Turning local ideas into lasting change

Across County Mayo, community organisations are working to create positive change in the places they call home. They bring local knowledge, creativity and ambition, but often face challenges in accessing the resources, expertise and funding needed to turn their ideas into reality.

Through Collaboration for Sustainability, ACT worked with four community organisations to develop their ideas into practical proposals, bringing together collaborative design, sustainability expertise and strategic planning.

Supported by Community Foundation Ireland and the Sunflower Charitable Foundation through the Mayo Sustainability Fund, the project helped each organisation identify its priorities, strengthen its capacity and develop a clear sustainability concept with a pathway towards future delivery.

The work was grounded in the knowledge, experience and ideas already present within each community.

Building on Community Strengths

Every community has its own challenges, opportunities and priorities. ACT worked closely with each organisation to understand its needs, recognise existing strengths and identify areas for development. Through conversations, organisational assessments and co-design workshops, we explored each group's long-term goals and the opportunities available to them.

Our collaborative approach followed four stages: Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver. This helped the groups develop their initial ideas into focused priorities, practical design concepts and clearer opportunities for funding. Alongside the project proposals, the work helped organisations build confidence, communicate their value and plan for their long-term development.

Four Communities, Four Sustainability Visions

The collaboration brought together four organisations, each exploring sustainability through the needs and aspirations of their own community.

THENCF: Bringing Culture Back into Town

THENCF explored opportunities to reactivate a vacant town-centre building as an accessible cultural space. The concept considered how reusing existing buildings could support town-centre regeneration, create opportunities for cultural participation and bring new life to underused spaces.

Mayo Rollers: A Climate Resilient Skatepark

Mayo Rollers developed a vision for a safe, inclusive skatepark in Ballina, creating a dedicated space for young people to gather, skate and connect. The concept brought together accessible public-space design with nature-based solutions, including rain gardens and sustainable drainage, exploring how recreation and climate resilience could work together.

Ballycroy Community Council: A More Sustainable Community Hub

Ballycroy Community Council explored how its existing community centre could become more sustainable and better equipped to serve local needs. As a first step towards a longer-term sustainability plan, the concept considered building improvements, low-carbon heating, renewable energy and rainwater harvesting to support the future of this important rural community facility.

Atlantic West Natura Communities: Connecting People and Nature

Atlantic West Natura Communities explored how to strengthen its identity and develop opportunities around biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration. The work considered how local ecological knowledge, skills development and employment opportunities could support both environmental restoration and community resilience.

Learning and Growing Together

Each organisation brought different experiences and priorities to the collaboration, creating opportunities to share knowledge and learn from one another. A shared learning event at the Mary Robinson Climate Conference in July 2026 brought the four groups together to present their ideas, exchange experiences and discuss common challenges.

The event highlighted the range of community-led sustainability initiatives taking shape across Mayo, from cultural regeneration and inclusive recreation to community buildings and nature restoration. It also helped establish connections between organisations with shared interests in the future of their communities.

"Communities already hold much of the knowledge and creativity needed to shape their future. Working alongside four organisations in Mayo, we used design and sustainability expertise to develop their ideas into practical proposals, while supporting each group to build on its existing strengths and plan for the years ahead." - Rebecca O'Malley, Project Lead, ACT.

From Ideas to Action

By the end of the project, each organisation had developed a sustainability concept, supported by design proposals, strategic recommendations and materials to help communicate its vision and pursue future funding. The collaboration also strengthened organisational planning, encouraged new partnerships and helped identify practical next steps. The proposed projects are at different stages of development, with further funding, partnerships and engagement needed to bring individual ideas to life.

Through this work, ACT supported four organisations to clarify their priorities, develop their ideas and identify opportunities for future delivery. The experience highlights the value of combining local knowledge with design expertise to support community-led change.

“Collaborating with ACT gave us time to pause and focus on defining the values, consider the long term sustainability and overall direction of the organisation, with the benefit of their unique insight and expertise. As outside observers they were able to highlight key positive aspects of the organisation that we had overlooked or taken for granted, as well as highlight areas that needed attention or were prime for growth. ACT delivered a body of work, including branding and a new logo, that will help shape the organisation going forward and contribute to it's sustainable growth.” - Community Participant, Atlantic West Natura Communities