Understory

Have you ever wished you had more wildlife visitors in your garden? I will reveal all my secrets and best tips this Thursday at the upcoming Gardening for Biodiversity and Wellbeing workshop in Galway 🐞🦔🌿🦋 Galway City Library Galway Public Libraries

Join us at Galway City Library on Thursday 4th June at 3pm for a Gardening for Biodiversity & Wellbeing workshop. Discover how any outdoor space can become a year-round haven for wildlife and wellbeing.

This is a free event, open to all, but places are limited. Please book your free ticket at https://bit.ly/GCL-BioDiv26

This event is brought to you by Europe Direct.


Galway Public Libraries Europe Direct Ballinasloe Galway City Community Network Galway City Council Merlin Park Woods Galway County Biodiversity Office

It's fantastic to see Greystones Tidy Towns continue on their batty journey after completing the Joy of Bats project all about bat citizen science back in 2023. This project was led by Understory in a partnership with Greystones Tidy Towns Delgany Tidy Towns. We have since produced a booklet to support communities in this super fun activity which you can find on https://www.understory.ie/shop (free to download) 🌿🦋🦇🦟🪻

I thoroughly enjoyed leading this workshop with this lovely community! 🦔🦔

The Rathdowney Community Garden group enjoyed an informative workshop recently as part of Biodiversity Week 2026, where they created a dead hedge, a garden feature which promotes biodiversity creating a habitat for wildlife. Read more here and view a gallery of images: https://laoispartnership.ie/project/dead-hedge-the-perfect-habitat-for-local-wildlife-in-the-rathdowney-community-garden/
Our Shared Plate Rathdowney Community Centre Rathdowney MENS SHED Laois Local News Understory

I really loved spending an afternoon with the Mountmellick community thanks to Laois Partnership 🙏 🐞🦔🦋🌿🦇

As part of Biodiversity Week 2026, Laois Partnership Company was delighted to be involved in a biodiversity workshop in Mountmellick, where local children got the chance to enjoy some bug collecting, bat detecting, and creature identifying. There will be another biodiversity workshop in Portlaoise on 23rd May, delivered by local urban gardener Kate Heffernan to the tenants of the O’Moore Place allotment, but it is open to the community to join in. Click here to see some images from the Mountmellick event: https://laoispartnership.ie/project/bug-hotels-and-bat-detecting-as-part-of-biodiversity-week-2026/
Mountmellick Notice Board Our Shared Plate Understory Laois People Portlaoise Notice Board

Join us this weekend in Newcastle Co. Wicklow 🌿🐞🦔🦋

This Saturday the 16th of May we are celebrating biodiversity week 2026. Join us for a talk and walk about 'Gardening for Wildlife' with ecologist Alex Konieczka from Understory. We are meeting at the community centre in Newcastle at 2.30pm. The talk is funded by Community Foundation Ireland.

Do you know about all 11 of these wonderful initiatives?
If not, how many were you aware of? Pop the number in the comments 🙌

If there’s an initiative you think deserves a shout, please share it below to keep spreading positivity 🌱

Find out more by clicking on the tagged account.

To support the wool mill project go to https://www.idonate.ie/crowdfunder/woolstore

I'm really lucky to be able to continue to work with Our Shared Plate initiative this year, supporting communities to grow food with permaculture techniques and discover the beauty and deliciousness of food preservation with zero-waste plant-based recipes, all reflecting aspects of my life that make me happy and hopeful.

🌿 Facilitator Profile: Alex Konieczka

We’re delighted to work with Alex, an ecologist, educator and founder of Understory who brings a thoughtful, hands-on approach to working with communities.

With a lifelong connection to nature — shaped by early experiences of off-grid living — Alex’s work focuses on reconnecting people with the natural world and with each other. Through practical, sensory workshops rooted in low-waste principles, she supports communities to explore biodiversity, food growing and everyday skills in an accessible and meaningful way.

A huge part of what makes Our Shared Plate so special is the knowledge, care and generosity that facilitators like Alex bring to the spaces we work in 🌱

Join us in the exploration of the story of our local river, past, present and future. Through conversation, shared observations and local knowledge, we’ll uncover the challenges and opportunities and explore how our community can play a role in the protection
and restoration of our waterways.