Background to the development of the 3- county Gnáthóga Nádúrtha (Natural Habitats) Programme: from Creative Drummin

Conversations in 2021 near Drummin Bog, ahead of the Gnathoga Nadurtha Programme between Carlow Arts Officer Sinead Dowling, Assistant Arts Officer Aileen Nolan with Carlow-based community artist Jules Michael and ecological artist and educator Cathy Fitzgerald of Haumea Ecoversity, with then Chair of the Drummin Bog Project Martin Lyttle. Photo: Alan Price.

Background to developing the Gnáthóga Nádúrtha Programme

2021

Gnáthóga Nádúrtha – a 3 Habitats creative-led partnership between Carlow, Kildare and Meath Arts Office, Creative Drummin, and artists from Kildare, and Meath, and supported by the Irish Arts Council Invitation to Collaborate Award for 2022-3, initially developed from Creative Drummin activities since late 2017.

Since 2017 Creative Drummin has engaged nearby residents of Drummond and St Mullins in South Carlow, and the communities from across County Carlow and neighbouring Co Kilkenny, through ecosocial (ecological) creative activities to the unique and important natural and cultural heritage that is Drummin Bog.

In 2021, Carlow County Council Arts Office sought to build on Creative Drummin’s work by developing a proposal for the first Creative Climate Action Fund. While this application was unsuccessful, the process developed relationships and identified the potential to collaborate with Kildare and Meath County Councils and ecoliterate creatives who were working on community wetland restoration projects in these counties.

The Carlow Arts Office revised the grant and submitted it to the Arts Council of Ireland’s Invitation to Collaborate programme in 2022. The successful revised programme Gnáthoga Nadúrtha, led by the Carlow Arts Office includes several development and education phases:

i) stakeholder mapping and valuable cross-county networking between the Local Authority staff and lead creative practitioners, provided by Dr Anita McKeown (FutureEducation21c), and

ii) comprehensive values-based ecoliteracy training through the Earth Charter, provided by Dr Cathy Fitzgerald of Haumea Ecoversity This training supports and upskills lead and county creative practitioners interested in learning more about creative-led ecosocial place-based practices to promote community engagement for climate action across the ecologically important natural wetland heritage sites in three counties. 

The project brings together Jules Michael, and Cathy Fitzgerald of Creative Drummin, with Monica De Bath, Creative Rathangan, Co. Kildare and Dr Kate Flood and Girley Bog Meitheal, Co. Meath,  creative practitioners, artists and Kildare and Meath county councils to leverage the existing artist-led work already linked to the wetland sites in these counties.

Read the Initial Press Release here:

See how the Gnáthóga Nádúrtha Programme has developed here

Acknowledgements:

The Carlow Drummin Bog Committee wish to sincerely thank Sinead Dowling and Aileen Nolan for their excursion to Drummin Bog in South County Carlow in 2021 and for fostering conversations and significant support for Creative Drummin since 2017.