A European peatland programme is inviting young adults to take part in a five-day ‘Peat in Practice’ restoration camp in the Irish midlands this summer.

Participants will restore local bogs, learn from peatland experts, and connect with local communities through shared stories, skills, and culture, according to the organisers.

The camp, which will run from August 24-28, is open to people aged 18 to 30.

It is being organised by RE-PEAT’s ‘Peat in Practice’ programme in collaboration with Green Restoration Ireland’s Farm Carbon Transitions European Innovation Partnership (EIP), the Abbeyleix Bog Project, and Clara Heritage Society.

RE-PEAT is a youth-led, non-profit collective active across Europe that bridges culture, policy, science, and grassroots advocacy for peatlands.

The camp in the Irish midlands will bring participants to a range of peatland sites - healthy, degraded, and restored - where they will take part in hands-on restoration activities and experience different practical restoration settings first-hand.

These sites will include Clara bog in Co. Offaly, which is a Natura 2000 protected area, and Abbeyleix bog in Co. Laois.

Across the week, participants will also explore paludiculture - the productive land use of wet and rewetted peatlands - at the farm of Co. Offaly suckler farmer Donie Reagan.

The programme also covers the emerging bioeconomy, community-led initiatives, and methods for carbon monitoring and evaluating restoration impact.

RE-PEAT

The RE-PEAT collective said it educates and activates through “immersive experiences, hands-on programmes and community- and capacity-building”.

Its Peat in Practice programme was launched at the ‘Young People Old Peat’ symposium hosted in Oosterwolde, the Netherlands in May.

It aims to bring young adults together with intergenerational local communities and experts through hands-on peatland restoration camps throughout Europe.

RE-PEAT said the Peat in Practice programme “addresses a critical gap in peatland restoration: the need for long-term, hands-on, community-based care that is often overlooked and underfunded because it cannot be mechanised or outsourced”.

It said that the programme “empowers the next generation of peatland stewards by equipping young people from diverse backgrounds with practical restoration skills”.

At the same time, it is intended to support local conservation efforts while celebrating the history, heritage, and cultural relationships that connect people to peatlands.

Before the camp in Ireland, Peat in Practice is piloting a second camp in the Netherlands in August and preparing for a UK edition in 2027, with plans for cross-border exchanges and building an international and inter-local network of young peatland practitioners over the years.

‘Inspired’

Peat in Practice programme development coordinator Holly Bartley said: "Last year, during our visit to Ireland, everywhere we went, we were reminded of the value of local rootedness and the deep relationships people have with their bogs.

“I really believe camps offer something special. They give young people the chance to immerse themselves in the landscape, learn by doing, and experience what it means to care for peatlands.”

Bartley added that she hopes that this is the first of many camps.

Doug McMillan, founder, Green Restoration Ireland, said: "At Green Restoration Ireland, we see peatland restoration and carbon farming as two sides of the same coin.

"Both are about giving farmers and communities practical, hands-on ways to work with the land rather than against it.

“The Farm Carbon Transitions EIP exists to build exactly this kind of bridge between science, farming practice, and community knowledge, so supporting RE-PEAT's Peat in Practice camp felt like a natural fit from day one.

"This is exactly the kind of grassroots engagement Farm Carbon Transitions EIP is built around.

"We can't wait to welcome the camp to the midlands this August."