Tipp farm shortlisted for award

Cloughjordan Community Farm in North Tipperary has been shortlisted for the RDS Sustainability Awards in the Rural Social Impact Award category, which aims to celebrate not for profit or voluntary rural groups and organisations that are promoting or supporting the sustainable economic and societal development of their local community.

The awards will take place on Wednesday, April 9, as part of the ‘Finding Common Ground’ festival in the RDS in Dublin.

Cloughjordan Community Farm is an example of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which closely connects farmers, producers and consumers within the food system at a community level. Farm members pay a fee which sustains the livelihood of the farmers, provides access to harvested food from a storeroom and encourages each other to eat seasonally and share what is scarce to avoid food miles, food waste and packaging. The farm’s vision is for our communities to use regenerative community-supported agriculture, cultivating biodiversity and connecting to land, nature and each other.

The ‘Finding Common Ground’ festival, which takes place over two days in the RDS in Ballsbridge, is being delivered as one of the RDS Foundation social impact programmes. It will bring together scientists, researchers, policymakers, industry professionals, practitioners, advocates and RDS Members to explore how Ireland can harness the benefits of our natural resources and the circular economy with a view to creating increased awareness, education and identification of solutions.

The RDS Sustainability Awards celebrate excellence in economic, environmental and social development in rural communities.

A series of talks and panel discussions will focus on the latest advancements and challenges in areas such as land use, forestry and the bioeconomy. The broad programme will also explore topics such as decarbonising construction, how to use the arts to engage with environmental societal change and primary science education.