Cork City-led Cultureways project awarded €750,000 from the Creative Ireland Climate Action Fund

Cultureways is an ambitious three-year project designed to enable behaviour change in Cork City by encouraging people to rethink and reduce the number of short car journeys has been awarded €750,000 through the Creative Ireland Climate Action Fund III (2026–2029).

Led by Cork City Council, the Cultureways project is being delivered in partnership with the Glucksman Gallery, Cork Midsummer Festival, Sapience, and the Sustainability Institute at University College Cork.

The fund is supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment, the Department of the Taoiseach, and EirGrid.

Combining socially engaged arts practice with behavioural science, the Cultureways project will explore how creativity can influence everyday travel habits and support climate action. The project will work with three suburban communities that share a common challenge: a high concentration of short everyday journeys under 2km.

A dedicated Cultureway will be developed within each community, providing a space for a series of artistic commissions that are backed by evidence-based behavioural science approaches to support lasting change. Project partner Sapience will test and measure the effect of different approaches throughout the lifetime of the project.

Experts from UCC’s Sustainability Institute will provide technical support and guidance to the project and commissioned artists, ensuring best practice in behavioural science is reflected in the project.

The locations for the three Cultureways will be identified during the early stages of the project.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Damian Boylan, said: “I am delighted to welcome this significant investment in Cork City. Cultureways brings together creativity, community engagement and climate action in a way that reflects Cork at its best."

Artists will work with local people in familiar neighbourhood settings, including community halls, sports clubs and shopping centres, using creative practice to explore everyday travel choices and the routes that connect destinations within communities and to the wider city.

Valerie O’Sullivan, the Chief Executive of Cork City Council, said: “Securing this funding is a significant achievement for Cork City and reflects the strength of the partnership behind Cultureways. By bringing together expertise from the arts, research and local government sectors, this project will develop innovative approaches to climate action and sustainable mobility. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver a project that will create lasting value for Cork.”

Transport contributes 30% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, with the highest concentration occurring in suburban areas where many journeys are short enough for walking, cycling or other sustainable modes of travel to be realistic alternatives. The Cork Walking and Cycling Index 2025 highlights a growing appetite among Cork residents for more sustainable travel choices, with 52% want to walk more, and 38% want to cycle more in the future.

Cultureways builds on this momentum by using creative approaches to help communities translate the appetite to move more sustainably into action and establish new, climate-positive, travel habits that are good for our health and air quality. The project will also contribute to Cork City's ambition to become a climate-neutral city by 2030 while demonstrating how creativity and culture can play a central role in achieving positive climate action.