A series of short films will be premiered in January showcasing the culmination of a year-long climate action project undertaken by a group of farmers in west Kerry.
Ten farm families from the Dingle Peninsula who took part in ‘Corca Dhuibhne Inbhuanaithe – A Creative Imagining’ explored ways to diversify and make their farming practices more sustainable.
The project, which began in December 2021, was organised by the Dingle Hub, the Green Arts Initiative in Ireland and the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine (MaREI).
Lisa Fingleton was selected as the “embedded artist” to work with the farmers on the project.
The artist, writer and organic farmer has addressed various environmental challenges such as climate change, food security and biodiversity loss through her work for many years.
“It’s been an amazing year. I think what’s been the most amazing thing is we started with 10 farmers and essentially we’ve expanded that group to 36 because there’s been children involved, partners involved, and that sense of community has been absolutely incredible,” she told Agriland.
“Our particular project was about listening to farmers, finding out what their issues are in relation to climate change, biodiversity loss, and seeing what some of the solutions might be and how the project might help them.”
During the year, Fingleton visited each of the participating farms on several occasions.
The group toured several innovative farms, renewable energy facilities and other sustainability-focused initiatives to explore what initiatives could be used in their own area.
This included the Burren Programme in Co. Clare, the Green Gas anaerobic digestion facility in Co. Limerick and the locally led agri-environmental MacGillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership Project (EIP) on the Iveragh Peninsula in Co. Kerry.
Scientist Paul Dean also addressed the group, speaking about climate change and how it was going to impact directly on farmers.
In June, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan came to Kerry to visit some of the participating farms.
Climate Action
Funding for the project was provided under the inaugural Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland programme and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
“Everyone who joined the project stayed engaged and it has been so rewarding to see the connections forged between the participants during the year.
“Building capacity to diversify, adapt and cope with climate change is crucial, and the better we are at working together, the better equipped we are for challenges that lie ahead,” Catríona Fallon, project manager, said.
Lisa Fingleton and the farmers drew an extensive mural on a 100ft wall at the National Ploughing Championships to highlight their thoughts and this was later exhibited in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
“As the project was evolving, we realised that there were so many stories to tell,” she said.
“A lot of times when people think about climate change, they may want to just switch off and just think ‘that’s something bigger than me, I can’t do anything about it’.
“We were trying to find a way of relating to people and telling the stories. So in the end, we decided that we’d make films with each of the farmers,” Lisa said.
The short films, which will be premiered at a special event in the Blasket Centre in Dún Chaoin on January 18, were directed by Fingleton, filmed by Chris Garrett and edited by Clint Fitzgerald.
“There’s been a lot of negative press about farmers during the year and people don’t realise the generational connections people have to the land, the importance of the Irish language and farmers who know every rock and every valley in Irish.
“We wanted to share that with people and to the films are magic like they’re absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to share them,” Lisa said.
Commenting about her participation in the project, Niamh Foley, a beef farmer from Blennerville on the Dingle Peninsula, said:
“One of the main benefits has been the sharing of information – the sharing of knowledge has been huge.
“Next month, I’m planting about 500 native trees just to thicken up our hedges. It’s given me drive to make changes that I thought were never possible on my own farm.”
John Joe Fitzgerald, a hill sheep farmer from Baile an Lochaigh on the Dingle Peninsula, added:
“We went to many different farms and saw a lot of different things – it’s been a real learning curve for us.
“It has been interesting to see what other people are doing and to learn from them.
“Our group has been great, too. We’re all different types of farmers and we’re having really useful conversations that are helping us all to get a new sense of direction.”
Lisa Fingleton said that she is excited to meet with the farmers in the new year to discuss what is next.
“There’s plenty of support there and whatever the farmers feel they would like to do as their next step, maybe we could bring in more people. It’s an open agenda really in terms of whatever people need.
“This project was very much from the outset about listening to farmers and responding to what they want and it will continue in that vein,” she said.