The artist Colette Lewis, Cobh Zero Waste and SIRIUS are exploring a community-based model of exchange towards the implementation of circular economies in Cobh, County Cork, and beyond in Ireland. They are bringing the experience of older generations together with the aspirations and actions of younger generations shaping the new wave of eco-politics.

For older generations, being able to make, repair, reuse, forage, hunt or grow was mainly learnt within the family home and locality, often out of necessity, due to limited access to resources. While much place-based knowledge and skill has declined with advances in technology that fosters productivity, local know-how has been gaining critical purpose around humanitarian values.

For young people, new forms of know-how have emerged, mediated through digital media and platforms like Instagram, YouTube and wikiHow. Its use centres on the sharing of information and creation of awareness-raising hubs for environmental issues.

Colette Lewis, Cobh Zero Waste and SIRIUS are forming a group of interested people to engage with discourse and practices around alternative, community-based economic systems. They are organising a series of events to think and act, both creatively and ethically, to ‘take back the economy’, contributing to a civic-driven imagination of sustainable living strategies.

‘Reframing Community-based Economies’ is commissioned by SIRIUS with the support of Creative Ireland County Cork grant scheme.