TASC People's Transition Enniscorthy
Executive Summary
The People’s Transition describes a model for participative decision-making that is intended to enable a community to benefit from the transition to a zero-carbon society. It aims to design climate solutions that give local people and communities ownership of the assets of transition and enhance public support for climate action by tackling inequality and raising standards of living.
The Enniscorthy People’s Transition began in September 2022. The intention of the project was to listen to and learn from the community’s needs and abilities in Enniscorthy and then attempt to design a number of climate solutions that would benefit the community and address a number of the main development priorities of the community.
The project had three phases. The first phase was the Mapping Phase. The mapping phase aimed to build a picture of the Enniscorthy community, outlining a geographical scope for the project that represents the people who live there. The key was understanding how people within the community could be included by assessing who was at the greatest risk
of being excluded. In addition to demographics and circumstances, the area was studied to understand the distribution of institutions and organisations, such as schools, churches and community groups, that play a significant role in the locality.
The mapping phase informed the rollout of the second phase – the Listening Phase. To gather inputs on community needs, priorities and strengths, the TASC team engaged with local volunteers, active community members and several harder-to-reach groups, such as residents participating in CE employment schemes, members of the Roma community and
young adults in the area. As the Listening Stage came to an end, a survey was distributed to gather further input from community members in Enniscorthy and ensure that the emerging picture of the community was correct.
Throughout the various groups engaged, a number of common themes emerged. These included the sense of community within the town and an appreciation for the history and culture present. Several challenges facing the town were discussed. These include the lack of sustainable employment opportunities in the town, a lack of amenities and community wealth alongside the perception that Enniscorthy has been overlooked by decision-makers at a local and national level.
Based on the listening phase, the TASC team worked with experts to identify and substantiate viable climate solutions that would address local needs and build on the community’s strengths. The first solution presented in this report focuses on shared mobility. The lack of mobility options within the town was identified as a factor impacting the local economy and people’s ability to access services. While there is a growing focus on increasing the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) at the Government level, the price of EVs may make them inaccessible to many community members. The idea of an Electric Vehicle taxi co-operative is presented in this report. While this is not the only approach to addressing the mobility issue, it could help to create new jobs within the community.