BluePrint

Ireland’s climate is changing with impacts already being felt, and expected to continue and intensify, especially in coastal towns and cities, across Derry-Londonderry and Mayo, vulnerable to coastal and riverine floods. Floods and their catchments don’t abide by administrative, geographical or political boundaries, as such knowledge exchange and learning between flood-affected communities and other government, scientific and policy actors is crucial.  BluePrint addresses this need using a creative co-creation process in the Derry City and Strabane District area, an All-Island learning exchange with Mayo and a creative co-creation toolkit to support actors working with communities on climate adaptation and flood resilience across the island of Ireland.  

The BluePrint project is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme. It is funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.

The BluePrint project engages flood-affected communities, in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area, from villages Eglinton and Newtownstewart, in an artistic co-creation process to share and exchange their lived-experiences around flooding and climate adaptation.

A social engaged artist creatively engaged communities to co-create an artwork to communicate their lived experiences and support wider climate resilience outreach, engagement and policy in Derry-Londonderry and beyond. 

Experiences from the co-creation process in Derry-Londonderry were shared in Mayo through an All-Island two-way learning and exchange bringing together communities and other artists, government actors and scientific partners working on, or interested in, creative co-creation processes for engaging communities around climate adaptation and resilience.

Research and evaluation activities during the co-creation process in Derry-Londonderry and the learning exchange with Mayo will result in a creative co-creation toolkit targeting local governments and other professionals working with communities adapting to climate change across Ireland.

The BluePrint project is managed by the MaREI Centre, University College Cork, with partners the Playhouse, Derry City and Strabane District Council, and Mayo County Council.

• Lydia Cumiskey is the BluePrint project investigator at UCC/ MaREI and is leading the research and evaluation of the co-creation process, learning exchange activities and creative co-creation toolkit development alongside colleagues Dr. Denise Mc Cullagh, Catriona Reid and Aoife Deane.
• Paula Lakin is the BluePrint community engagement lead at the Playhouse, coordinating activities for the co-creation process with our socially-engaged artist and community participants in Eglinton and Newtownstewart, with support from Kevin Murphy, CEO, the Playhouse.
• Sara Walmsley is a socially-engaged artist and researcher who is facilitating the artistic co-creation process with the flood-affected communities. Lived experiences of flooding and climate change will be explored through the creation of digital soundscapes, while performance task workshop activities will support imaginative and shared reflections. This participatory and collaborative process supports documentation and learning for the toolkit.
• Cathy Burns is the Climate Programme Manager at Derry City and Strabane District council, bridging connections with local flood-affected communities and supporting the co-creation process and further application of outputs.
• Laura Dixon is the Climate Action Coordinator at Mayo County Council and is facilitating the All-Island learning exchange on creative co-creation for climate adaptation and resilience with Mayo, with support from Lorna Dennehy, Community Climate Action Officer.

The BluePrint team receives additional collaboration support from the Northern Ireland Environment Link/ Climate Northern Ireland (Dr. Jane McCullough) and Climate Action Regional Office Atlantic Seaboard North.

The BluePrint project brings together two communities affected by flooding – Eglinton and Newtownstewart – within the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.

Eglinton is a village north-east of Derry-Londonderry City, close to the City of Derry Airport, which is exposed to fluvial flooding from the Castle and Muff rivers, tidal flooding from Lough Foyle and surface water flooding. The village experienced severe flooding in August 2017 where over 100 homes were damaged as well as critical infrastructure, with a similar area flooded again in July 2022. Participants in BluePrint include representatives from the Eglinton Community Resilience Group, a community-driven initiative, formed in response to the devastating floods. Based in Eglinton Community Hall, the group plays a pivotal role in fostering a strong and supportive network, providing essential resources and coordinating efforts during and after flood events.

Newtownstewart is a village south of Strabane in County Tyrone, with the Strule River flowing through it. The village experienced severe flooding in 2017 impacting the church hall, local GAA pitch and many homes. Despite the risk of continued flooding, flood protection infrastructure was deemed financially inviable and a focus on properly level resilience measures prevails. Participants in BluePrint include community members active in the  Newtownstewart Heritage Group, which was established in 2020 to celebrate the natural, built, ecclesiastical and cultural history of the town. There has been a particular focus on preserving and preparing this heritage in the face of recent and future flood events.

BluePrint also facilitated exchange of learning on creative co-creation processes with communities in Mayo, including Crossmolina Town, which has a long history of flooding. 

Flooding in Eglinton in 2017 (Credit: DCSDC)

Strule River and old arched stone bridge in Newtownstewart (Credit: DCSDC

BluePrint project artist, Sara Walmsley, in collaboration with community participants and project partners co-created multiple creative outputs to amplify climate risk communication with decision-makers and communities at-risk.   

A sound and light Installation entitled “In at Midnight and Away by Morning: The Uninvited Guest” (17mins, 2024) weaves together the voices and sounds that tell the stories of two devastating flood events that affected the people and places of Eglinton and Newtownstewart in 2017 and 2022.  This piece combines poetic reflection, polyphonic harmonies of St. Eugene’s Church choir, as well as the sonification of historic and predicted rainfall data. It captures the lived experience of two communities who, in having to deal with the realities of flooding, are already learning to live with the impacts of climate change and their need for climate resilience.

A 3 minute extract of the sound installation can be accessed here.

The full song co-created through engagement with flood-affected members of the Newtownstewart community and sang by St. Eugenes Choir can be accessed here.

These outputs are made openly accessible under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence to encourage sharing and use for wider climate risk communication and engagement.

If you are interested in hosting the sound installation or using other specific creative outputs to support climate risk communication and engagement, please get in touch.

A series of co-creation workshops and activities took place between March and October 2024, led by socially engaged artist Sara Walmsley, with the flood-affected communities in Eglinton and Newtownstewart, and supported by project partners. The process involved a playful and reflective approach using music, theatre and poetry to support participants in reaching a negotiated creative expression of their shared experiences. Different tasks enabled discussion and exchange around climate change, adaptation and resilience. This process was inclusive, organic and highly creative supporting all voices and abilities within the group.

The process involved the following components which evolved during the project:

• Initial workshop at the Playhouse in Derry-Londonderry with both communities to introduce the project, the artist and creative approaches.
• Site visits and ethnographic interviews with each community to capture lived-experiences from a broad group within the community.
• Soundworld walks hosted by each community allowing participants from both localities to share the realities of flooding as they have experienced it through sound-based exercises.
• All-Island Learning Exchange with flood-affected community in Crossmolina Mayo and dialogue opportunity with Northern Ireland’s Secretary of State Hilary Benn.
• Creative workshops working with Glenock Chapel choir in Newtownstewart and Eglinton community representatives to co-create song and poetry performance pieces based on lived-experiences of flooding and the need for climate resilience.

Sara Walmsley also worked with researchers in UCC on the sonification of observed and projected rainfall data provided by Met Éireann/ Translate project and the UK Met Office.

These activities developed material to feed the final co-created performances and sound installation showcased in Derry-Londonderry in October 2024.

Final reflection, evaluation and road mapping discussions with each community aim to capture the learning from the process, support widespread use of the outputs for climate risk communication and help guide the Creative Co-creation Toolkit development.  

The  BluePrint project held an All-Island Learning and Exchange Workshop.at the Enterprise Centre in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo on the 5^th of July 2024 to share experiences on creative co-creation with communities supporting climate adaptation and resilience. Community participants involved the BluePrint project highlighted the value of the ongoing creative engagement process for sharing lived-experiences and the potential power of the resulting output to support wider climate risk communication with communities and decision-makers. Participants reflected on how the event helped to demonstrate the value of building connections, integrating local knowledge and supporting diverse and transdisciplinary engagement to address flooding and climate challenges, as well as the importance of remaining hopeful and positive towards finding solutions that build community resilience.

Read more here.

The All-Island learning and exchange continued in Derry-Londonderry with participation from Cllr. Michael Loftus (Cathaoirleach Ballina MD), Laura Dixon (Mayo County Council) and Crossmolina Community Council, during the BluePrint showcase events in October 2024.

The learning captured from the creative co-creation process in Derry-Londonderry and the learning exchange with Mayo will result in a Creative Co-creation Toolkit targeting local governments and other professionals working with communities adapting to climate change across Ireland.

The Toolkit will be uploaded here when available.

BluePrint involved the following key showcase events to share the co-created outputs with the communities involved, government representatives, elected members, and the general public.

• BluePrint choir (recorded) and poetry (live) performances by community representatives at the Derry and Strabane Climate and Sustainability Commission Launch in the Guild Hall with attendance from Cllr. Michael Loftus continuing the All-Island Learning Exchange with Mayo (17/10/2024)

Sustainable Climate Conference 2024

Derry Strabane Projects

• BluePrint Showcase Event with live poetry and choir performances, panel session, keynote address by the DCSDC Mayor Cllr Lilian Seenoi Barr and launch of co-created sound and light installation at The Playhouse including attendance from Mayo County Council and Crossmolina Community Council (19/10/2024)
• Public opening of sound and light installation ‘In at Midnight and Away by Morning: The Uninvited Guest’ at the Playhouse (24/10/2024)

The project team are disseminating the projects’ creative outputs at various events to reach audiences across science, policy and the arts:

• Sara Walmsley BluePrint Panellist at The Gathering, showcasing and celebrating Creative Climate Action Fund II projects, hosted by Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media at the Aviva in Dublin (21/10/2024).
• Uillin Dance Season, The Hope Project Masterclass, using BluePrint creative outputs with UCC/MaREI researcher, West Cork (26/10/2024).
• Science at the Marina, BluePrint Talk by UCC/MaREI researchers as part of Science Week, Cork (16/11/2024).

Please get in touch if you have ideas for disseminating the BluePrint creative outputs for climate risk communication. 

Dr. Lydia Cumiskey,

BluePrint Project Investigator UCC/ MaREI

Email: ei.ccu@yeksimucL