Global Action Plan (GAP) has released its 2023 Annual Report, showcasing a year of substantial growth, increased engagement and impactful initiatives across Ireland.
Guided by the new Strategic Plan, adopted in March 2023, the environmental behaviour change organisation has expanded its reach and enhanced the reach of its environmental education, social inclusion and community empowerment activities.
The report highlights the following key achievements in 2023:
- Increased Engagement: GAP hosted 587 events, including workshops and training sessions, with over 13,000 engagements — an impressive 126% increase from the previous year.
- Community Involvement: In 2023 GAP expanded its work with community groups and local authorities across Ireland, helping participants to understand local challenges through a global perspective. The organisation’s unique GLAS community gardens in Ballymun and Blanchardstown saw significant activity, with over 1,600 engagements. These gardens provide inclusive, safe spaces for community members to connect with nature and each other.
- Environmental Education: GAP’s school programmes delivered 216 workshops, reaching 2,799 students and teachers, promoting environmental awareness and action among young people and teachers.
- Awards and Recognition: The GLAS community garden in Ballymun was shortlisted for an award in the “Social Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion” category at the All Ireland Sustainability Awards 2023 and received the Best Community Garden award at the Ballymun Tidy Town Competition 2023. The Funds Industry Climate Challenge initiative facilitated by GAP won Silver at the All Ireland Sustainability Awards 2023, in the category “Stakeholder Initiative of the Year,” and GAP’s CEO was awarded ‘CEO of the Year – Environmental Services’ by CEO Magazine.
- Strategic Expansion: New partnerships and funding applications have enabled GAP to extend its reach. We partnered with local authorities to bring environmental education and climate awareness workshops to schools and community groups in 16 different counties, and we are exploring options to replicate our GLAS community programmes in new regions of Ireland.
GAP also made headlines in 2023 with its unique climate competitions. In April, GAP hosted the first-ever Climate Heroes Challenge, that saw 525 people from 68 community groups take small climate smart actions that, together, saved 36,800 kg of CO2e emissions over two weeks. The challenges that GAP organises for companies also had a big real life impact, and inspired employees in many different companies to take climate action in their own homes and places of work. The Funds Industry Climate Challenge, for instance, engaged 2,300 people, who on average reduced their carbon footprints by 19%.
2023 was also the year that we opened a new community garden, in Dublin’s Blanchardstown area. Like the long-established GLAS garden in Ballymun, the GLAS @ TU Dublin community garden offers a space for community engagement and environmental education.
The relevance of our GLAS garden was underlined by two pieces of research we published in the past year: a study on the links between mental health and nature, and an assessment by TU Dublin of the impact of our community garden in Ballymun.
For further detail on our work in 2023, download our report here.
