Training and development services for the delivery of the Creative Climate Action Fund III (2026-2029) to the Creative Ireland Programme

The Creative Climate Action Fund III (2026-2029) is a key deliverable for the Creative Climate Action and Sustainability pillar of the Creative Ireland Programme. This fund seeks to build on the premise that transformational action on climate change requires cultural change throughout society, and with the ambition to utilise the potential of the arts, creativity and heritage to inspire and empower the culture change needed to transform to a net zero Ireland by 2050. A key finding of the evaluation of the first fund was the need for training and development of project leaders to ensure that this investment realises the object of building enduring capacity in the sector.

There will be organisations from different sectors in receipt of the grant funding including: arts and cultural organisations, local authorities, research institutions, environmental groups and community development organisations. We envisage that there will be up to 15 projects funded. These projects teams have a good knowledge of climate action.

However, a consistency of understanding of the policy objectives and best-practice methods of project delivery will be essential to the success of the fund. Therefore, this training and development package will: * Ensure a consistency of technical knowledge across all project teams * Ensure a consistency of approach to be taken on dialogue between projects and with communities the projects are engaging and facilitating dialogue with, to ensure that this aligns with the approach taken in the National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA) * Ensure full understanding of the policy framework as set out in the Climate Action Plan 2025. * Support individual projects in their approach to data collection and evaluation * Support project management and communications functions within individual projects * Provide a supportive network for the projects to facilitate collaboration and sharing of skills, knowledge and best practice It is envisaged that that the training will be delivered in a mixture of in person and online settings. Most of the elements of this training and development will be delivered in a initial residential workshop setting to assist the fund recipients to develop their networks.

This is particularly important for this fund, due to the cross-sectoral nature of the partnerships. While the tender will seek a private sector provider, it is envisaged that the Creative Ireland Programme will work with the provider and utilise public sector capacity in the co-creation of the training materials and training delivery including possible guest speakers (i.e. Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE), the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)).