ACT Waterford is an interdisciplinary project which brings together Waterford City and County Council (WCCC) and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) in an exciting project funded by Creative Ireland Climate Action fund. Five different communities in Waterford City and County will be engaged with themes of climate change: transport, domestic energy, rural environment, green spaces and consumption aligning with WCCC’s aim to make Waterford City a decarbonised zone by 2040.
Facilitators will work with these communities to try to understand where they are on climate change action. The community will consider the particular barriers to action and work with creatives to explore solutions. A variety of design and creative media will be used and the output will be shared within the community. The outputs will be shared with the wider Waterford community through public exhibition and performance working with various cultural events. The ACT Waterford website will allow the communities to share their ideas and video will document the process and outputs. The primary participants will reach further into their own communities to hard to reach groups with activities such as workshops.
ACT Waterford are now seeking proposals from creatives to use creative expression in the area of climate change, which aims to produce behavioural change in climate change action in participant communities, e.g. an art work/s, an event / or activity, storytelling or publication, made or restored objects etc., however this will be decided in a collaborative effort between the creative and the community.
Artists & creative practitioners working in any creative field or discipline are invited to apply to work with Waterford City and County Council (WCCC) and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to become an ACT Waterford Creative. The selected creative(s) will work with one of five communities in Waterford City and County to examine specific themes relating to carbon use; these themes are
- urban green spaces
- energy
- transport
- consumption
- rural environment
Creatives will be asked to bring their unique perspective to the project, examining climate change at local community level, and examine how creative solutions can lead to changes in personal, local & community behaviour in how we reduce our carbon footprint. Using creative approaches, ACT Waterford Creatives will assist in building capacity and understanding in the wider community about the challenges of climate change and stimulate climate action. ACT Waterford Creatives will work with the communities to produce a distinct legacy for the project so experiences and learnings gained can be brought to a wider audience. Applications are welcome from individual creative practitioners as well as groups or collectives. The successful applicants will be supported by a project manager at Calmast, and by Waterford City and County Council.
Closing date is 10 December at 15:00. Late entries will not be considered.
For full information and details on how to apply, go to www.calmast.ie/act-waterford-call-for-creatives/
Photo credit: Artwork by Aga Krym as part of the Sustainable Living Ireland Street Art for the Goals initiative, funded by Creative Ireland (Waterford) 2021. Photo by Patrick Browne. Copyright Waterford City and County Council 2021