CEF Annual Environmental Awards Ceremony inspires & motivates

CEF Award Winners & Ceremony 2016  
The Annual Cork Environmental Forum Awards Ceremony took place at the Firkin Crane Centre on Thursday 8th December to honour people, actions and projects across all sectors of society who are contributing positively to a better environment and sustainability throughout Cork City and County.
The CEF Awards are unique in the cross section of society they draw from with Individual, Public, Business and Community & Voluntary Categories reflecting the 4 Pillars the Forum is based upon as well as the Community Garden Award introduced in 2009. It is the breadth and diversity of these Awards that adds to the richness of the evening which is inspiring and motivating.
Public Sector Award – Cork Public Bike Scheme 
The evening commenced with the Public Sector Award for the Cork Public Bike Scheme which was nominated by Derry O’Farrell and acknowledged the tripartite effort by the National Transport Authority (NTA), An Rothar Nua and Cork City Council who were collectively recognised for delivering the scheme which has been hugely successful in Cork. The Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr. Joe Kavanagh presented the Award to Owen Shinkwin , NTA, Sean O’Dywer, Rothar Nua and Anita Lenihan, Cork City Council, Roads and Transportation Division. Owen Shinkwin in accepting the Award praised the success of the scheme in Cork and emphasised its role in providing for better sustainable travel options for people.

Outstanding Individual – Catriona Reid 
The Individual Award Winner Catriona Reid, a 16 year old resident of Carrigaline was introduced by Eithne Lynch, who highlighted Catriona’s significant commitment to the environment by a full attendance at the Indaver Oral Hearing and her role in recording in detail and making available proceedings of the hearing to inform the public and interested groups. Since then “Our third fight” has been published which is Catriona’s in depth daily blog published in book form. In presenting Catriona with the Award the Deputy Mayor of the County, Cllr. Kevin Conway, highlighted the importance of the example Catriona provides for other young people as it will be her generation that are more aware and will have a significant role in protecting the environment in the future.

Community & Voluntary Sector – Branch Out for 
Lets Plant a Forest 
Helen Barrett in her introduction of the Community & Voluntary Sector Award Winner Branch Out for their “Lets Plant A Forest” project in Clonakilty highlighted the fact that Ireland still has very low tree cover compared to other European countries. This project, on a 26 acre site, provided by Cork County Council, on the edge of Clonakilty, has been responsible for planting thousands of trees with the help of hundreds of members of the community over the past four years. Padraig O’Tuama, Coillte Team Leader Best Practice, in presenting the Award mentioned the examples in other EU countries where forests are much more available for general community use and are in the heart of cities such as Zurich. He complimented the group for their initiative as it is a great example of all sectors of the community coming together to implement the vision of having a public forest for all to enjoy in the future and this could be replicable anywhere in the country. Krisztian Gambos and Eylo Blaco key instigators of the project highlighted their love of the outdoors and nature and their passion for creating this space as well as the great cooperation from nurseries and businesses and the general public who join in planting every year. They were joined in accepting the Award by fellow members Cllr. Chris O’Sullivan, Paul O’Flynn and Istvan Markey.

Community & Voluntary Sector – Commendation Coolagown Community Rainwater Harvesting Project
Previous CEF Award winners for their initiatives on waste and energy conservation Coolagown Development Group received a commendation under the Community & Voluntary Category for their inspirational Community Rainwater Harvesting Project. John Feeney presented an overview of the project which was motivated by the water charges being introduced and the fact that this small village relies on a group water scheme. This is again a great example of people having a good idea and everyone in the community working together to implement it. The capture of water in a country with lots of rain makes great sense and community projects such as this benefit everyone, Coolagown now has 15 public access points to water in the village available for all. Padraig O’Tuama presented the Award to John Feeney, David McAuliffe, Mattie Sheehan, and Barry Sheehan from the Development Group.

Private Sector – The Baby Market 
In the Business and Commercial sector, the Baby Market won the Award for its approach and impact on sustainable living and delivering social and environmental benefits. Roger Nagle in his introduction mentioned how much waste can be generated during a child’s first few years and how expensive all the equipment and clothing babies require can be for new parents. The Baby Market which is a franchise business model provides a great outlet to channel almost new items that can be reused to people through 8 locations in Ireland. Michael McCathy, Abbvie, in presenting the Award to Angela Nagle praised the concept and importance of sustainability in businesses both large and small. Angela Nagle in accepting the Award mentioned the opportunity the Baby Market gave her as a stay at home mum to get back in the workforce and run a business that was compatible with her own circumstances and her interest in protection and care of the environment.

Community Garden Award 2016 – Allihies Allotments and Men’s Shed
The Community Garden Award, always a very competitive category, was introduced by Deirdre Collins who nominated the Allihies and Men’s Shed Allotments, the project displays the positive benefits of collaboration and involvement of the whole community whist combating rural isolation. A recent project highlighted was the pumpkin project in conjunction with the local school, one pumpkin reaching a size of 6 stone weight. These were showcased at the Childrens Halloween party at the Lehanmore Community Centre. David Dudley a member of the Men’s Shed stressed how remote and isolated their community is, 100 miles from the City, and the great benefit of the Men’s Shed itself but also in being more integrated with other projects such as the allotments both of huge social value. Frank Creedon, originally from the City now farming in Beara, said “nothing has brought me as much joy as being involved in the allotments”. Seamus Irwin and Johnny Morrissey also attended to accept the Award.

Community Garden – Commendation Knocknaheeny/ Hollyhill Community Garden 
A commendation in this category was given to the Knocknaheeny/ Holyhill Community Garden which continues to build horticultural learning and awareness locally and with the wider community. This project a previous CEF winner in this category continues to grow and evolve, managed under the umbrella of NICHE, the garden provides an important source of fresh vegetables to the wider community. Hilary Fitzgerald in accepting the Award mentioned the support from the men’s toolbox group and the link with the Arts project which has been very involved in transforming the garden at this time of year into a Winter Wonderland, using many reused and re-purposed items. John Paul O’Brien accepted the Award with Hilary.
Thomas Riedmuller, The Hollies Centre for Sustainability, on presentation of both Awards mentioned that gardening and growing was so important not just in itself but by being engaged in a more personal way with the earth we can heal both ourselves and help heal the environment.

The prizes, all from local artists, included collaborative pieces by artists Stephen Murray and Eadaoin Berkeley for the 4 Main Categories and Peter Little, Hortisculptures, for his unique sculpture from natural stone and wood, which this year was given as the Community Garden Prize.

Cork Environmental Forum extended thanks to every person who took the interest and time to submit nominations for the 2016 Awards and to the panel of judges including CEF Management members and Justin Byrne, of the Environmental Pillar.
 and
were thanked for their kind sponsorship of the Awards, the staff of the Firkin Crane Theatre for facilitating the event and Darragh Murphy for taking the photos at the event.
Special thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to attend and support the Awards.
“There’s so much going on we don’t know about and it’s so inspiring” was a repeated comment from people who attended the Awards Ceremony for the first time.
Though we live in challenging times globally by acting locally in the way that all of the winners of the CEF Awards 2016 have shown we can make a real difference which as highlighted delivers not just environmental benefits but also social and economic improvements for our communities across the city and county which is real implementation of the principles of Local Agenda 21 and progress on our journey of sustainability.
Congratulations to all the well deserving Award winners – all working hard to protect, care for and improve the environment of Cork to the benefit of us all.
We are delighted to announce the winners of our Annual Environmental Awards for 2016. To find out more about these great actions and projects we invite you to join us at the Awards Ceremony on Thursday 8th December at the Firkin Crane Centre from 7pm. We will be honored with the attendance of the Lord Mayor, Cllr. Des Cahill and the Deputy Mayor of the County, Cllr. Kevin Conway. 

We congratulate all of the winners and extend our thanks to every person who took the interest and time to submit nominations for this year’s Awards. We are also grateful to Justin Byrne, of the Environmental Pillar and our own committee members who make up the adjudication panel for their time and commitment to the process. We would also like to thank AbbVie who have kindly sponsored the Award Prizes for 2016.

All welcome to join in celebrating this years environmental heroes. 

Deadline extended to Friday 21st October 2016 
Do you know an individual, group, public body, private company or school or community garden that is making a difference to the Cork Environment?
Make a nomination so they may get the well deserved recognition & acknowledgement of their efforts. 

 
Cork Environmental Forum (CEF) is seeking nominations for their annual Environmental Awards. CEF has held its Environmental Awards ceremony since 2001 which aims to acknowledge and honour the sometimes little known actions of groups, organisations and individuals around the county that have contributed to the health or richness of the Cork environment.
Awards are nominated under the four main pillars of the Forum , Public Sector, Business and Commercial Sector , Community & Voluntary Sector and Individual Category. A Community Garden Award has been in place since 2010 and this Award is now given under 2 categories – a school garden award and a general Community Garden Award – open to community gardens, allotments and other growing initiatives.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given from time to time at the discretion of the Management Committee.
Nominations are accepted from CEF members and members of the public for actions that are in keeping with the spirit of sustainable development and community resilience, including raising awareness on environmental sustainability. The Awards have proven to be a very positive public acknowledgement of the work that groups, individuals, communities and businesses undertake every day to improve their environment and that of the wider community.
CEF invites you to nominate those people, groups, public bodies and private companies who are making a difference and deserve recognition and an appreciation of their work. The nomination process is very straight forward, forms can be completed and submitted on-line on the CEF website at www.cef.ie through the Awards Button on the top of the home page. Scroll down to fill in either the general category form or the community garden category. You are also encouraged to submit photos or supporting material to bernadette@cef.ie. Deadline for receipt of nominations is Friday 30^th September 2016.  
Adjudication is carried out by minimum 2 members of the CEF Management Committee and an External representative from the National Environmental Pillar.
The award presentation will be the Firkin Crane Theatre in Shandon in December.
See details of previous Award Winners:
CEF ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD WINNERS 2001 -2015