Understory

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.

Have you seen a frog? Don't forget to share your observation to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council at www.ipcc.ie, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 045 860133. Observations can also be submitted online to the National Biodiversity Data Centre at https://buff.ly/OkfQL3W

Have you spotted a frog in Wicklow? 🐸
Wicklow County Council is asking everyone to join the ‘Hop To It’ Frog Survey for 2026.

The common frog is Ireland’s only frog species and, despite its name, the common frog (Rana temporaria) is listed as a vulnerable species across Europe.

It is legally protected under the European Union Habitats Directive and the Irish Wildlife Act. Frogs are also considered biological indicators of environmental health, as their smooth, moist skin is highly sensitive to pollution. Their presence or absence in an area can tell us a great deal about local environmental quality.

If you spot frog spawn, tadpoles, froglets, or adult frogs—at home or in the wild—please let us know! Your sightings will help protect frogs and support local conservation efforts.

Share your observation to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council at www.ipcc.ie, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 045 860133. Observations can also be submitted online to the National Biodiversity Data Centre at https://buff.ly/OkfQL3W.

For further information, visit the following link: https://buff.ly/c3CTDF1

Let’s help our frogs and keep Wicklow wild!

When life gives you rain… we install planters! ☔🌱💚

Over the next 13 months, Ringsend & Irishtown will receive up to 100 rain-catching planters that slow the flow of stormwater, ease pressure on our drains, turn streets into buzzing biodiversity hotspots and could even reduce surface flooding 💧 🐝🌸🌿 We are providing these planters, filled with soil mix free of charge and recommending many stunning native plants to support our pollinators.

Fun fact: these planters are cleverly designed to receive rainwater from roofs via the downpipe, helping streets become greener and keeping our drains happy too! 🌿✨

It feels amazing to finally see them arriving in gardens across the community. It feels like a real milestone in my journey 💚 Thank you to all my wonderful partners .ie

Have you taken any water conservation measures? I'd love to hear more!

We are delighted to announce that a project Angela Deegan and I started a few years ago is blossoming into something bigger!

We're Catching Raindrops in Ringsend & Irishtown by installing up to 100 specialised rainwater retention planters in the gardens of local residents and community hubs. These help ease pressure on local sewage systems by capturing and slowing stormwater, which in turn reduces the pressures on the Ringsend Wastewater treatment plant and therefore reducing the pollution in the Dublin bay. I'm really excited to create natural habitats that attract pollinators & biodiversity and brighten hard urban landscapes with self-sustainable greenery.

I'm delighted Understory is working with some brilliant partners including Trinity College Dublin to research the impact of the rainwater retention planters as a Sustainable Drainage System solution, the vibrant local community group Ringsend & Irishtown TidyTowns & Environment, the inspiring social enterprise PACE Social Enterprise, and two leaders in the water sector The Rivers Trust and the Local Authority Waters Programme. We’re also delighted to be collaborating with other initiatives like the All-Ireland Pollinator plan by National Biodiversity Data Centre to recommend native plants that will thrive in these planters and support our pollinators. I'd also like to thank Sadhbh Burt Fitzgerald for her generous support after completing an earlier iteration of a similar project in Stoneybatter, Fiona Regan from DCU Water Institute for their insights and support during development and my absolutely amazing volunteers Amrita Mahtani, Niamh Fitzgerald and Seneca Lent who have added so many great ideas and fun to it all!

I hope you can join our community project or follow our journey that will hopefully inspire similar around the country!

Irish Environmental Network

Thank you to everyone who came along and to today's Permaculture workshop. The 3 hours flew by! Thank you to Greystones Tidy Towns and The Garden team for hosting and welcoming me back again this year.