CALL was represented at the recent “Communities Caring for Water” conference in November 2024. This event was jointly organised by LAWPRO and The Rivers Trust, and held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Athlone (very nice!).

As CALL’s Action Officer, I gave a presentation about the ways we have been engaging with members of our local community on methods to help enhance the ecological quality of our waterways. CALL’s invitation to speak at this conference came about through our work funded by LAWPRO (Local Authority Waters Programme, in case you had forgotten!), and particularly through our “Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign”.

There I am at the lectern (below). I was the first speaker as it happens, following an on screen address from Malcolm Noonan T.D. There were around 150 people in the room so this was the biggest audience I’ve so far addressed on behalf of CALL. I would be happy enough giving lectures or papers to that number in my previous career and yeah, I really enjoyed getting to talk about our ongoing “river work” to this audience.

In my presentation I described some of the work we’ve done during the first phase of CALL’s “Blue Dot to the Sea” Campaign. Engaging with people about our river ways (I’ve been carrying out some 1-1 interviews and we’ve had some public engagement events- already mentioned in a previous blog), has yielded interest from our community and some commitments to trial Nature Based Solutions on sections of the Carrowniskey River (we’re working to get that kind of work going along the Bunowen River too). I went a bit theoretical for the end of my ten minute presentation and invented a cycle “the EMA Cycle” (Engagement Momentum Action). That’s it on the slide below. Articulating the positive challenges of getting Engagement from landholders (which is great) and involvement from large scale funded projects such as the Roonagh Restoration and the LIFE on Machair (also great), and then the need to maintain Momentum whilst also (as we are currently preparing to do), carrying out a feasibility study – so that when we do take Action and trial these NBSs, they will have the best possible chance of succeeding. That’s EMA.

A lot of the people attending this event work voluntarily on behalf of rivers trusts and other environmental organisations

There were a few people, like me, who had gained funding from LAWPRO (and other organisations) to manage a project or work on behalf of an organisation. There was a good showing of LAWPRO Community Water Officers as well.

A repeated refrain in the presentations and questions was about the immense value of funding that provides core costs so that someone can be paid to manage the various projects concerned with our rivers and biodiversity. It’s really important work, carrying out Nature Based Solutions (Green Engineering), for example, to help prevent flooding. It was also fabulous to see the commitment of volunteers. Over and again, presenters showed images of volunteers out helping with fencing, managing invasive species, sharing knowledge about the water, the fish, the hydromorphology* of our water ways… [* from the Greek: “hydro”: water; “morph” movement; “ology” the study of…]

Anyway, I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend and speak at this event. I learned loads and met some great people- looking forward to the 2025 event!