Ireland's Greenest Places: Gain recognition for your favourite outdoor space
Anyone living in a community, village, suburb, or town anywhere on the island of Ireland can help their favourite outdoor space gain the title of one of Ireland's Greenest Places.
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The initiative, launched by The Irish Times in association with Electric Ireland, will see each nominated place judged on specific criteria.
This will include its beneficial environmental impact, the level of ongoing collective engagement by the community, and evidence of behavioural change by people.
To help the place of your choice be in with a chance of claiming the title of one of Ireland's Greenest Places, you must write a short submission of up to 300 words explaining why it is so special and the tangible contribution it makes to a greener environment.
Photo: Julien Behal
The chair of the judging panel, Irish Times features editor Mary Minihan, said the panel will be looking for places which offer a vision of a more sustainable future.
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'We chose place because it's a deliberately broad term. People can nominate a suburb, village, town or community such as a peninsula, island or other distinct area anywhere on the island," she said.
"The key will be how it measures up against the criteria outlined above as well of course as care for nature and the local environment.
'Over the next four months our judges will draw up shortlists based on the submissions, visit the front-runners, choose winners in each category and eventually choose an overall winner.
"We are looking forward so much to hearing from people from each of the 32 counties as soon as possible to help us identify Ireland's Greenest Places 2025.'
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Climate change
Former Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan, who is one of the judges, said Irish people care about climate change and are concered about its effects.
He said one of the key objectives of the competition is to showcase the contributions people and communities are making to a greener Ireland.
"We also know that place-based solutions deliver climate actions that really work because they are developed and underpinned by community ownership," he said.
'With this initiative we want to celebrate what's happening in so many locations around the country, share those learnings as widely as possible and encourage more people to get involved in making their community a better place to live now and into the future."
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Electric Ireland's Lisa Browne said the company is proud to partner with The Irish Times as the sponsor of Ireland's Greenest Places.
'As a judge, I'm looking forward to seeing the wonderful stories come in from communities around Ireland and their journey to a more sustainable life," she said.
"This partnership is the perfect fit with our strategy to empower customers to live an all-electric life and to help customers to see how big or small changes can make a real difference.'
Joining Mary Minihan and Lisa Browne on the judging panel will be Irish Times environment editor Kevin O'Sullivan and senior features writer Rosita Boland.
If you know a place in Ireland that deserves recognition for its contribution to a greener future, submit your nomination
here
.
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