GAP Ireland’s annual report shows: Our climate work puts inclusion and creativity at the core
– GAP Ireland’s 2024 annual report published today shows how the Ballymun based organisation’s model of climate action rooted in community and creativity is spreading rapidly.
– GAP chose to leave Twitter, resulting in a 17% drop in our social media audience, but continued to grow its public profile through other channels.
– Groundbreaking “Balymun Is Brilliant” project uses art as a tool to spark conversations, and prompt community action, on climate justice, identity and belonging.
GAP Ireland has today launched its 2024 Impact Report, showing how the environmental charity is transforming climate action into a movement that is measurable, inclusive and deeply human.
Through a unique combination of community empowerment, environmental education and social inclusion, GAP Ireland saw a record 15,800 engagements last year, from schoolchildren and asylum seekers to corporate leaders and artists.
Click on the image above to download the report.
Click here for the accessible version of the report.
A growing national impact: 17 Counties, 725 events
With over 725 workshops and events delivered across 17 counties, GAP Ireland recorded a 20% increase in engagement in 2024. Its programmes reached schools, businesses and communities through climate education, behaviour change initiatives, and hands-on environmental action, a model now gaining attention as a scalable national strategy.
“Our work is about transforming lives as much as it is about transforming the planet; one garden, one conversation and one action at a time,” said GAP Ireland Chairperson Aisling McCaffrey.
“In our community gardens, we’re planting vegetables but we are growing hope, connection and a community where everyone feels that they belong. And through our outreach work with schools, community groups and businesses, we help people discover nature, and the power they have to make a difference.”
Community gardens that change lives
One of the most impactful elements of GAP’s work is its GLAS community gardens in Ballymun and Blanchardstown. These urban oases hosted over 4,000 visits in 2024 and have become proven models for inclusive urban greening. The GLAS gardens welcome people of all backgrounds, all ages, and all abilities.
The GLAS gardens are more than green spaces; they are healing spaces, where people reconnect with nature, find calm, and build community one conversation at a time.
Our gardens and programmes show that climate action can be not just greener, but also fairer and healthier, when it’s rooted in inclusion, wellbeing and local connection.
GAP’s community gardens have earned national recognition and are now inspiring replication in other urban areas.
Art as a catalyst: Ballymun Is Brilliant
In Ballymun, GAP Ireland is redefining climate action through creativity. Its “Ballymun Is Brilliant” project used storytelling, interactive mural-making, performance and community crafts to engage nearly 600 residents in climate dialogue through art.
Rather than traditional consultations, artists co-created with the community, sparking conversations on climate justice, identity and belonging.
This project, funded by Creative Ireland, is about more than climate action. It’s about community pride, creative expression and building a future that’s fair for everyone.
The Ballymun Is Brilliant project is creating space for people in Ballymun to imagine, shape and celebrate the kind of future they want to live in, by celebrating the past, and the creativity of the present.
Other highlights from the report
- GAP welcomed 3,920 participants to their award-winning digital climate challenges, including 2,900 employees across 27 companies as part of the Funds Industry Climate Challenge, who saved 280 tonnes of CO₂e by making small changes in their everyday lifestyle choices;
- 166 teachers trained in global citizenship education, helping teachers and students explore how everyday choices connect to global issues like climate change, poverty and inequality.
- Four national award recognitions, including Pakman and Dublin City Neighbourhoods Awards.
GAP’s Impact Report for 2024 is available online via https://globalactionplan.ie/services/publications/
Download the report by clicking on the image above.
Click here for the accessible version of the report.