[ Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028, Section 15(2) Two-Year Progress Report ]
with Green Schools Committees and Green School Coordinators, to identify opportunities that individual schools have to support biodiversity. The Biodiversity Officers delivered a presentation to Munster Technological University (MTU) School of Architecture on sustainable development and biodiversity consideration in design. • In 2023 Cork City Council was successful in grant applications for acquiring key materials and resources to support the Biodiversity Officers and Heritage Officer under the Cork City Biodiversity Awareness and Education Project 2023. Materials purchased included specific manuals to support community groups, schools, and individuals to promote biodiversity friendly activities, which have been published by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. These materials will greatly support actions to support biodiversity. Other equipment including telescopes, binoculars, and bat detectors were also purchased to support future Biodiversity and Heritage Week events in the coming years. • In 2023 Cork City Council received funding from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to carry out habitat mapping of the city (see Objective 6.1 above in this report). A Cross-Directorate sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) Working Group has recently been established to develop a collaborative SuDS Strategy for Cork City Council. This will enable a best practice, practical and consistent organizational approach to the design, evaluation and application of SuDS with the aim of delivering City Development Plan objectives and Climate Action Plan targets. A South Docks Drainage and Levels Strategy was produced in 2022 to inform the development of the City Docklands. The objective of the Strategy was to provide a long-term placemaking vision that is flexible, environmentally responsible and climate resilient, particularly to potential changes in sea level and rainfall intensity. The recommendations of the Strategy have been a key input into the Cork Docklands Framework Masterplan placemaking approach, particularly in relation to green and blue infrastructure and public open space design. RUPARC (Retrofitting Urban Parks for Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change) represents an innovative initiative across a number of Cork City’s urban parks, focused on enhancing the sustainability and resilience of urban parks in Cork City. The primary objective of RUPARC is to retrofit existing parks, implementing measures that enhance flood defences, biodiversity, and increased carbon sequestration. One of RUPARCs missions is to adopt the ‘’sponge city’’ model to Cork Cities parks aligning with key objectives set out by the Water Framework Directive.
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