Space, Place & Nature – Walking Matters conference, Sligo ~ 5th November

A conference on the theme Space, Place & Nature: Connecting Our Built Heritage & the Urban Environment will take place on Friday 5th November in Glasshouse Hotel, Sligo.

The aim of the conference, which is being organised by Walking Matters, is to look at the public realm and how we connect important items of our built heritage by looking at the quality of the streets that bring this built heritage together. The focus is to encourage people to look at the quality of our public spaces and walking environment as a key part of protecting our built heritage – and also in building sustainable, healthy communities.

The event will be opened by Minister of State, Ciaran Cuffe, and the keynote speaker will be Senator David Norris.

The organisation, Walking Matters, aims to encourage low carbon travel, to get people out of their cars and to think about living more sustainably within the community and the public spaces that will support this.

As part of the larger project, Walking Matters will be working with schools and community groups in workshops over September and October to carry out street audits and look at the issues of urban design and the public realm, and the quality of the walking environment.

There will also be an art event around the conference – The Big Draw. Re-Imagining … Painting … Drawing Sligo – with an Irish artist, Lucy Brennan-Shiel, who works with The Big Draw in England, facilitating a drawing event that encourages people to envision a vibrant, sustainable, walkable town centre in graphic terms.

The aim of the art event is to involve as broad a range of people as possible in re-imagining our public spaces so that our communities are more walkable, and to express their ideas creatively and visually.

For further info see www.walkingmatters.ie.