The Ballymun Eco book by Global Action Plan

APPENDICES

(d) The step-by-step guide to a Synergy meeting

(e) Links for the LA21 cookbook

Synergy meeting takes place in three stages. 1. Build the agenda One person facilitates agenda building. Each person names his/her topic(s). The facilitator writes the emerging agenda on a flipchart or whiteboard, for everyone to see: Name Betty Ollie Alan Christine Harry Peter Ciaran Amanda Rob Ollie

Ollie

Topic No. of minutes requested Incomplete statistics, input requested 10 How to deal with complaints from neighbours 25 How can we help each other? – some ideas 30 Thoughts about how to inform people what we’re doing 12 Review of how far we’ve all got 25 Time needed to care for sick child – changed times 5 New thoughts about raising money 5 Open topic 8 Nothing special today 0 More meetings – book dates 10 Break 20 Transfer time 10 Evaluation of meeting 5

The time blocks requested are added up (in this case 2 h 50 min, including break and transfer time), and compared with the total time available for the meeting. If there is enough time for everything, the meeting skips Stage 2 and goes on to Stage 3. 2. Negotiation Only the person who has requested the topic can decide to reduce its time (or even take it out, for example till the next meeting). The negotiation itself takes time, so everyone is eager to reach agreement! Changes are noted on the agenda. 3. Do it One person facilitates. Their job is to help the group stay on track. • The facilitator asks: who/what item do we start with? Anyone can suggest her/himself or someone else. The group must agree before anyone starts. The facilitator notes on the agenda whose turn it is. • The topic owner is responsible for guiding the discussion, and for ending in time. S/he may agree with someone else to help with time keeping. • When the topic is closed the facilitator crosses the time slot off the agenda and asks the first question again: what do we do next?

Ireland Gap Ballymun: www.ballymun.info Recommended starting place for info search about Ireland http://www.enfo.ie/ Best practices in Ireland: http://www.compass.ie/gap/3bestpractices.html (The GAP site that has not been updated for a few years. However it contains interesting information.) Europe EPE - European partners for the Environment http://www.epe.be/ World Latest news about sustainable development from the UN http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/index.html Highlights events http://www.unsystem.org/en/highlights.en.htm Envirolink http://www.envirolink.org/ EnviroLink now provides free Internet hosting services to over 500 non-profit organisations and serves 9-11 million hits on its web server per month. In 1999, TIME Magazine praised EnviroLink as "The place to start on the Internet for all things ecological." Global Action Plan International http://empowermentinstitute.net/ http://www.globalactionplan.com/ International Institute for Sustainable Development http://www.iisd.org/

THE BALLYMUN ECO BOOK An experiential guide of how to start and run environmental projects in your local area

EDITED BY SIMON COCKING Drawing on the experiences of five community environmental projects that took place in Ballymun, Dublin in 2003

Thank you to all the following people without whom none of this would have been possible The participants in all of the 5 projects that took place in 2003 in Ballymun Joanne Faulkner Marilyn Mehlman Global Action Plan [GAP] international facilitator The GAP Ballymun coaches: Pat Turner, Anne Harnett and Lynn Scarff The contributing members of the LA 21 writers group: Amanda McDonnell, Connie O Reilly, Geraldine Mulligan Treacy, Rose Ormsby, Sarah Mulligan & Victoria Sargeant GAP Ballymun staff, past and present Book proofers including staff, GAP Board members, Chris Stokes, Chris Fite-Wasilick and others All Ballymuners, young and old who took part in the 2003 activities Dublin City Council [DCC], in particular Margaret Foynes Ballymun Regeneration Limited [BRl], in particular Evelyn Hanlon

Published By Gap Ballymun 2004

Editor: Simon Cocking

Design: Wheelhouse Creative Ltd. www.wheelhousecreative.co.uk

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

CONTENTS PAGE Preface Chapter 1

7 Background 1a A short history 1b GAP lays the foundation

8 9

Chapter 2

How to achieve change

Chapter 3

Our aims

Chapter 4

The tools

Chapter 5

The five projects 5a The New Recycling Centre 5b The Gardening Group 5c The Ever Ready Environmental Awareness Group 5d The After Schools Group 5e The Writers Group

34 38 40

Chapter 6

What we’ve learnt

Chapter 7

Show me the money

26 30

Summary

Editor’s note

Appendices

PREFACE

GAP

INTERNATIONAL

OVERVIEW Foreword by Marilyn Mehlmann, Global Action Plan (GAP) is a network of grass roots environmental activists working around the world since 1989 to help local communities identify ways in which they can play their part in protecting the area around them and leaving a liveable legacy for those generations that will follow. For this project Joanne Faulkner, project manger of GAP Ballymun worked with Marilyn Mehlmann, from GAP International, to secure the Combat Poverty funding for the 2003 Ballymun LA 21 project. Marilyn now provides the foreword to this book.

This is an amazing book, and I’m proud to have been in at the inception of this project. For people working to create a better future for their own communities, methods and tools are important, examples are important – but even more important are the stories. These stories demonstrate how people have worked to improve their communities. Working with Local Agenda 211 underlines the need to share what we have learnt with others trying to make a difference too. When this Ballymun project was discussed, I wondered: “How do we capture the stories?” The answer we came up with was to invite local writers to document the

progress of these projects. You now hold in your hand not only a cookbook of methods and tools, but also the dreams, aspirations and achievements of many people. The contributors are mostly volunteers, none of them professional writers. In place of professional skills they brought curiosity, energy, and tenacity.

Main Picture: Clean up day

Top &

The book is an inspiration to the hundreds of people in over 25 countries currently using the GAP techniques to achieve sustainable lifestyles and Agenda 21 goals. It has already inspired a similar project in Robertsfors, Northern Sweden. We hope it will inspire you too. Marilyn Mehlmann General Secretary Global Action Plan (GAP) International

Bottom: Eveready Awareness day Center: Launch of Silloge Recycling Centre

To learn more about the work of GAP see www.globalactionplan.com 1 Local Agenda 21. This term arose from the first world wide inter governmental environmental conference in Rio 1992. The goal was for people to take Local Action in the 21st century to help redress the environmental problems that the world is facing. As a result local initiatives such as these have come to be called ‘Local Agenda 21’ or LA 21 for short

BACKGROUND A short history of Ballymun 1963 – 2000 An explanation of the regeneration of the area and GAP’s subsequent involvement

In 1963 many tenement houses in Dublin were collapsing. The housing minister of the day announced building new homes to re-house people was a top priority. Within three years tenants began moving into newly built homes in Ballymun. Initially planned as a model housing estate, the social and recreational amenities promised were not delivered. This was Ireland’s first high-rise housing. The subsequent economic down turn of the 1970’s & 1980’s meant Dublin Corporation lacked finances to solve the problems experienced and Ballymun developed a negative image in the national media. Residents often felt they had to demonstrate to receive treatment seen as a matter of course in other parts of the city. Increasing social problems, high unemployment and increasingly dilapidated housing stock meant things needed to change. In 1996 Dublin Corporation concluded the Ballymun high-rise flats should be demolished rather than refurbished. The following year Ballymun Regeneration Limited (BRL) was established “to facilitate community consultation and to develop and implement a Master Plan for Ballymun’s regeneration”. A key concern was, and continues to be, that this be a sustainable project and that the problems do not return to affect the area.

The regeneration programme aimed to be as sustainable as possible, both socially and environmentally. In Italy 2000 at an international conference about the regeneration of European Cities, Ciaron Murray, CEO of BRL, met Marilyn Mehlmann from GAP International. She recommended that they approach Eric Forsmark, project manager of a successful Stockholm GAP project in an area similar to Ballymun, and now living in Ireland. Erik began work with Joanne Faulkner (a Dublin based environmental facilitator) to develop possible strategies to ensure the regeneration was as sustainable as possible. BRL then gave the go ahead given to run local environmental action teams in Ballymun to promote awareness among residents about what could be done to look after the local environment and increase the likelihood of the regeneration being sustainable. Within a year a specific GAP project was established to work solely in the Balllymun area to deliver a programme designed to raise local environmental awareness, GAP Ballymun was born.

CHAPTER 1 : BACKGROUND

GAP Environmental Action Teams 2001 – 2003 lays the foundations The Environmental Action Team Programme began in Ballymun in 2001. Over the following two years more than 200 adults completed an action team as well as several hundred youth participants through the Schools and After Schools programmes.

What is an ‘Environmental Action Team’? The GAP Environmental Action Team Programme takes place all over the world. GAP works with local people and communities in 25 countries to help them help themselves make their community a better place to live. The programme aims to identify practical ways in which a difference can be made in their own lives and their own homes. Five key core topics are covered in separate sessions which include; Waste, Water, Shopping, Energy and Transport. Information is shared about our current patterns of living and ways in which we could live in a more sustainable manner. Each member of the group is then asked to undertake one or more sustainable actions and then reports back their experiences at the next meeting. Participants are then more likely to believe in their own ability to impact on the issues around them.

Top left: A typical follow on activity from an environmental action team Bottom Left: Successful graduates from an environmental action team

THE GAP

CONCEPT OF

HOW TO ACHIEVE CHANGE

Information alone is not enough to change behaviour

There is a theory of how to affect change. It is not enough to tell people something is good or bad for them. If it were this easy then one advertising campaign about the dangers of smoking would result in no one smoking again. Simply telling people why they shouldn’t do things is often ineffective. Instead if you can raise someone’s awareness to the point where they care enough themselves, then they may seek out their own information and solutions to issues. This is important as the challenges faced keep changing and the best solution in one situation may not be appropriate in another. The GAP principles of developing individual empowerment Information regarding the environment is important throughout the programme but so too are the principles of empowerment that GAP use to enable people to take action in their everyday lives to increase sustainable households, workplaces and communities. Model 1 on the right sets out how we usually learn from new ideas that may lead to changes in behaviour. The behaviour change is maintained for as long as you “pump in” new information: a few months after the end of any information campaign one finds that the behaviour change has

If it were this easy then one advertising campaign about the dangers of smoking would result in no one smoking again reverted. It has been estimated there may be up to an 85% reversion, which leaves only a 15% success rate of sustained behaviour change. In Model 2 the loop does not solely focus on the information stage but also stimulates action and care regarding the issue, in this case environmental lifestyles. Many people feel that whatever they do won’t make a difference. So they don’t take action and don’t seek out the information around them. In an empowering programme you try to ensure that actions can be taken on the subject that participants care about. The information is then sought and acted upon. Behaviour change then happens as part of this ongoing loop. This method of empowerment can lead to lasting behavioural change.

CHAPTER 2 : HOW TO ACHIEVE CHANGE

Environmental Action Teams as a catalyst for local environmental change

There is a concept that if 10% of the population in a local area complete an action team this can be enough to cause significant change. To inspire and educate people to live more environmentally it is important to create a basic level of environmental awareness and interest first. The reason for this is that people may be doing a few things already to help the environment but may not realise other things they could do. People are often motivated by hearing about the experiences of their peers. As more and more people completed Action Team programmes they formed a growing number who expressed interest in doing more to

help their areas. There is a concept that if 10% of the population in a local area complete an action team this can be enough to cause significant change. The rationale for this is that only a minority of the population feel very strongly about particular issues. Generally the majority have less strong views on many of these issues. Behavioural change is often driven by a small number of innovators. At first their actions seem extreme, even unfeasible, however as time passes social norms begin to change. Over time what was once seen as extreme becomes normal practice. By the time this cultural change has occurred, the innovators now hold new views, which seem extreme and unfeasible to the majority of the community. The amoeba model helps to illustrate this theory.

CHAPTER 2 : HOW TO ACHIEVE CHANGE

THE AMOEBA MODEL OF BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE

OUR AIMS The aim of the Ballymun Local Agenda 21 Project 2003 was to: • support local people’s ideas for improving their local area. • provide an open forum for people to present their dreams and ideas for how to move ideas to action • encourage greater local community activism, using GAP tools and techniques to help achieve this. • have as many successful projects as possible by providing as much support, resources and coaching from GAP as possible. • thoroughly document the experiences of these projects to effectively evaluate what worked and what did not. • create a model of excellence for future use inside and outside Ballymun. • help other groups learn from our experiences in order to run successful projects in their areas.

An outline and details of how the overall project was planned and run February – October 2003 Three overall workshops were planned. One to get things started, one at the half way point to review progress, and a final one to celebrate / review what each group had achieved and decide what happened next. The need for planning and preparation prior to the first workshop Prior to the first workshop, scheduled for March 8th, preparatory work was needed to ensure everything got off to the best possible start. It was important to ensure enough people came to the first session to enable a critical mass for projects to get going. GAP Ballymun planned the workshops, sent out the invites, booked the rooms for meetings, provided the stationery and other resources, and ordered the sandwiches. The ‘three forms of communication’ approach People tend to respond better when they hear about something from a variety of mediums. One medium tends to reinforce another. For these events we aimed to inform people in at least three different ways. The three methods we used were:

• Graduates of action teams and local community groups were invited to attend through a posted invite. • Posters were put up around the area. • Action team participants were telephoned (around 150), to see if they were attending. Follow up calls were then made three days prior to those who had expressed an intention to attend the workshops (about 50) to confirm numbers. Other forms of communication that could also have been used include: door knocking, phone texting, emails, advertising in local newspapers and radio and word of mouth. Making it easier for people to say ‘no’ to you People often find it hard to say no. This is tricky when you are trying to estimate how many people will actually attend an event. A useful technique is to convey to a potential participant that you will not be upset with them if they cannot attend, you just need to know for logistical reasons (set up of the room etc) and

that they are not doing you a personal favour by attending. The question of sandwiches This can be a good way to encourage people to feel able to say they will not be attending without them feeling uncomfortable. ”We are ordering lunches for the workshop and would just like to confirm numbers to make sure we order the right amount, are you still able to attend on Saturday?”. We found this to be a surprisingly useful technique to allow some people to tell us whether they were really planning to attend. It’s a numbers game Despite the above strategies it is still likely not all of those who confirmed will attend actually do so on the day. A rule of thumb was that 50% of those who confirmed attendance would come, if 75% attend that was very good. For the March 8th workshop, three days before, 40 people confirmed they were attending - on the day 26 actually came.

CHAPTER 3: OUR AIMS

The first meeting March 8th 2003 “A little less conversation, a little more action” The launch of the Ballymun LA 21 Project Preparing for the meeting The first meeting was an important date for GAP as hosts of this project. If no one came it would not be possible to progress. For this reason all the above communication methods were employed. While it was quite labour intensive to telephone everyone two or three times we felt it was well worth the time if it meant someone attended the event. If no one came then even more time would be needed to schedule, promote and run another day such as this. However if no one attends it is important to consider the possibility that perhaps no one is interested at this particular time in this particular issue. Getting the day started The agenda planned for 8 March, Introduction to people/opening up Introduction to the workshop and to the program Ground rules Presentation of period to next milestone/workshop What I like/what I want to change Brainstorming change ideas Prioritising: what's important Prioritising: what I want to work with Focus and team-forming Synergy method intro Group work: preliminary planning Review: who's doing what, and when Group work: what (more) do we need? Review: who's doing what, and when Outreach: – target groups and media – the essential message What is to be documented? Why? What happens after the next milestone? What happens after the end of the program? Participants' own topics/questions Total 2

min.

responsible

30 10 5 20 30 40 15 15 15 15 30 30 30 20 25 30 10 5 5 15

MM2 MM+JF JF SC JF MM+SC MM MM MM JF MM SC MM MM JF MM JF JF MM MM

6 h 35

NB: The initials under the responsible column refer to the person responsible for a particular task. They refer to: MM = Marilyn Mehlman, JF = Joanne Faulkner, & SC = Simon Cocking.

This was a lot of time to ask from people but it was felt that it was needed at the beginning. If the projects were to have any chance of really getting started it was worth spending this time. An icebreaker was used to relax people and enable them to get to know each other. (See chapter four for details of possible icebreakers to use). After the icebreaker the day’s purpose was explained.

There would be a second joint meeting with everyone in two months time, and a third, final meeting after the summer. Jo Faulkner, the GAP Ballymun facilitator for the day, explained GAP’s role was to coach and support rather than actually DO these projects. Each team had a team co-ordinator and a GAP coach for support. Activities chosen did not have to be strictly ‘environmental’, as long as they brought social or economic improvement to the area. The only stipulation was that the activities selected did not harm or exclude anybody.

The key aims of the day were to: • leave the day with a number of teams with distinct projects working with a clear idea about what actions and steps needed to be taken to realise their goals. • Provide various tools to help people plan how to get things started.

Simple ground rules were requested from the group. If anyone had anything they hated about meetings this was the time to mention it. Suggestions (see chapter 3) were documented on a flip chart and stuck to the wall so everyone could see them.

Identifying people’s key concerns about their area Participants were asked two questions. ‘What I like’ and ‘what I want to change’? The reason for asking these questions was to engage and promote discussion around what people felt to be important. Positive responses “good people” “strong sense of community” “stronge sense of neighbourliness” “cheap rent” “awareness on the up” “people no longer moving away” “openness” “honesty” “enthusiasm”

Negative aspects “Few activities and clubs for young people” “few places to play” “losing spaces and football pitches” “building sites everywhere” “litter” “lots of walls” “sense of being walled in” “anti social behaviour” “people can be too negative towards change”

Subjects that were repeated were grouped under headings such as youth, recycling or environmental awareness. This exercise showed the group they shared common problems and common goals. (For more information on this tool see Chapter 4). From this point we could work out how to keep the things we liked and change the things we didn’t.

Identifying what changes the group wanted to see happen People were then asked to describe what they would like to see happen. The GAP facilitator documented these suggestions, with no additional input or comment, positive or negative. A flip chart and a large piece of paper were used to write down what people thought in a prominent visible place. Flip chart paper is useful for enabling everyone in the room to see what ideas have been expressed and it also provides a written documentation of what happened. A list was compiled with over 30 possible ideas. The participants were asked to indicate which ones they would chose first if they could not all happen immediately.

The selection of which projects were to be short-listed Comments on the voting. Participants were then given 6 points to allocate to the ideas suggested. They could either give all 6 points to one project or share them across a number of projects. All the possible projects were written on a large sheet of paper. Participants were then given a marker pen each and asked to allocate their 6 points in the form of ticks in whatever manner they wished. The 12 projects with the most votes were as follows. 1. Neighbourhood recycling centre. 7. Spreading information. 2. Central Ballymun Bring Centre. 8. Organic food sales / farmers market. 3. After schools activities. 9. Animals. 4. Play areas. 10. Local leagues & challenges. 5. Gardening support. 11.Corporate waste management. 6. Environmental information days. 12. Tenants Associations.

CHAPTER 3: OUR AIMS

• These priorities may seem surprising. However at that moment in time this was what they voted for. It could be something completely different in a year. • Only the participants voted. The facilitator did not vote or favour one project over another. • GAP did not influence the choice of projects. From the initial poster, to the brainstorming and all the way through the selection and subsequent planning of activities, GAP facilitators were positive to all ideas suggested. • There was a difference between what people expressed concern for and what they actually voted for.

Left: Cup of tea method in action

Putting people to projects (using the tea break method) Linking people with the projects they felt most passionate about the next important step. All the projects were listed and participants were asked to choose the project they were most interested in. The tea break method was used. Tea, coffee and fruit juices (fair trade and organic where possible) were offered and the participants were invited to take a refreshment.

a manageable number of projects with enough individual members to give the project a chance of happening. NB there were no set quotas for the number of projects needed or minimum numbers for these groups. If a large number of projects were selected with few participants it could be necessary for those with a similar aim to team up.

A description of each potential project was written on a piece of paper in different parts of the room and the participants were asked to take a walk around the various project descriptions and have a chat with the people they met there. Some people said they were interested in more than one project. They were asked for now to be one place and reassured this would not preclude them from being involved in other projects subsequently.

The four projects selected by the participants were: • A local recycling centre for Sillogue / Sandyhill (7 members) • A central bring centre group (6 members) • A gardening support group (5 members) • An after schools activities group (6 members)

Interestingly of the 12 possible projects available, all 25 participants grouped themselves around only four of the projects listed. This presented

A 5th group, the Writers group, was also established at a separate meeting. The writers were invited to all the overall sessions.

Planning the projects – using the ‘Synergy Method’ & the Activity Sheet First project meeting using the Synergy Method to ensure sufficient time for all key topics Once projects and project members were identified the next step was to find out what needed doing. The Synergy Method was used to help the group stay focussed on what needed to be discussed within the time available on the day (for details of this technique see Chapter 4). A brainstorming method was the first item on the agenda to encourage group members to be as imaginative as possible regarding what their project could achieve – whilst adhering to the ground rules of allowing any idea no matter how silly or outrageous it may seem without anyone commenting critically. Project members then moved onto considering the details of the project. For this the following tool was introduced. Drawing up a plan of action using the Activity Sheet The Activity Sheet is to help focus on practical issues necessary to get things started (See the Appendices for a copy of the activity sheet). Each group filled in an Activity Sheet which was then presented to the entire group for comments and input. The aim of this was to identify some of the problems that could potentially arise from the activities planned. Tasks were identified and allocated. This was done to help ensure people understood what needed doing and who was responsible for doing what. A time was set for the next group meeting, and what goals needed to be accomplished by then. Members exchanged contact numbers. A member of each group was chosen to be a coordinator and send out a copy of the completed activity sheet to each member to remind them what they had agreed to do. Each group member’s contact details were to be distributed within the group and the coordinator was also to arrange the date of the next meeting and remind everyone of this. The coordinator’s involvement would be vital for the success of each group. Finally it was important for the teams to name themselves, to create a sense of identity. Even if the name is simple, for example “the Gardening group”, it gave members a sense of ownership and purpose. Comments from the day “I was worried this would result in lots more work but it was lovely to leave with all the responsibility shared and ten times more enthusiasm” “It’s great to know there are so many capable, willing people with such a range of skills” “I learnt a lot and met new people” “I had a fun day. Sorry you weren’t there!” “It’s great to see something concrete starting, not just more talk” “I’m delighted to see so many faces from Action Teams – all the little things we talked about then are now starting to grow” “I’m really happy to learn the synergy method” “It’s brilliant for the young people to show the great ideas they have”.

CHAPTER 3: OUR AIMS

The 2nd overall meeting May 31st Whatsuphowsitgoinwhydidntyacallme? On May 31st the representatives of all four local environmental projects and the Writers group met again to review their progress to date. It was now 21/2 months since the initial meeting and from the point of view of the GAP coaches it was important that these projects did not lose their momentum. This meeting was intended to help provide motivation, inspiration, and information on each project’s progress. For those groups already making good progress it was hoped to help them to continue to grow and develop. Planning for the day. Similar preparations took place to those for the first meeting in March: a written invite, word of mouth (GAP coaches and facilitators telling and reminding everyone they saw during the course of their working day) and a series of phone calls to confirm and reconfirm attendance numbers. The location was the same, and soup and sandwiches were again supplied. The content of the day • An icebreaker. To remind everyone of each other’s names and make sure new people were introduced. • Participants split into their various project groups to review the goals stated in the March 8th activity sheets. Each projects documented the following: Best things that have happened. Problems encountered. Things we would have done differently. What’s happening next? These observations were written down onto flipchart paper and stuck on the wall. • A virtual tour of the projects. All participants walked round the room to review the others projects progress: what had worked, what had not, what could have been done differently. • Plan for the next steps and to remind people that there was an end to this process in three months time when Marilyn returned for a final wrap up session.

Left: Members of the Gardening Group reviewing their progress to date

The following table summarises the review of each groups experiences after 2 months Name of group

Best things that have happened

Problems encountered

Things we would have done differently

What’s happening next

New Recycling Centre

• Funding, € 630 from DCC & their involvement • Opening bank account, getting cheque book • Almost got premises • Good commitment, team spirit • Got insured • Action team started and meeting new people

• Premises

• Nothing

• Open recycling centre in June and launch July 19th

• Doing questionaire, getting the results. Most popular youth activities were: 1. caring for animals 2. learning how to use computers

• No results from younger age groups • How to use results • How to keep momentum going and stay in contact with youth reps

• Done questionaire quicker • Got John, David & David (Junior Boys) more involved • Coordinate tasks to do with our capabilities

• To plan a computer course • Have a meeting to plan for the younger age groups

• Cups of tea • Having a sunflower growing competition • Good to see men are interested too • Finding out about the other groups and what GAP does

• Tasks agreed were not done • Poor attendance at 1st planting evening • No sponsorship – shops tired of people asking them • children are scary / messy ( help needed) • group small, gardening expert needed

• A date to do things, recruited more people • A structure to the tasks • Started earlier • Agree what to buy before buying materials • Checked availability of student volunteer

• Sunflower planting day in Whitacre, June 5th • Gardening workshop in axis, June 21st

• Clarifying our aims • People coming to meetings regularly • That the project is happening

• Time for meetings in our busy schedules • Getting other people interested • Thinking of ways to raise awareness • Keeping focussed at meetings

• Nothing

• An environmental information day on June 19th • Recruit people for action teams

• Being involved • Meeting new people • Watching the group developing

• Safety concerns over night meetings • Little writing done, no articles submitted • Writers haven’t met each other

• Monthly check in meeting with other writers • More support, coaching and structure • Feedback and contact with other projects • Meetings closer to home • More contact with the project co-ordinators

• Writers group meeting July 8th, 7pm axis • Interviews with the other groups • Write up activities last 3 months activities

After Schools

Gardening

Ever Ready

Writers

CHAPTER 3: OUR AIMS

The 3rd and final wrap up meeting October 16th 2003 When planning the overall project it was important there was an end point. Individual projects didn’t have to stop running at this point, but a cut off point was needed to allow an overall evaluation of the project. As it turned out, three projects had run their course by the final wrap up session. At this workshop (as with the first two) there was a facilitator and a separate note taker who recorded the points raised during the workshops. This provided a visual confirmation that everyone’s comments were valued and documented. At the end of the workshop it also made it much easier to document what happened because it was all written down. Outline for the wrap up meeting • Icebreaker. This time the network of who knows who was used (see Chapter 4) • Review of the life cycle of each of the projects. Where it began, it’s achievements and next steps. • Evaluation of the projects current status • Participants divided up into their own individual projects to consider: What had worked, what hadn’t and what could have been done differently • Congratulations to the groups for their achievements At this point the LA 21 projects were concluded within the remit of the Combat Poverty funding. They would now either continue under their own steam or wrap up depending on the decision of each particular group. The progress of each individual group can be seen in more detail in Chapter 5 – The project reports.

Left: The group at the final session

In summary The Ever Ready group and After Schools group concluded their activities at this point – though some members of the Ever Ready group decided to support the NRC project. The Gardening group finished as well but the concept was adopted by GAP itself with the recruitment of a community gardener. The NRC was now established as a local recycling centre and remains open for the foreseeable future. The Writers group were given six more weeks to complete their material.

TOOLS Preparing for success: getting the group to decide what it’s Ground Rules are Before using any of the following tools it is important to ensure there is some shared ground between everyone present. For this reason it is helpful to check everyone agrees what is and is not acceptable behaviour. It can be surprising how differently people view this question. It is important to be aware of any assumptions you are making. The fewer assumptions made, the less opportunities there will be for future misunderstandings and even bad feelings. Here are some points that we found useful when drawing up ground rules. • • • • • • • • •

Does the group have any ground rules they would like to suggest? Mobile phones off? Everyone has a contribution to make No one should be interrupted We try our best to stick to the topic No “soap box speeches” No parallel conversations Objectives / Outcomes to be agreed prior to starting Everyone has a responsibility to ensure that the outcomes are achieved.

1. Icebreakers Icebreakers were used to begin each of the 3 sessions.

It is important to create an atmosphere where people feel relaxed and able to speak their minds

The concept of the ‘I’, the ‘we’ and the ‘it’ is helpful in explaining why it useful to do an icebreaker. Before many potential groups become an effective team it is important to take the individual members on a journey from their own particular hopes and aspirations to those of a shared group vision. The ‘I’ must be addressed first. If not you may find individual participants keep returning to their own particular concerns until they feel have been heard. Ice breakers help provide an opportunity for some of these concerns to be expressed first. Once the ‘I’ has been expressed it makes it easier to progress towards considering the ‘we’ of where do we go next to address these concerns. Then the ‘it’ of a possible solution can then be considered. Ice breakers are used to help people to ‘loosen up’ and feel comfortable. It is important to create an atmosphere where people feel relaxed and able to speak their minds. An icebreaker can also play an important role in allowing people to shake free of all the things that were on their mind and focus on the matter at hand. For details of icebreakers used during these workshops, see the Appendices (b).

CHAPTER 4: Tools

2. The Activity Sheet The aim of this tool is to help people to clearly define the projects goals, who is going to do it and by when. By actually naming who needs to do what, it helps to people to start thinking about these tasks, and about whether they are achievable. Setting dates for goals is an important technique to encourage people to set realistic goals for themselves. It is also useful in evaluating whether the project actually meets its goals and to see if the project is still doing what it originally set out to do. It was intended that the activity sheet was filled in at each of the three overall meetings to help review each projects progress and what’s next steps were. To use the activity sheet template please see the appendices (c).

3. Fleck’s synergy method – a summary Synergy = syn + ergos; results through collaboration & cooperation Erhard Fleck invented this technique to help make meetings as productive and time effective as possible. It is useful to reassure people they will get the time to talk about what is important to them. Consequently they may be more able to listen to what other people have to say because they are not preoccupied by wondering if someone else will ever finish speaking. General principles for good meetings There are lots of books and courses about how to run meetings. Some rules of thumb are often proposed: 1. In the invitation state clearly: • The aim of the meeting • What you want to achieve • What time the meeting starts and ends 2. Start and end the meeting on time. It is more important to pay attention to the people who come rather than to people who are not there. 3. If people don’t know each other, start with introductions. 4. Encourage quiet people to talk. 5. Leave time for an evaluation of the meeting.

With these rules of thumb you can achieve a lot, but still people often find meetings boring, ineffective, even a waste of time. Fleck’s Synergy Method is useful. With it, you can reduce meeting time, get more done – and have more fun. It is encourages and supports a lot of participation so it’s very good for Agenda 21 working groups, though it can be used for many kinds of meetings. The principles are easy to understand, but not always easy to do because a Synergy meeting is so different from what we generally expect. It helps to have an introduction from someone with experience (ask GAP Ballymun for advice).

4. The Post – It™ note approach This method is useful to help people express their ideas or opinions and then gain coherence of these ideas/issues within the group

Method 1. Everyone is given a number of Post-It notes (usually yellow and about 7cm square).3 2. The group was asked to think of two things they liked about Ballymun and two things they didn’t like. This could be changed to any set of questions, for Three more basic principles of the Synergy method: example “why did you come here today?” and “why would you leave?” 1. All participants contribute to building the agenda. If you are inviting 3. The replies to these questions are then noted down by participants on people to a meeting you may well start preparing the agenda in their Post-It notes. One answer per Post-It note. These questions may advance, but always open the meeting by asking participants what require two or three replies from each participant. It is very important topics they want to raise. Only when the agenda is complete do you that each answer is written on a separate Post-It note. Example: begin work on the first topic. “Why did you come here today?” Sample answers included; “to see 2. Every topic has its own block of time. The person who proposes a topic what it was all about”, “to meet other people who were interested in also specifies how much time he/she would like the group to spend on the environment”, “to get people interested in gardening”. it, including presentation, discussion, decision – everything you need to These answers all had very different themes even though they are from do to get results. Once agreed, the time must not be exceeded! You the same participant so it is very important they are written on different can, however, take less time if you like. Post-It notes. 3. Consensus on order of topics. The group is invited to decide "what to do 4. Whilst the questions are being asked it is important to request silence. now", i.e. to select one topic at a time. There is no pressure to "get in The responses you are seeking need to be genuine and heartfelt so the first" because we know in advance that every topic will receive its agreed silence increases contemplation and thoughtfulness. block of time. 5. When everybody has written their answers on the Post-It’s, the The meeting ends on time – or early! – and everyone has had their say and facilitator again reads the questions and participants are invited to read their time. their response. If the group is very shy or reticent it is possible to collect For a step-by step guide on how a synergy meeting takes place, please see the appendices (c). the Post-It’s and the facilitator read them out aloud.

For environmentally friendly versions see Klee Paper, 89 North Circular Road, Dublin

CHAPTER 4: Tools

6. As the participants read out their responses, they stick them on an allocated space, which may be a table or a wall. As this is being done it will become apparent some responses are similar to others. These should be stuck close to each other to form themed groups. 7. When all the post its have been read out and grouped, the participants can then choose headings for themed groups, such as answers to why are you here? “I wanted to do something”, “wanted to help my neighbourhood”, “I thought might be able to help” – could fit under a title of “Action” 8. Why make titles? It helps a disparate group to see that they more or less want the same thing even though they may express it in different language. It creates a simple vision from which to work backwards to create action or projects to take us to the vision. 5. Brain storming This can be good for encouraging people to explore new ideas in a non-judgemental environment. The ground rules are that anything can be suggested, other people are not allowed to be critical or judgemental, the idea is simply recorded on a large piece of paper, ideally in a visible place so everyone can easily read it. Ideas are considered and apprised for feasibility, practicality, cost and appropriateness for the particular issue in question. We found this approach to be useful when gathering the first long list of people’s ideas for possible projects. It is also helpful for linking ideas and suggestions together.

6. Prioritisation and selection of projects How a group chooses what it does can be a very challenging issue, if it simply goes to a majority vote the minority (which could be up to 2/3rds of the group if you use a first past the post system) of the group may not support the project that is selected. 7. Coaches for the projects & coaching the coaches A coach was assigned to each of the five projects. The coach’s role was to mentor, support and guide the progress of the particular project. The coach selected for each project was someone whose experience would meet the needs of the particular project in question as much as possible. All coaches were all provided by GAP as part of their role in facilitating and supporting the growth of the overall project. All the coaches were familiar with the techniques described above which enabled them to help the group in trying to use these tools to further their own projects.

Anything can be suggested and other people are not allowed to be critical or judgemental. As well as supplying coaches GAP recognised the coaches themselves would need support in what could potentially be a very challenging role. A series of monthly meetings were held where coaches could compare experiences and exchange ideas for ways to deal with challenges encountered. A degree of informal support took place too as various coaches compared notes when meeting each other at other GAP activities.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

THE

FIVE PROJECTS

1 . NEW RECYCLING CENTRE FOR SILLOGUE SANDYHILL, BALLYMUN History 4 In Ballymun there is a high awareness regarding the need to recycle – however there have been few facilities to enable people to do this within easy reach of their homes. Consequently this group decided to try and start something in their area. This project therefore had a clear, straightforward goal: To open a community recycling centre in the Sillogue area of Ballymun to enable people living in the surrounding areas to recycle locally. Previously, recycling had to be taken to either the local shopping centre or even further away to other recycling centres. The name, the New Recycling Centre was chosen as it would be the second local community recycling centre in Ballymun after the one already opened in Shangan, Ballymun. The project started well, with a large number of people involved. Before opening their own centre the group sought expert advice from people involved in similar projects elsewhere both locally, nationally and internationally. GAP supplied support regarding insurance, and through the Bounty Hunters programme. This initiative encourages children to recycle by awarding eco points which can then be exchanged for environmentally positive prizes.

The project also benefited from having people involved who already had links to Dublin City Council. Cecelia Moore, one of the founding members, commented, “We had a reputation for getting things done. When we approached DCC they knew we were serious”. Main

How-to steps: 1. Group formed 2. Premises found – disused flat in Ballymun 3. Local authority approached for their support, and to collect the recycling generated 4. Use of premises permitted by owners - Dublin City Council 5. Insurance secured 6. Voluntary manning secured 7. Opened on a trial basis 8. Official opening

Picture: Two young recyclers at the NRC Top and Middle: NRC in use Bottom: Clean up day

Drawing on information gathered by Rose Ormsby & Amanda McDonnell

It should be noted that manning the centre three times a week requires a lot of dedication and energy. This can be difficult to sustain with a small group of volunteers. However Dublin City Council are supportive of community led recycling projects and will engage with groups who wish to do more to increase local recycling rates. To find out more contact your local Environmental Education Officer. The project progressed well for several reasons. One was positive public relations. As well as favourable articles in the local media and having the Lord Mayor’s deputy to officially open the site, the local residents were supportive and encouraging about the centre. A valuable consequence of this is the centre has not yet suffered any vandalism or attacks. Ongoing activities were also introduced to keep young people interested in recycling. A scooter prize was introduced for the most recycling collected within a certain time period, along with other incentives such as trips to Newbridge Farm and Glendalough Environmental Education Centre. Additionally ongoing environmental games and an environmental education programme were introduced. So far the project has not experienced any big problems. This may have been aided by the experience of another recycling centre opening a year earlier in Ballymun. Challenges for the future 1. To increase the number of users. Most adults users are those from the immediate neighbourhood and those who have done the environmental action teams and so are generally more motivated. 2. More storage facilities for the increasing volume of recycling generated. 3. Funding & staffing. It is opened on a voluntary basis. Opening times are

consequently limited. € 600 was received from Dublin City Council at the beginning but more funding is needed. 4. Fresh ideas to maintain interest. 5. Limited time available for long term planning. “It was hard to find time to meet once it opened”. Cecelia Moore. The group now has monthly meetings. 6. To raise children’s awareness of the bigger issue. “When the kids become more aware their parents become more aware and hopefully the area will look cleaner, people won’t litter and will re-use things instead of throwing them out. It is important to develop the kids’ motivation. If not, once they’ve had the prizes they will see no more reason to come here”. Cecelia Moore 7. It is important to find “the right volunteers who are committed to the project and understand the aim of the project”. Summary of the NRC project • Worked well and is still open and busy • Ongoing challenge of staffing and maintaining opening hours • Levels of usage can fluctuate (due to the time of year, weather, holidays) • The children’s programme of events is working well, with a regular attendance of 10 – 20 kids each session • There is still uncertainty as to what the local council’s long term strategy is for the area, community recycling centres or recycling drop points? • The members of the NRC found the project great fun, a lot of hard work, but very rewarding.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

NRC Launches recycling centre at the annual Sillogue fun day Rose Ormsby July 2003. The day had arrived, all their hard work and motivation has paid off. Their goal had been achieved. Cllr Shelia Gallogly attended on behalf of the Lord Mayor. She cut the ribbon to the new premises at 158 A Sillogue Road in front of a proud local audience. Representatives of Dublin City Council also attended to witness this event that they had been most supportive of. John Montague, local resident and member of the new recycling centre thanked everyone who had contributed to making the day possible. Cllr Gallogly congratulated everyone on their success and over a glass of wine and light refreshments the centre was declared officially open on what was fortunately a beautifully sunny day.

Left: The official opening of the New Recycling Centre,

July 2003 The clean up day takes place every year but this year for the first time all the rubbish collected could be recycled in the new recycling centre. Sharon Lawlor, Sillogue resident and member of the NRC group said: “Every year we have a clean up day in Sillogue. We usually just throw it down the chutes but this time we gave the kids bags and one group just collected plastic bottles and the other collected glass bottles and paper. We recycled everything collected that day. It was a brilliant success we had over 50 big sacks full of recycling”.

A series of fun activities then commenced for the children to enjoy including; an obstacle course, a bouncy castle, penalty shoot outs, face painting, clowns, a beautiful baby and a super gran competition and even a disco dancing competition. Medals and spot prizes were handed out and all in all people seemed to feel the day was a great success. “I am delighted with how it is going. We open three times a week. It gets very busy. Hopefully in a few years we will have a big bring centre in Ballymun. Our door’s open and everyone that passes by is friendly. Because we’re local we’ve been supported. I walk down the street and the kids know my name and ask when’s the recycling centre open. The recognition is great. People aren’t jealous”. Cecelia Moore, NRC member. If the pride and commitment shown on this day is anything to go by then the new recycling centre will be a great success.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

2. GARDENING PROJECT History 5 Due to the regeneration of Ballymun, many residents of flats are now moving into new houses with both front and back gardens. For a large percentage of these residents this was their first opportunity to have a garden. For several enthusiastic residents of these new houses their dream was to make their own new gardens beautiful and to help their new neighbours to do so too. This group initiated a sunflower growing competition in their street and several months later handed out prizes to those children and adults who had grown the biggest sunflowers. After this event the individual members decided to follow their own particular interests and the project ended. Initially the group had very ambitious goals. The GAP coach said “They loved gardening, and they wanted every body else to love gardening”. Each person took on tasks that they wanted to do, and this worked well. They informed their neighbours about the project by going door to door giving out information leaflets. The response was good, aided by the fact that pots, soil, and seeds were all supplied to make it as easy as possible for people to join in. As a follow up to this activity a sunflower measuring day was then held with prizes for the biggest sunflowers. The project was formally wrapped up at the last overall session in October, with their last activity taking place in September. The group has now disbanded.

“I learnt to have achievable aims, have the big vision, but then work out achievable aims and steps to get there. The best time was planting the sunflowers and returning to measure them. The worst was on going meetings about little things. I felt I was nagging people instead of coaching them. Asking them are they coming to the next meeting? Have you got your stuff done? Once they decided on an achievable goal – a sunflower planting event in their street - it was better. We discussed how to achieve this, using the synergy method”. - The GAP coach This project also had unexpected developments. Whilst the gardening group decided only to pursue gardening activities in their own street, the success of the Sunflower event convinced GAP to run similar activities elsewhere in Ballymun. GAP ran several other gardening activities in Ballymun over the following months and then even decided to hire a community gardener specifically for future gardening activities.

Drawing on work done by Connie O Reilly and Sarah Mulligan

Key learning points • Too few members (less than 5) made it harder for the project to grow, particularly if the groups members are already good friends already. • Local residents must be involved in the area where activities are planned. Without this the project will suffer because it will have no local stakeholders to protect and support it. • Use resources and the support of agencies already working locally. It is surprising the number of organisations who can help if they know what you are trying to do - so let them know. • Choose an activity that is simple, tangible, achievable, and will make a difference. The GAP coach described it as “It is important to inspire the community by showing positive action. Positive action is empowering, because you have shown people that their actions can make a difference”. Doing something that works / is achievable is especially helpful with those who feel it’s not worth doing anything because it failed in the past. • Talk to the other people involved in coaching similar projects to compare notes on your experiences. • Look further afield for ideas and inspiration. Just because something has not succeeded here before does not mean it is not possible. “The links to GAP international provided an external view, which was very good, it showed we were part of more than just a project here in Ballymun”. GAP project coordinator • To change things you must do more than just talk about what you’d like to do. “Empowerment requires some sort of dynamic activity, passivity is when you get disempowerment, because you don’t feel you can make a change, you feel apathetic, unable to move”. GAP Gardening coach. Summary Gardening has proved to be an activity that has caught the imagination of local residents. Levels of interest have increased since the first activity which in turn increased the amount of resources put into gardening activities by the local organisations and agencies including GAP, Dublin City Council and BRL. There were also surprising spin off benefits from running the gardening and planting activities. An impromptu clean up took place on the afternoon of the bulb planting day in Whitacre. Adults and children began picking up all the assorted debris of plastic bottles, sweets and crisp packets from the street surrounding their newly planted bulbs. Their intention was to make the area look as nice as possible now that they had taken the trouble to plant their daffodils and tulips.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

3. EVER READY GROUP AWARENESS GROUP History 6 The Ever Ready group had many ideas and ambitious goals. They differed from the NRC group by not creating one specific neighbourhood centre in one area, they wanted to create a central bring centre for all the recyclable waste in Ballymun. The group’s challenge was to work out what the first step should be toward this goal. There were many ideas, not always related to their initial goal. With so much enthusiasm it was sometimes hard to stick to the original agenda. It was decided to narrow their goal to something smaller and achievable.7 Upon hearing about the Rediscovery Centre, the group decided it would make their own goals redundant and turned their attention to increasing environmental awareness locally and recruiting local people for the environmental action teams running at that time. To generate interest the group decided to host an Environmental Information Day in the Ballymun shopping centre. [See following article]. The activity went well and they felt they had done something useful. Despite this, membership of the group fell. They knew they more people were needed but found it hard to recruit new members. By the last overall meeting the group’s momentum had run its course. The final remaining members decided to call it a day and follow their own particular interests. One volunteered with the NRC. Another planned to start recycling in the

6 7

new area she was moving to. Others were happy they had taken part, enjoyed the experience and remained interested and supportive of future activities that may arise. The GAP coach felt she over-estimated the group’s ability to get things done. Simply volunteering for a task did not mean someone could do the job. The coach found it hard when she could see the project was not going to be as successful as it could be. “Being part of a group is hard, and if you’re not used to this it can be difficult. People not used to working in a group can have their own sense of priorities and their own schedule for when they will do things”. As the coach she found it useful to compare notes with the experiences of the coaches of the other projects and to try out things that worked with the other groups. The Ever Ready group perhaps had the shortest active life span of the five groups, peaking with the June environmental awareness day in local shopping centre.

Drawing on work done by Geraldine Mulligan Treacy They received information about a Rediscovery Centre being developed by Howley Harrington Architect with GAP. The Rediscovery Centre would be a single centre for all Ballymun’s waste. For more info see www.ballymun.info

Possible factors that contributed to the demise of the Ever Ready project • • • • • •

Discovering a Central Bring Centre was already planned for Ballymun Their goals were very ambitious, broad (to raise environmental awareness in Ballymun) and not shared by all members A declining membership with no new people joining Individuals were over optimistic about their ability to do the tasks they chose in the time stated Having members already involved in many other activities Despite a great commitment to the environment they had little time available for this particular project.

The environmental awareness day June 18th Ballymun Shopping Centre By Geraldine Mulligan Treacy It was a good day in the shopping centre in the summer of 2003. The Ever Ready environmental awareness group – formed from the LA 21 meeting in March – made their mark on the people of Ballymun. Determined to let the local people know what they could do to help the environment. This band of keen volunteers set up a stall in the Ballymun shopping centre to give people an idea of the things they could do to help the environment from the comfort of their own homes. Leaflets and information had been collected from ENFO for distribution as well as information on the local GAP action team programme, offering people the opportunity to sign up to learn about actions they could take at home to help the environment. They seemed to get a good response with lots of people stopping for a chat and to have questions answered that they might have regarding composting, recycling or a variety of other environmental concerns. The display was informative with a keen interest from the public, both adults and children. A number of people expressed interest in receiving more information about taking part in an action team. However not all the members of the group were able to attend on the day. Consequently the information stall only covered one part of the shopping centre, so it is possible that their impact was less than it might have been. This was a shame because the residents of Ballymun are very interested in leaving the environment in a better state for their children than was left by the last generation. Let us hope that Ballymun becomes known as the forerunner of a new better urban environment, Green Ballymun instead of Concrete Ballymun.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

This page: Environmental awareness day in Ballymun shopping centre

AFTER SCHOOLS History8 A survey into what local children were interested in was carried out, and a visit to the local animal sanctuary took place. The group was small and met face to face infrequently. It was a small group, and in some ways never really got going, perhaps because it’s goals were too large for the capacity, time, ability and commitment of it’s members. Participants were unable to put enough time into the project. All the members were interested, motivated people but this was not enough without smaller achievable goals. When the final review session with Marilyn took place no members of this group attended, which was perhaps a fitting point at which to wrap up the group’s activities.

Right: Afterschool group members reviewing their progress to

The groups’ members each had different target groups in mind. One member was interested in activities for the under fives while the other was interested in activities for teenagers. However, a useful survey was carried out with local children to find out what activities they would like to see happen. Computers came out top in kids aged 10 – 14. The highlight for this group was the visit to dogs aid. Andrew Montague commented “I was asking the children questions about breeds of dogs to see what they knew. They were enjoying it and they knew their stuff. But when I asked what was the smallest dog in the world, a little girl at the back of the bus piped up: “A puppy”. However the other activities planned did not come to fruition in 2003, such as bike fixing or a computers workshop. AM “We lost momentum”. Few tasks were taken on by any of the participants and perhaps communication by email rather than by face-to-face meetings contributed to the lack of action. In response to the question of empowerment, one of the participants commented ”I think empowerment means giving people some control in their lives. I’m not sure we achieved this. I don’t think the children were looking for empowerment. They were looking for a bit of entertainment”.

date

Key lessons The idea of having a coordinator didn’t really work and the running of the project fell to the GAP coach. The group had a very big goal with no clear strategy for how to get there. They did have some medium goals but no real thought to the steps and logistics necessary to even implement those. “We just let Lynn get on and do the work”. They enjoyed participating in the project, even if they only did a little. “I really enjoyed the bit of it we did. It wasn’t like work, in fact it was a nice diversion from work”. • A project needs to take on it’s own life to drive things forward. Without the GAP coach chasing the other members this did not happen. • There are many youth groups already working in the area, this group did not have one shared goal of what they wished to achieve, how they planned to do it, and who they wanted to do it with. • Two members is very small number and leaves a lot for them to do. • A lot of time is needed to even do something very small. • Face to face contact is important and e-mail’s alone may not be enough to keep a project going.T 8

Drawing upon interviews conducted by Victoria Sargeant

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

LA21 goes to the dogs The Dogs Aid Trip July 21st By Lynn Scarff A survey was carried out with young people to see what they were interested in. To our surprise, top of the list was “Finding out about caring for animals”. One of the group, with her son, had visited Dogs Aid, the local animal refuge. This went well so we decided as the LA21 group to organise a trip for local children to the refuge. As the survey had shown an interest in caring for animals, we hoped the manager of the refuge could talk to the children about caring for animals. The trip was limited to 12 children (the mini bus’s capacity) from Sillogue (to connect with NRC project). Jill and Andrew publicised the event. Lynn contacted Dogs Aid, arranged the visit, and transport. A poster was designed and displayed in Sillogue. The Garda mini bus was used, which is free for local groups, look for one in your area. On Monday 21st July, the trip organisers met at the Sillogue recycling centre at 2.30pm. No children were there but as we waited, other children approached to ask what was happening. As there was space on the bus they got permission to come, soon we had a full bus of eager participants. On route we chatted about the dogs we might see, why some dogs ended up at a refuge and what the place would look like. Maggie Howard, who runs the refuge, met us. However before we got off the bus the children already knew where to go, we could hear the dogs before we could see them. The dogs live in a

large fenced enclosure with a number of kennels. For safety reasons the children could not enter but they could see the dogs through the fence. There were many toys, slides and big canvas tubes for the dogs to play with. As the children approached the fencing many dogs of different shapes and sizes rushed up to give them a warm, wet nosed and raucous welcome. Some the older residents were allowed out with the children. One such dog had a great talent for ‘playing dead’, which provided great amusement for the children (and adults!). Maggie told the children about the dogs at the refuge and how they came to her. She explained about taking care of your dog and what to do if you see a stray. We gave a present to Dogs Aid, some old blankets for bedding, which were gratefully received. Before leaving she told us about a new arrival with no name. She asked the children to name the dog. On the bus home they chose a name, Rocky, and discussed what they liked and disliked about the trip. The children enjoyed ‘ everything’ and disliked “coming home”.

5. THE WRITERS GROUP

Left: The writers‘ 1st meeting

History 9 The aim of the writers group was to document the progress of the other four groups. The writing project had two challenging goals that were not always complementary. The first goal was to document the progress of the four other projects to see what made a project succeed or not succeed. The second was to empower a group of local people to be able to take part in this documentation so that they could gain writing skills for their own personal development and the benefit of the local community.

coach strived to ensure all the events taking place in the other projects were adequately documented. Why document these projects? The experiences of the five projects (including the writers group) may help other groups to avoid some of the mistakes we committed. By keeping in regular contact with the different groups, interviewing, and reviewing their progress it was hoped conclusions could be drawn as to why some groups had more success than others. There is also a value in capturing “the story”, not just in statistics and analyses but also in people’s own words about what happened and how it felt. The challenge of getting good documentation from beginners Trying to document the other four groups and yet at the same time train people who had never written before is problematic. Participants in this group felt under pressure at times as the group 9

With the necessary imposition of a deadline this meant not as much of the content was written by local writers as initially hoped. Deadlines were extended for the writers but as time passed it was important to get the book written before the information and results became too out of date. How were the writers coached and supported? Coaching sessions were facilitated with external journalists and editors, as well as ongoing monthly support sessions with the in house editor and group coach. The idea was to discuss and critique pieces being written on an ongoing basis. From a promising start of nine members numbers fell, as people left for a variety of reasons; illness, moving away from Ballymun, feeling other members comments

Drawing on work done by Rose Ormsby and the other members of the writers group

were unduly critical, and not having time to attend meetings. Problems experienced Writer’s block – particularly for non writers and aspiring writers. While all writers from time to time suffer from writers block it was unexpected just how difficult it would be to get first time writers to actually start writing and submit copy for a project with a short time deadline. The accompanying article desrcibes some of the reasons why they found it hard to write. Key lessons • Be prepared to spend a lot of time on coaching your writers or get experienced people to write the copy. It is too big a job to be left to go wrong. Lack of information seriously limits your ability to monitor and evaluate the progress of each project. We used a compromise approach. Writers were given the scope to write as much as they wanted, with an in house editor to fill in the gaps.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIVE ProJECTS

• It is hard to know how long to wait for a budding writer to deliver copy. The writing from our writers was great, it was just a shame there was so little of it. • Outside trainers bring in new ideas and approaches to the same old challenges. Budget for this as it is money well spent, if it provides the turning point for someone to finally put pen to paper then it well have been well worth it. • If the writers need a lot of time, coaching and support, it can become a major project in itself. • If you need a certain amount of information, expect to do a lot of editing to the copy to have usable text. • Lots of people say they want to write, far fewer actually do write. A problem for this project was the difference between those people who said they wanted to write, and those who actually did so when it was needed. Why people don’t write. The documenters were asked why they found it hard to put pen to paper. • Practical / technical problems. E.g. computer not working, or in an inconvenient room, or not having a room of one’s own. • Fear of: what other people will say when they read it, they will reveal too much of themselves to other people, being laughed at for what they have written, how long it will take.

Writing guidelines from a workshop It is useful to draw on outside expertise. They may simply repeat the good principles of your own in-house facilitators but hearing it from someone else can provide the inspiration for people to write. For this reason the project asked Sylvia Thompson, an environmental columnist with the Irish Times to give the writers some help. Here are a few pointers to get going.

• Finding the time. E.g. finding time in the day, being too tired after the children have gone to bed, not having a set time to do so. • Not sure what to write. • Too much to write about, or having nothing to write about. • Contacting people you don’t know to ask them to be interviewed, and conversely the difficulty of interviewing people you already know well. • Arranging a time to meet people to interview them. There are lots of reasons why people don’t write. They don’t go away by listing them, but by naming them it helps us to identify them and start thinking about possible solutions.

Above: Writers workshop with Sylvia Thompson

1) Decide what the story is and what aspect of it is the most interesting. Lead with this in the first paragraph. 2) Work out the who, what, why, where, when and how of the story and make sure to include information on each of these in the order of importance. 3) Use interesting quotes from people involved in the project you are discussing in your story. 4) Practise, practise and practise. Use simple, clear words (no grandiose terms to impress). Don't be precious with your words and don't be afraid to re-write a story a few times before you are really happy with it. Sylvia Thompson Irish Times columnist September 2003

WHAT WE’VE LEARNT Some general principles for successful projects Characteristics of a succesful project The most dynamic projects were those with: • large numbers of active members • single, clear, achievable and shared goals • clear division of tasks • a set time plan • a core of regular members • an ability to attract new members Characteristics of an unsuccesful project The least dynamic projects were those with: • few members • large ambitious diverse goals not shared by all • unequal distribution of work within the group • irregular attendance • high numbers of members leaving with no replacements Not all projects have all of the above elements, however with too few succesful characteristics and too many unsuccesful characteristics, your project is less likely to succeed. A more detailed explanation 1) Good management of meetings – both in terms of time keeping and in sticking to the matter at hand. Allowing people to use meetings to repeatedly air personal grievances de-motivates other participants very quickly. (Try to use the ‘I’, ‘we’ & ‘It’ strategy).

2) A clear plan of action, with simple identifiable steps and simple achievable tasks – allocated to people who are able & willing to carry them out. 3) The ability to draw in new members and continue replenishing the numbers involved to counter the natural turnover of people involved in the project. 4) Try to celebrate all achievements along the way. 5) Take pictures as often as possible, especially before and after pictures as they are great for funding requests. 6) Ask everyone for advice. Help can come from surprising quarters. People can only help if they know you need it. Often if you ask for advice you may get money, and conversely if you ask for money you may well get advice. 7) Your goals may overlap with the goals of local agencies who can supply services, help, assistance etc, as part of their working time. 8) Meet face to face with people who may be able to help you. A half an hour face to face meeting is often much more productive than a 2 minute telephone conversation. 9) The most successful projects included some people who already had experience of getting things done locally. It is surprising how much time and hard work is actually needed to get things done. People often

believe wanting to do something to help the environment is easy. To make a difference usually requires at least some change, and changing our ways can be one of the hardest things to do. As a facilitator it is useful sometimes to take on the role of devil’s advocate (gently, so as to not crush enthusiasm) to help people think through how viable their ideas really are and how much work is needed to achieve something. In terms of inspiring people it is more effective to do one small project successfully rather than start several large unsuccessful projects. However it is also important not to set the challenge too low, otherwise people may gain a false sense of security. For example doing a clean up day once a year may not have much benefit if for the rest of the year we live in a completely unsustainable manner.

CHAPTER 6: WHAT WE’VE LEARNT

How to tell if the project was a success Sometimes it is hard to tell. Your impression of the project may be coloured by how positive or negative you feel that day. What seems like a success initially could subsequently be a false horizon. Equally something initially unsuccessful may become very positive. This proved to be the case again and again with these five projects. The impacts and spin off benefits, consequences and results are still revealing themselves. The Agenda 21 projects attracted a lot of people who were already active locally but not necessarily with environmental projects. One GAP coach observed, “This can’t happen all the time because people burn out. Getting a few people to do a lot needs to be balanced with a lot of people doing a little. The process of growth is like an outwardly growing spiral rather than a circle. Raising awareness is a slow process and could take several years, a lifetime or even longer, before the full consequences of action reveal itself. Coaching experiences Similar problems or challenges were encountered in several of the projects. The coaches often found themselves taking on the role of the coordinator, to ensure things kept moving. Participants often took on tasks but were unrealistic about their ability to do them in the time frame agreed. It was also often difficult to keep the participants focussed on the matter at hand. Participants sometimes saw the

meetings as an opportunity to get together and compare notes in a social setting and discuss all sorts of ideas they may have had. Whereas the coaches wanted to try and get a piece of work done. Nevertheless the coaches found it inspiring and motivating to work with such examples of local community enthusiasm, which often ran beyond the scope of any one particular project.

ligaments and pregnancy all occured. • Education Several participants returned or commenced higher education courses, others dropped out of college and embarked on new horizons. • Home A number of people moved both within the area and further away, and couldn’t continue their involvement.

Missing persons The experience of people joining and leaving the five groups, and some useful lessons we learnt from this

Dealing with changing members People move on. It is important to anticipate and plan for the fact that your project needs new people to become involved in order to develop and thrive. People leaving a project is not always a reflection on the projects value. People need to take care of themselves before they can help other people. For this reason it is natural some members may need to spend more time on other matters closer to home.

Life is subject to change. Many unexpected things can happen in the course of people’s lives, even in a period as short as 12 months. The experience of participant numbers in the Ballymun LA 21 projects certainly bore this out. Over the first nine months of the project a large number of the participants experienced life-changing events, which naturally affected their ability to remain in the various roles they had signed themselves up for. It’s nothing personal but…. The following factors caused people to no longer be involved in the project: • Work related Some people got new jobs in other parts of Dublin, Ireland and even the world (one person left to work in Nigeria). • Health Death, cancer, ruptured ankle

If people are constantly leaving the project and no one else is joining however then it is necessary to consider why this is happening. Sharing the load A project should not be excessively dependant on the efforts of one individual. Nobody is irreplaceable; in such a case then a project may well not survive. It is not a good sign of a project’s level of local support if it only survives thanks to the efforts of one individual. If projects are to be self-sustaining projects then they need the support of a significant number of people.

SHOW ME THE MONEY Some notes on funding So you have had some great ideas but you are worried about what you do next and how on earth you are going to find the money to pay for it all.

Does the project really need funding? Before even discussing funding it is important to consider if you really need any money to get the project started. If you keep waiting until you have ‘enough’ money in place then it may be too late. Money on it’s own will never achieve anything of lasting sustenance without local community involvement, and a clear, achievable goal. In the initial stages it might be quicker to beg or borrow what is needed in order to not lose the initial enthusiasm while waiting to hear back from possible funders. If things do need to be purchased hold onto the receipts and if you do manage to get funding later you can recoup your expenses then. Funders are more likely to fund something where work has started rather than something that is simply an idea on a piece of paper. By making an initial start too you will have a much better idea of whether the project is really feasible or if it needs to be refocused.

it, otherwise you are not likely to receive more in the future. Also be realistic about how much you really need – if you ask for too little you may not have enough money to do the project as well as you could have.

Plan ahead Sometimes funding can help to move a project forward. If you are thinking about looking for funding there are some important things to consider. • Looking for funding can be time consuming. • Make sure your funding proposal applications matches the criteria for the funds available. Determine this at the beginning of the application process, if in doubt don’t be afraid to ask the funding organisation in question. • Generally speaking the more funding you ask for the greater the number of terms and conditions you will have to comply with. • Budget carefully. If you get the money you ask for you must account for

Don’t only look in the obvious places Some funds are very well known and are consequently massively over subscribed for. On the other hand there are others which struggle to release all the funding they have available. In order to find out about this it may be necessary to do a little research. There are guides to the funding available such as the ‘Create’ funding handbook (see appendix for details). It is also important to be creative both in where you look for funding opportunities and how you go about applying for it. Some unexpected examples for environmental activities are Combat Poverty, the Drugs Task Force, Dublin Bus Community Fund, Youth At Risk Grants, Dublin City Council Community Department, the Vodafone Nature Award.

Money on it’s own will never achieve anything of lasting sustenance without local community involvement

CHAPTER 7: SHOW ME THE MONEY

How to successfully apply for funding There is no guarantee you will get funding even if you follow all these steps. Funding applications will sometimes be turned down for the simple reason that there are more people looking for funding than there is funding available. Here are some tips we have found useful: Basic logistics • Make sure you complete all the sections of the funding application and get it in on time, including all necessary documentation. • Write a cover letter summarising the key reason(s) you are applying for (keep it short and focussed). What do you need, why do you need it and who will benefit. • Don’t exaggerate about your own project to fit the criteria of a particular fund. If your project does not fit their criteria save your time and energy until you find a funding opportunity that does. Style points • If given the opportunity to supply additional information do so, preferably short colourful clear exciting looking information such as newspaper cuttings, photographs, etc. • Don’t be afraid to call the funding organisation (before the deadline) and ask about any thing you are not sure, and to check if your request is appropriate or not. • Speak to those who have already recieved funding and ask them what they did to get it. • Ask other groups you admire where they get their money. • Write the funding proposal to suit the brief / emphasis of the particular funding agency involved.

Where do you get funding? There are relatively few organisations in Ireland that give out funds to environmental organisations. However there are plenty of other areas that might be able to fund your project through a different angle. E.g. if you are planning to do activities with children then you could look at organisations that fund groups who work with children. Similarly there may be grants for groups wishing to make their local area a better place to be and so you could look for funding that way. This project was funded by Combat Poverty. Helping the environment may only be a secondary benefit after the prime goal of empowerment and therefore poverty alleviation. The two things are closely interrelated, but for each funding application it is important to give the appropriate emphasis to the funders.

Left: “And the winner is...”

SUMMARY Did the project achieve its key goals of empowering people to take action locally and document what happened? Different people have different opinions about what it means to be empowered. It is also important for GAP not to claim credit for everything that happened because it is possible it may have happened anyway. Throughout the duration of these projects many other variables may impact on the project making it difficult to be certain what is cause and what is effect. In an attempt to answer this question we have drawn up a list of the quantitative and qualitative achievements of the five projects. A • • • • •

quantitative approach to what the projects achieved 60 people attended the three overall project planning meetings. Five projects emerged from the planning day and all achieved at least one event or activity. The New Recycling Centre opened in June 2003. It now has recycled over 150,000 pieces of recycling (July 2004), from adult and youth visitors. A youth eco club now meets weekly providing fun environmental activities. Over 20 households took part in the gardening group’s sunflower growing event. Other gardening events subsequently took place: Herb planting, window box classes and the planting of 10,000 daffodil and tulip bulbs all over Ballymun. • Ever Ready group ran a public information day on June 16th in the Ballymun shopping centre and spoke to over 100 people. • The After Schools group conducted 72 questionnaires with local children to find out what environmental activities they were most interested in. A trip to Dogs Aid followed. The GAP youth programme used these findings to successfully receive funding awards from the CVI Nature fund and the BRYR small grants fund. • The documenters group conducted interviews with participants from the other 4 projects and documented all the key events held. A qualitative view of what the projects achieved • People felt inspired, happy, and pleased to have contributed to improving their community. • The positive profile of Ballymun was raised with news of the awards and media coverage of these activities appearing on television, newspaper and radio. • After the bulb planting activities residents spontaneously tidied up the area around the newly planted bulbs. • These small but richly experienced events may have an impact wider than just that particular moment in time and the particular participants involved.

SuMMARY

Spin offs • • • • • • •

Several national environmental Awards have been received to develop more youth activities both with schools and after school groups. Website design activities have begun with youth participants at the NRC. Due to the high level of local interest in gardening BRL agreed to fund a full time assistant to the community gardener hired by GAP. One participant is now an elected city counciller and is making his party’s manifesto more environmentally friendly. One of the writers is now studying journalism at college. GAP International applied for a $1 million environmental award using the Ballymun project as one of its case studies. GAP Ballymun now host an eco tour as part of the ‘Convergence’ environmental sustainability festival taking place annually. Included on the tour are several of the intiatives resulting from the Local Agenda 21 projects. • This project has been selected by Combat Poverty as one of it’s successful case studies. These are still evolving now, after the official conclusion of the projects.

Left: Action team members visiting the National Ecology Centre to bring back ideas for Ballymun Far left: Members of GAP Ballymun receiving national recognition for their environmental work in the community

EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITOR’S NOTE This book was a collaborative venture. Without the efforts of the people of Ballymun there would be nothing to write about nor anything written either. This book aims to help individuals, groups and communities trying to make a difference to the environment. We have tried to be honest and critical of our experiences. In this way other groups can perhaps avoid the mistakes we made and benefit from what works. I would like to thank everyone who gave their time to the project and their willingness to discuss projects, warts and all. A number of GAP international community development tools and methodologies are presented and explained for your use. These tools may be used by anyone - however we do request the principles of ‘copy left’ are followed: You do not claim them as your own, the original creators are acknowledged, and they are not used for private gain. Many people assisted this project however any mistakes made in this book are ours. We hope this book helps others to succeed with their own goals. In this way we may leave the planet as we found it, or perhaps in better shape.

Simon Cocking Editor, GAP Ballymun Left: Saving the planet shouldn't all be hard work! The editor (2nd from left) and members of the Ballymun 'future leaders programme'

APPENDICES (a) Funding 1. Irish Fundraising Handbook, 5th Edition 2003/2004. Call ‘Create’ for details 01 4736600 or see www.communityartsireland.com 2. CVI Vodafone Nature Awards, Patagonia Nature Fund, AIB Better Ireland Funds, Ireland Funds, Irish Youth Foundation, Vocational Education Committee, Local Area Partnerships, Dormant Accounts ADM, Development Cooperation Ireland, Dublin City Council Environmental Partnership Funds (similar for other County Councils), See our website for more helpful hints on sources of funding and organisations that might be able to help you get your project going. www.ballymun.info

(b) Details of icebreakers used during these workshops 1.1 Introduce Yourself. This one involves the group splitting into small groups of two or three people, with others they haven’t previously met or do not know well. They must introduce themselves and learn two new things about the other person/ people in their group. Both people in the pair (or threesome) report back to the group with the other person’s name and two pieces of information about them. It is impressive how quickly a group of strangers can start talking to each other. Allowing the opportunity to speak at the beginning is important as it gives people the chance to get anything they need to off their chest. If there is a space to speak then that person may not be disruptive later on. NB it’s important to set a time limit on this activity otherwise it will go on longer than intended.

Once everyone has chosen a card they are asked to share the following information with the group. • Their name • Their reason for choosing their card • What they hoped to get out of the day’s workshop. Another variation is for everyone to move around the room with their chosen card, introducing themselves to people and explaining why they chose the card and why they came.

supplements. Each person is asked to tear out an image that means something to them. Once everyone has done so they each tell the rest of the group their name, why they chose it and perhaps what they hope to get out of the day. If possible one of the workshop leaders can assemble all these images together in a composite collage. This can be useful to show both the value of everyone’s contribution and also how striking the overall result can be too.

This collage was created in one of the LA 21 icebreaker activities A participant selecting a native American animal medicine card, also pictured in the foreground the smaller cards are ‘Angel Cards’ which can be used for icebreaker activities. Participants carry out the ‘getting to know you’ icebreaker activity

1.2 Medicine / animal cards GAP regularly uses decks of Native American medicine cards depicting various animals but it could be any collection of cards with a range of animal pictures. The cards are spread out on a centrally placed table and participants are asked to select one.

1.3 Magazine Collage This is a fun and colourful way to allow a group of strangers to introduce themselves to each other. Firstly you need a collection of old colourful magazines try to get a good mix to enable everyone to find an image that appeals to them. Charity shops have many National Geographic magazines as well glossy men and women’s magazines and the Sunday newspaper

1.4 Networks of Who Knows Who. One person stands in the middle of a circle made by members of the group. Everyone then indicates what their level of involvement is with this person, be it personal, professional, good friend, mere acquaintance. It is up to the group to decide how to indicate this. For example it could be by people by pointing, using their fingers, elbows or toes depending on their level connection with the person in question. The icebreakers mentioned above are just a selection.

ACTIVITY SHEET ACTIVITY

Name ………………………………………………………

Date ………….

PURPOSE The reason for this activity is…………………………………………….......................…………….. ……………………………………………….………………………………………………………...… PEOPLE name email phone Coordinator……………………………………………….……………………………………………... Team coach……………………………………………….……………………………………………... Team……………………………………………….…………………………………………………….. ………………………………………….…………………………………………………………... ………………………………………….…………………………………………………………... GOALS By (date) …………….. this activity will have made this happen: ………………………………..… ……………………………….…………………………………………………………………….... ……………………………….…………………………………………………………………….... EFFECTS Who will benefit?…………………………………………………….…………………………………. ……………………………….…………………………………………………………………….... Who will not like it? ...…….……………………………………………………………….…………... ……………………………….………………………………………………………………….…... THINGS TO DO – and what we need ………………………….………………………………………………………………..………….. ………………………….………………………………………………………………..………….. ………………………….……………………………………………………………….…………... THE COST – time, materials, money ……………………………….………………………………………………………………..…...... ……………………………….………………………………………………………………..…….. VISION – the best things that could happen as a result ……………………………….…………………………………………………………………….... ……………………………….………………………………………………………………..……..

APPENDICES

(d) The step-by-step guide to a Synergy meeting

(e) Links for the LA21 cookbook

Ollie

Ireland Gap Ballymun: www.globalactionplan.ie Recommended starting place for info search about Ireland http://www.enfo.ie/ Europe EPE - European partners for the Environment http://www.epe.be/ World Latest news about sustainable development from the UN http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/index.html Highlights events http://www.unsystem.org/en/highlights.en.htm Envirolink http://www.envirolink.org/ EnviroLink now provides free Internet hosting services to over 500 non-profit organisations and serves 9-11 million hits on its web server per month. In 1999, TIME Magazine praised EnviroLink as "The place to start on the Internet for all things ecological." Global Action Plan International http://empowermentinstitute.net/ http://www.globalactionplan.com/ International Institute for Sustainable Development http://www.iisd.org/