A core goal of the Ballymoney Stream Catchment Biodiversity Pilot EIP Project was to bring people together in the community to combine different environmental concerns. One method of promoting community engagement and in taking action for biodiversity was through meitheal events.
The project partners met once a month, where they decided on dates, location, and thematic for the various meitheal events. An email was then sent out to all members of the Ballymoney Community Group to advise them the meitheal was happening, what to bring, what to wear, requirement for extra management and adult supervision if children were attending. Members of the public were welcome and encouraged to attend.
The project team felt these meitheal events were crucial to encourage the farming and non-farming communities to gel, as well as growing bonds between young people and adults in the area.
For the meitheals, specific steps were circulated in advance to participants which were based on the science-based expertise in the thematic area. Each session was then facilitated in a participatory format to engage all participants to work together on the issue.
Some of the meitheals were conducted on public land, such as the bathing area where the river meets the sea, and others were held on the land of hosts. In either case, a primary goal of the meitheals was to enjoy some food and tea together. When in public, each member brought something to share, and when hosting on landowners land or farms, the host usually prepared a picnic for all participants to get together.
To find out more about this innovation, contact Leo at leo@erinn.eu.
