Green It Up in 2025: Be the change with CCEN


“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Socrates
Be the change
County Carlow Environmental Network’s (CCEN’s) mission is to invite the community of County Carlow to take action on climate initiatives. It’s easy for everyone to get involved. Change that can seem overwhelming on your own feels possible in community. We are making a positive impact on our environment.
Social, informative and fun, CCEN invites people from across the county to get involved in everything from food policy, local farming, soil enrichment, eco-films, and climate cafés.
2025 promises to be another eventful year, both for CCEN’s community engagement and for the world at large. You can join us in many ways: As an audience member, an active volunteer, a supporter (it’s volunteer run, so funding is welcome), or by joining the committee and helping with whatever resonates with you. Be the change you want to see in the world.
Four films that depicted different ways to think about our world were screened for free at Visual last year, and more are planned for 2025. The films are fascinating, and prod us all to think about how we live, and how we can live better without killing nature.
Be the change: environmental films
The Rights of Nature, The Seeds of Vandana Shiva, Once Upon a Forest and Planet Soil, tell stories from around the world – and right under our feet – and opened conversations about our situation here in Ireland, and Carlow. Our own food policies, forest management, mental health and nature’s role in it, the way we treat soil, and how we value nature were important themes that need to be widely understood, and wisely applied, in order to preserve Nature and thrive with her.
Be the change: climate café
Festive and fun, the Christmas Climate Café at Waterlilies in December, following on from our very first one at Lambert’s Coffee House, proved to be a great way to connect our community. Informal and inviting, it allows us all to think critically and creatively about how to make changes that will reduce our impact on Earth’s resources yet make life richer.
Be the change: local food
Food has a huge impact on our environment, locally and globally, because of the sheer volume and daily necessity we have for it. CCEN has cooperated with Talamh Beo to help our community engage in creating a food policy that honours local producers, giving us greater food security and cleaner food. The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tied in with this theme, exploring the future of food and discussing two main paths forward: a chemical-dependent monoculture owned by a handful of multinationals, or an “Earth democracy” that honours biodiversity. We’d prefer the latter!
Be the change: volunteers
As a volunteer group, we’re very grateful for the support of VISUAL Carlow, the support of County Councillors, raffle prize donors, all who have given their time to share their deep knowledge and experience with us, and our passionate audiences and community members.
What’s your main environmental concern? How does it appear in your everyday life? CCEN benefits from everyone’s ideas, energy and action. Please join us in 2025 for more learning and doing. Check out our website for information, and please join our mailing list (email info@ccen.ie) to catch all our films, climate cafés, food gatherings and more.
Our planet needs us now more than ever. Every small step we take can make a huge difference, together we are stronger.
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