to appeal the granting of forestry licences and other forestry-related decisions. It also proposes to introduce fees for making appeals.
Clare PPN made a submission in relation to this Bill, based on input from members of our Environmental College and of the Clare Environmental Network. A copy of our submission is available at this link:
Clare PPN submission on the Draft Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020