The Space, Place & Nature conference, which took place in Sligo on 5th November, was a big success.
The conference, which was organised by Walking Matters, looked 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 was encouraging people to look at the quality of our public spaces and walking environment as a key part of protecting our built heritage – and also by building sustainable, healthy communities.
The conference room was full (about 130 people), and the associated (practical) drawing workshops on the Thursday and Saturday drew another 100 people to critically look at streets and public spaces in Sligo town and then work with an artist to redraw them so that they’d be inviting for people to use and spend time in. The focus was on how to get people out of their cars!
The event was opened by Minister of State, Ciaran Cuffe, and the keynote speaker was 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.
For further info see www.walkingmatters.ie.