As Ireland’s largest forester and provider of outdoor recreation spaces, Coillte operates in local communities throughout the country and takes its responsibilities as a good neighbour seriously.

2023 Green Ribbon Walk and Talk Campaign

 

Coillte partnered with the Irish Farmers’ Association, See Change and Mental Health Ireland for the 2023 Green Ribbon programme of walks. Eleven walks took place in Coillte forests during September as part of the annual Walk and Talk initiative.

The campaign aims to spread awareness about all mental health difficulties to help end stigma and discrimination. The walks provide an opportunity for friends, families, and communities to connect, while socialising with others outdoors.

National Tree Week 2023

Celebrated annually, National Tree Week is Ireland’s largest event to recognise the importance of trees. Coillte is delighted to partner with The Tree Council of Ireland to run National Tree Week for over 35 years.

The 2023 theme was ‘Biodiversity Begins with Trees,’ designed to inspire people to plant and care for trees and to highlight the many benefits they provide to the environment and local communities. The week-long celebration saw events taking place nationwide, including eco art workshops and biodiversity talks, group forest walks and tree-planting.

Coillte donated 150,000 native tree saplings which were distributed for planting by local community groups nationwide.

Avondale welcomes “Run With Ray”

Avondale Forest Park in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow was one of the locations for RTE radio presenter Ray D’Arcy’s ‘Run with Ray’ initiative in June 2023 when local runners, joggers and walkers joined him for a 5km run.

Run with Ray is designed to get people out and about, moving and interacting with each other. Coillte was delighted to facilitate the event which was attended by people of all ages

Older People’s Council Visit Avondale

In September 2023, members of Co. Wicklow’s Older People’s Council (OPC) took part in a guided tour of Avondale House to assess the accessibility of the venue and the experience for older people.

The OPC is a representative group of older people, established by Wicklow County Council as part of the national Age Friendly Programme. Its key purpose is to provide the authentic voice of older people in the county, representing the diversity that exists among our ageing population. The visit included a walkability audit of Avondale House and its accessibility for wheelchair users. Two wheelchairs are available for visitors to borrow, on request, for the guided tour of Avondale House. Overall feedback on the venue and the experience for older people was very positive and detailed comments will be sent to Coillte’s operations team.

In 2022, Beyond the Trees Avondale was certified as the first Age Friendly tourist destination in Ireland by Age Friendly Ireland and it was shortlisted for the National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards 2023 under the Business Innovation Category.

Rowing Ireland

Coillte announced a partnership with Rowing Ireland in 2023. The partnership sees Coillte become one of the official partners of Rowing Ireland, supporting athletes to train and compete in river, coastal, offshore and indoor rowing.

Rowing Ireland’s state-of-the-art training centre, located in Farran Forest Park, Co. Cork, one of Coillte’s 12 forest parks, has been a central hub for nurturing Ireland’s growing elite rowing talent and preparing athletes for national and international competitions since 2007.

The World of Work Programme

Coillte continued to participate in the Business Action on Education initiative coordinated by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI).

Along with existing partner schools Duiske College in Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny and Mercy College in Woodford, Co. Galway, Coillte also began work with St Tiernan’s College in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo.

To date over 120 students have participated in the programme, all of them benefitting from an introduction to the work of Coillte and the roles and opportunities forestry offers.

The programme includes a field trip, a soft skills workshop and a sustainability workshop, introducing sustainability as a topic of conversation, focusing on the positive outcomes of sustainably managed initiatives, projects and programmes in Ireland and worldwide.

 

MEDITE SMARTPLY spreads the word about apprentice opportunities

South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford hosted a Women in Technology day attracting 1,500 second level and third level female students from across the Munster region.

Staff from Coillte and MEDITE SMARTPLY attended the exhibition promoting apprentice career opportunities in the business and in the wider forestry industry.

The Coillte team also attended an Apprenticeship Fair in Comeragh College, Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary giving 5th and 6th year students an insight into the apprenticeship programme on offer at MEDITE SMARTPLY.

 

Exploring Forestry during Transition Year

Coillte rolled out a new Transition Year student programme during 2023.

The programme ran over a week and included ten transition year students from a number of different secondary schools.

The aim was to provide the students with information about Coillte and the various roles associated with forestry and included site visits and employee shadowing, allowing students to observe operations firsthand and spend time with Coillte staff.

The students also learned about sustainable forest management practices, and the role sustainability has in the organisation.

 

TU Dublin Design + Construct Centre

In March 2023, MEDITE SMARTPLY announced a donation of €250,000 to TU Dublin to support the development of Design + Construct, a centre for collaborative, multidisciplinary education that will drive performance in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector.

The Design + Construct facility will include a SMARTPLY Hub where sustainable design and production processes will be promoted to support the reduction of embodied carbon in the built environment.

 

An Choill Bheag

Partnering with An Taisce’s LEAF Unit (Learning About Forests) in 2023, Coillte continued to support the An Choill Bheag programme (Little Woodland) to create small, native woodland outdoor classrooms as an education and recreational resource for schools to learn all about the many benefits of trees and forests.

Four new forest classrooms were planted in 2023 in counties Carlow, Kerry, Wicklow and Donegal and repeat visits were made to six schools from the 2022 programme.