What is this project about? ‘Cascade’ is one of 43 projects funded by Creative Ireland’s Climate Action Fund II, which is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Cascade is jointly led by researchers in the UCD Centre for Irish Towns, Ballina Greenest Town, and artist Ríonach Ní Néill. Cascade aims to understand how laneways can adapt to cope with climate change. Many of Ireland's predicted climate impacts involve water. Cascade refers not only to the water that flows down the buildings lining these laneways, but the capacity-building which will ripple out through communities as they create connected trails of climate-resilient, cohesive spaces that celebrate water. The ‘Cascade’ project team identified the laneways in Ballina as a good place to begin.

How will you be involved? All residents of Ballina are invited to take part in a series of events and creative workshops throughout 2024 and 2025 to share your experiences about water and public space in your town, and to imagine solutions that may help Ballina’s laneways better adapt and cope with the water-related threats of a changing climate. In addition, we’d like to invite all residents to complete a short questionnaire at the outset and at the end of the project. Participation in all events is voluntary and all information shared by you will be confidential and anonymous.

What is the timeline for the project? The project runs from January 2024 - December 2025 and has four phases:

(1) Storytelling: January to May 2024. During this stage, we plan to introduce the project to the residents of Ballina, invite residents to participate in a short Questionnaire and to host a Storymapping Workshop and place-based Laneway Survey to understand and listen to your experience of climate, water and public laneway spaces. The laneways will become temporary Laneway Galleries, highlighting what is already there, hidden in plain sight.

(2) Co-design: June to December 2024. During the second stage the project team will design and implement a demonstrator project that will show how water can become a sensory and beautiful component of public space. The lanes will form temporary Laneway Laboratories for testing diverse creative approaches to water management. We will host two public co-design workshops to generate a long-list of public ideas to reimagine the laneways in Ballina as places for people, water and nature. The ideas generated will be exhibited in the MRC, in the Ballina Fringe Festival 2024, then shortlisted and voted on.

(3) Creating: January to August 2025. During this stage the team will develop a negotiated design for Ballina’s laneways, gathering the co-designed ideas generated in Stage 2 into a plan that celebrates water and the different qualities and histories of the place; enables connection; and considers a radically inclusive approach to the design of public space. The plan will include the thoughts and dreams of those who contributed to storymapping and co-design, as well as the demonstrator ideas tested in the Laneway Laboratories.

(4) Evaluating: September to December 2025. At the end of the project, we will invite all residents to tell us about their experience to understand how the project engaged the public and gauge attitudinal change to water as a precious resource that, when valued and managed, can contribute to the enjoyment of public space.

The Cascade Project Team are: Orla Murphy, Sarah Cotterill, Philip Crowe, Rebecca O’Malley from UCD Centre for Irish Towns; Mayo CoCo Councillor Mark Duffy and Kevin Loftus from Ballina Greenest Town and artist Ríonach Ní Néill. Ballina Greenest Town is a local initiative based in Ballina that aims to support Ballina to become Ireland's Greenest Town, led by Cllr Mark Duffy and Kevin Loftus. All team members are remunerated for their work on this project.

What will happen if you decide to take part in this project? If you decide to take part in this project, there will be two opportunities to do so as part of Phase 1: Storytelling. All Ballina residents will be invited to participate in a Storymapping Workshop in the Mary Robinson Centre which will take place on Friday 22nd March 2-4pm (subject to approval). Activities in this workshop will include 2D mapping (adding stickers/ notes to a printed plan of the laneways to identify how public space is currently used, whether certain areas are under/overused and where water collects; and storytelling (recording memories about your experiences with the laneways). The following morning, Saturday 23rd March 10am-12pm (subject to approval), all residents will be invited to take part in a place-based Survey in one of the laneways. Both events are free, open to the public but ticketed via Eventbrite. All residents will be invited to take part in a Photography Session to discover the hidden stories of the Laneways. This is an optional, interactive conversation between people and place.

All Ballina residents will be invited to complete a short Questionnaire; hardcopies will be available in Ballina Library and at the Storymapping Workshop, and available digitally at the project page - www.subcribepage.io/cascade. Please complete and return questionnaires by the 30th of March 2024. We will then gather the data from all the questionnaires into one digital file and share the results with the residents of Ballina and the public. All data gathered is anonymous. We will ensure that no person is identified in any of the data we collect or share. You can participate in as many or as few activities during each of the phases of the project as you like.

How will your data be used? We will collect completed questionnaires at the same time as the Storymapping Workshop. We will collect any ideas, drawings, post-it notes etc. recorded on the map during the workshop. We will collect information about the water infrastructure during the placed-based laneway survey. All data collected will be anonymous. We will record stories about the laneways and water in Ballina using an audio recorder. We will take non-identifying photos during the workshop and survey. While photos and audio recordings are potentially identifiable we will take the necessary steps to ensure they are anonymised. Audio recordings will be transcribed and any identifying data will be omitted. The digital audio recordings will be deleted as soon as they have been transcribed and anonymised. Photographs will be taken at a distance with no persons featured.

For those who give separate written consent to take part in the Laneway photography session, the images will potentially be included in a ‘Laneway Gallery’. All data will be used to support the next phase of the project, co-design of a solution to help the laneways adapt and cope better with the water-related threats of a changing climate.

Right to withdraw: By participating in the project, you agree to the use of collected anonymised data (including transcripts of audio recording, drawings, non-identifying photography / film, text) in public communications about the project, not limited to a website, social media, and/or the publication of scientific papers. Any written data gathered will be stored anonymously and will not be linked with your name. You have the right to withdraw your participation at any stage, for whatever reason, without judgment. You have the right to withdraw consent for the use of audio recordings before the data is transcribed and anonymised. However, we will not be able to withdraw or extract any anonymised data already shared.

Are there any risks involved in participation? The Storymapping Workshop will be held in the Mary Robinson Centre in a dedicated workshop space with adequate facilities. The laneway mapping exercise will take place outdoors in a pedestrianised area, held during the daytime at the weekend with access to adequate facilities. There will be little physical movement or exposure to risk. It will involve activities like drawing, writing and discussing. The project team has undergone Garda Vetting. The Storymapping Workshop will have a limited rolling capacity of 100 people. The Laneway Survey will have a capacity of 30 participants. If we have people wanting to attend who have not signed up online, or more people than we can accommodate, we will extend the workshop beyond the scheduled time, or direct them to the online participation methods.

The Cascade team will be available to discuss any thoughts, worries or concerns you may have. Hard copy supports will be available for participants in workshops including copies of the project Child Protection Safeguarding Statement, Child Protection Policy, Risk Assessment, list of support organisations and contact details for support groups (including for the Samaritans, Aware, Women’s Aid, Pieta, Childline, LGBT Ireland, Aoibhneas inter alia)

Are there any benefits from participation? Participation is voluntary and you will not be offered any monetary compensation or reward for your participation. However, participation enables your ideas and views to be considered and implemented in the solution designed for the space. There will be refreshments available at events.

How will your privacy be protected? We will collect your name and signature on a sign-in sheet and consent form to document your agreement to participate. These will be securely stored in a locked filing cabinet and will not be shared. All other data will be anonymous and used solely for the purposes of the research project. For those who consent to take part in the photography session, photos will be used in the laneway galleries but personal details will not be shared.

How will you find out what happens with this project? Please keep up to date with Cascade news and events via www.subscribepage.io/cascade and www.instagram.com/cascade_ballina. Cascade will also have a designated space in Ballina library with information available throughout the project duration.

Contact Details: If you have any further questions about the project, please feel free to contact me: Rebecca O’Malley Email: [email protected]e