At an all-island meeting of community growers in Carlow on Saturday 5^th November 2022, attendees heard of the role growing your own food performs to help residents adapt to climate change and reduce biodiversity loss.

All-Island Community Gardening Gathering

The event, organised by Community Gardens Ireland and Social Farms & Gardens Northern Ireland, took place in An Gairdín Beo, a community garden based in the centre of Carlow, and the Delta Sensory Gardens in Carlow. The event was attended by over 30 community growers from all over the island of Ireland and was for a project called Growing Resilience Across Ireland (GRÁ Ireland), funded through the Community Foundation for Ireland.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have said that urban agriculture initiatives such as community gardening assist with reducing greenhouse gases, improving urban food security, improving biodiversity and adapting to climate change impacts. The Scottish Government have highlighted the reduction in carbon emissions from community growing, with estimates of between 2kg and 5kg of carbon equivalent for every kilogram of vegetable produced.

Sustainable Development Goals

Community growing spaces also help contribute towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including Good Health & Well-Being, Sustainable Cities and Communities and Responsible Consumption and Production.

Chairperson of Community Gardens Ireland, Dónal McCormack said: “Despite the robust evidence presented by the IPCC, growing your own produce at home or in an allotment or community garden is not recognised as an adaptation action by either the current Climate Change Plan or National Biodiversity Action Plan. There are currently fewer allotments & community gardens in Ireland then 100 years ago.”

Social Farms & Gardens Northern Ireland Manager, Patricia Wallace said: “The current Northern Ireland Climate Change Adaptation Programme does not detail community growing as an adaptation action. Ireland and Northern Ireland currently offers one of the fewest number of allotments and community gardens throughout Europe.”

Community Gardens Ireland and Social Farms & Gardens Northern Ireland are together calling for governments and politicians north and south to recognise the benefits these actions provide for the climate, biodiversity, and increase the number of spaces for this throughout the island of Ireland.

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Photograph:  Community growers from across the island of Ireland at the Growing Resilience Across Ireland event in Delta Sensory Gardens, Carlow, 05/11/22.