A ground-breaking new Climate Action Walk for Abbeyleix will be launched online on Saturday May 15.
The walk is an end of residency project by science communicator in residence for the Abbeyleix Climate Action Project, Dr Niamh Shaw who has been working with members of Abbeyleix Tidy Towns.
In response to her six month residency working with Abbeyleix Tidy Towns to engage the community on climate action, Niamh created an interactive walking tour through the town of Abbeyleix to engage the general public about climate change, focusing on the cyclical nature of our planet, how climate change has impacted our lives, how it affects us emotionally and what we can do on a local level to positively contribute to this global issue.
The walk is designed for the public to discover ceramic tiles dotted along Main Street Abbeyleix, and subtly guide them towards completing a walk which starts at Heritage House and ends at Abbeyleix Bog.
A unique QR code is printed on each ceramic tile, which will trigger a mobile device to open an animation or video hosted on youtube.
Niamh worked with local graphic designer and animator Paulina Nickstrom, and local company VIMAR Digital Marketing to curate 7 unique animations and videos specially designed for the project.
By the end of the walk, it is hoped that the walker will gain a better appreciation of the nature around them, our place in balancing the cycles of our planet.
An online Story Map will also be available for virtual walkers to follow, details will be on the on Laois Heritage website, laois.ie/heritage.
The new Abbeyleix Climate Action Walk is a project under the Healthy Ireland Keep Well Campaign, aimed at showing people of all ages how we can mind our own physical and mental health and wellbeing by adding healthy and helpful habits to our daily and weekly routines.
Projects under the campaign provide guidelines, information, and tips on how we can make a plan to do things that will help us keep well.
The Tile Design
Tiles are 15cm x 15cm square in size, made from ceramic. A special design has been created for this project by artist Paulina Nickstrom depicting the Abbeyleix Market Square Fountain with planet Earth in the background.
The centre of the fountain is a holding space for the QR code (different at each site). Each tile is numbered from 1 to 7 (the number depicts the site location). Walkers scan the QR code with a mobile phone to open the relevant video for each site.
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