An update on The Nore Vision that outlines a shared understanding for a desirable future in the Nore catchment of Kilkenny, Laois & Tipperary in Ireland

1. The Nore Vision
WHAT WE WANT FOR THE RIVER, ITS LAND AND PEOPLE
www.slieveardagh.com
Devil's Bit Mountain by Jonathon Byrne on LinkedInCastletown weir by Paddy Brennan on flickr Inistioge from panorama.com via
Pinterest

2. The Nore Vision – Stage 1
 What was it about?
 What was done?
 What was achieved?
 What remains to be achieved?
 What happens next?

3. The Nore Commons – A Shared Understanding
“Man imposes his own boundaries. So, we have an issue of
inconsistencies … between natural and imposed boundaries
which sets up a series of problems …. Ideally, we would like
to shift the paradigm from boundaries to areas of
commonality”.
Finnie (2009: 16) The Story of the 2008 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series.

4. What was it
about?
 Project to encourage
collaborative & co-ordinated
action
 around a shared understanding
 of a desirable future
 for the River Nore, its
tributaries, land & people

5. What was done
 Catchment-wide consultations
 13 workshops
 10 communities
 20 agencies, bodies, authorities &
LEADER local action groups
 36 interest groups
 Over 200 participants in total
 250 followers on Facebook
 Report on consultation outputs &
review
 Research paper into collaborative
catchment-based governance

6. What was achieved
 Comprehensive consultation process
 Catchment-wide and multi-sectoral
 Insight into range of interests, concerns and ideas for future
 Distilled into 5 succinct interlinked themes

7. Yet to be achieved
 A document (e.g. Plan) that can be signed up to
 Harder to achieve than originally conceived
 Diversity of priorities, interests, perspectives, approaches
among stakeholders
 Diversity of regulatory responsibilities
Consensus on need for more joined-up
thinking & collaborative actions across
Nore catchment
Desire to progress The Nore Vision

8. Learnings from Review
 Governance - who will champion The Nore Vision, what will
its governance structure be, how will it be funded, who will
do the work?
 Incentive – why might bodies work beyond current remit,
resource constraints, seek organisation buy-in, wary to
commit without agreeing detailed plan/actions “we need to
reflect the reality of our statutory obligations”
↕
 Long-term Work – develop governance structure, agree
a catchment-level plan, begin cultural shift toward more
joined-up thinking and action
 Short-term Work - immediate action to keep
stakeholders engaged “get down and dirty with local
communities and groups” and make The Nore Vision
relevant for officials and communities alike

9. Long-term Work
 … collaborative catchment governance structure → international
best practice but new to Ireland
 … resources for catchment-based working: staff, project funding,
upskilling (how to collaborate and coordinate work across
organisations &territories) e.g. CaBa Approach in UK → essential
but rare in Ireland (EPA)
 … catchment-level plan with agreed actions to progress elements
of The Nore Vision → that works across spatial scales and sectors
with diverse, sometimes conflicting interests/priorities
 … mechanism to engage with community-level champions &
local action groups → enable, empower
 The Nore Vision calls for new approaches that
require resources and leadership committed to
build trust, share information and responsibility
 Integrated action + integrated thinking

10. Voice of the Nore Catchment …
Governance at the catchment scale offers a “basin-wide perspective and
vehicle for initiatives” where stakeholders “come to the table to represent
the interests of the commons, rather than their individual jurisdictions.”
Okanagan Basin Water Board (2008: 1). OBWB Backgrounder.
The idea is that the resulting institution becomes the ‘voice’ of the
catchment, advocating for its well-being, speaking on its behalf.
Fraser Basin Council (2015). Collaborative Watershed Governance – Keys to Success and Current Examples in
BC. Discussion Paper. Vancouver, BC: Fraser Basin Council.

11. Short-term Work
Immediate opportunity to link work being done
across Nore catchment e.g.
School education programmes
Public outreach work
Hazardous waste collection
Water conservation training
Priority Areas for Action
Balsam bashing
Litter picks
Wetland amenity development

12. Proposed Pathway for Joined-up Thinking & Action
 Continue The Nore Vision through
application for EU Interterritorial
Cooperation funding by LEADER Local
Action Groups in Kilkenny, Laois and
Tipperary
 Work to identify mutually beneficial
collaborations across agencies, bodies,
authorities, local action groups and
community representatives that link
with 5 themes of The Nore Vision
 Seek to agree actions that will deliver
elements of The Nore Vision
 Include indicators for monitoring
progress
 Keep stakeholders updated

13. ‘We want to maintain the river so that a good
healthy living is possible for all and we can “fall
back in love with the river”.’
Community workshop participant in Laois

14. Míle buíochas to all The Nore Vision participants