Blue Dot to the Sea – callclimateaction.ie

CALL’s Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign.

CALL’s “Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign” began with Catchment Support Funding from LAWPRO in 2024 (Phase 1) and it is now in Phase 2 (Catchment Support Fund, 2025). We are looking forward to a Phase 3 in 2026-7….

The purpose of the “Blue Dot to the Sea” Campaign is to help the rivers in CALL’s sub -catchment to be as ecologically pure as they can be. The two main rivers are the Bunowen and Carrowniskey with their tributaries eg the Ballyhip, and other water ways such as Roonagh Lagoon. Both Bunowen and Carrowniskey rivers have “Blue Dot” status in their head waters. What’ s Blue Dot? [https://callclimateaction.ie/2024/09/05/calls-blue-dot-to-the-sea-campaign] As the rivers travel their short distance through more populated and agricultural land they lose that status. We are lucky in this area that the water remains of a high status, but wouldn’t it be great to maintain that “Blue Dot” all the way to the sea?

CALL’s work includes engagement with those living by and with the rivers, trying to understand more about the significance of the rivers and waterways in people’s daily lives. This includes working on ways to help mitigate against flooding; ways to understand changes in the nature and quality of the water, perhaps because of climate change.

Through the funding provided by the Catchment Support Fund, CALL is able to carry out various activities with a range of community members, including young people. For example, in June CALL sponsored a water sampling day with Killeen National School at Glenkeen Farm; angling club taster sessions are in planning for the Autumn. Louisburgh and Killeen NSs and TY students from Sancta Maria are involved with the Blue Dot Mosaic project.

As part of the Blue Dot Campaign, CALL received funding from LAWPRO’s Community Water Development Fund (2024) to conduct a hydromorphological study of the sub- catchment during 2025. The study was launched in June 2025, and field work is currently being carried out by specialist consultants CBEC. There will be a report which will be shared and discussed publicly towards the end of 2025.

If you want to get involved or find out more you are welcome to email Elisabeth Salter, CALL Action Leader callactionofficer@gmail.com

“Blue Dot to the Sea” Mosaic Project

This three-part art project by Annaliese Brown will help raise awareness of water quality and the actions needed to maintain the health of our waterways. The focus of this project is the Bunowen and Carrowniskey river catchments, including Roonagh Lagoon. The work is funded by Creative Ireland with assistance from LAWPRO.

This artwork supports the “Blue Dot to the Sea” campaign being run locally by CALL, with funding from LAWPRO through its Catchment Support Fund and Community Water Development Fund. At the heart of this campaign is engagement with the people who live and work with the rivers and waterways in this catchment.

After discussion with residents and stakeholders outlining the aims of the project we decided upon an artwork that will be installed in various places in the locality. The artwork is made from mosaic covered slate circles in shades of blue, with accompanying QR codes linking to information about the “Blue Dot to the Sea” campaign. This will be an eye-catching way to spread the word about the work being carried out by CALL

National School pupils are taking part in mosaic making sessions, making more blue dots, this time in recycled jar lids which will be collated together in one enormous panel and displayed in Books at One, Louisburgh. During the making of these mosaics we will be thinking about what actions we can all take to help preserve our beautiful local waterways.

TY students from Sancta Maria are also getting involved.

If you would like to host a blue dot mosaic on your gate post, please email callactionofficer@gmail.com

The final element of the artwork will be a Mosaic and information board about the Blue Dots campaign in Louisburgh, near the Bunowen River Bridge.

Annaliese’s work (www.brownbearart.ie) has focussed on support for climate action in connection with rivers and lakes, and she will continue to seek ways to collaborate with communities in making artworks that draw attention to this important subject.

Blue Dot campaign interviews

Elisabeth Salter September 6, 2024

I’m the Action Officer for CALL. I’m currently working on the “Blue Dot to the Sea” campaign as part of the funding we have received from LAWPRO under its Catchment Support Fund (2024). I explained a bit about the blue dot designation for water ways in my recent post “CALL’s Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign” https://callclimateaction.ie/2024/09/05/calls-blue-dot-to-the-sea-campaign/↗. I’m conducting interviews with members of the community who live and work with our rivers. How did I devise the interview questions?

I’m not going to reveal the questions I ask in case you are one of my interviewees in the next few weeks. I like to have spontaneous rather then pre-prepared answers where possible. The questions I ask are intended to be open and basic. The idea is to encourage my interviewee to say anything they like, really, about the river they are familiar with. Obviously there is no such thing as a completely “pristine” response, untainted by external influences. Everyone has some idea before they start the interview about what they might say, and anything I ask, or say, as the interviewer is bound to influence the interviewee’s response. That’s just how it goes: It’s a two way process, I influence the interviewee, and they influence me. together we form “cultural knowledge”

I record the interviews. They’re between 30 and 60 minutes usually, so each interview provides quite a substantial amount of “unique data” to analyse. The interviews represent significant pieces of “cultural knowledge”

Actually I have thought quite a lot about the ways that cultural knowledge is formed. When I was doing my PhD, over twenty years ago now, I was very influenced by an ethnographer called Johannes Fabian. One of my favourite books is Remembering the Present. Fabian produced some very thoughtful work on the “intersubjective” processes involved in the formation of cultural knowledge, and the ways that knowledge formation is performative rather than only informative. In other words, when my river interview is in progress, the interviewee is performing their role and I am performing mine. That’s “performativity” in action. The product (the data I have recorded) is way more than simply information. It has within it stored codes about our perceptions of the focus of our conversation (rivers) and our relationships to them ….. Does that make sense to you?

CALL’s Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign

Elisabeth Salter September 5, 2024

The purpose of our Blue Dot project is to engage the community connected with the rivers in our sub-catchment- the Carrowniskey and Bunowen rivers and their tributaries. A key aim is to help these rivers be as ecologically pure as they can be.

The Blue Dot project involves a few different angles: I am carrying out recorded and anonymised interviews with people who live with these rivers, organising some public events, attending knowledge sharing sessions, and visiting some schools and colleges to talk about the project and its findings.

The head waters of the Bunowen and Carrowniskey are “High Status Objective” waters which gives them a Blue Dot designation. It means they are as ecologically pure as they can be. As the rivers flow towards the sea, they lose this status and are therefore less ecologically pure. We should still be proud of how “clean” our rivers are in this area, but they could be better, and that would be great for biodiversity.

When I ask people about the “blue dot” I invariably get a blank look. Most people have heard of a blue flag beach. The blue dot is really the equivalent for riverways. Blue dot waters are of the highest ecological quality and they can support a greater range of species that are sensitive to pollution. Blue dots explained: https://lawaters.ie/blue-dot-programme/

How did I devise the questions I ask my Blue Dot interviewees?

Read the next post…..

Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign

Gareth July 3, 2024

“Blue Dot to the Sea” is an awareness-raising project supported by LAWPRO’s Catchment Support Fund, and running from June to October 2024. Elisabeth Salter, CALL’s Action Officer, is the project leader.

The geographical catchment is the Bunowen and Carrowniskey rivers and their tributaries in the Louisburgh / Killeen locality.

Elisabeth is talking to people about their connection with the rivers in this catchment.

Do you have a river running through your land?

Do you farm near a river?

Do you use the rivers for leisure pursuits?

Do you think the rivers are changing?

Can you remember how your river used to be when you were a child?

Elisabeth is interested to hear any views about, and experiences of, the rivers in this catchment. If you want to contribute to this project please email Elisabeth at: callactionofficer. Or call in to Louisburgh town hall on Friday 5th and 12th July (11am-2pm) to find out more and pick up a free postcard!