Cork City-led Cultureways Project Awarded €750,000 from the Creative Ireland Climate Action Fund
14/07/2026
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.
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.
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.
Cultureways will 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.
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.
“Cultureways helps people re-examine their choices about how they move around our city and will help make Cork a healthier, cleaner, less congested connected and more vibrant city now and in the future.”
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.”
Fiona Kearney, Director of the Glucksman Gallery, said: “We are thrilled to be part of the Cultureways project which will pioneer creative and sustainable modes of travel across our city.
“UCC and the Glucksman have an outstanding track record of addressing climate action through community and artistic engagement, and we can’t wait to collaborate with Cork City Council and Cork Midsummer to mobilise people through culture and infuse active travel with the joy of artistic discovery.”
Lorraine Maye, the Director of Cork Midsummer Festival, said: “Cork Midsummer Festival is excited to undertake Cultureways with Cork City Council, the Glucksman, UCC and communities across Cork over the next three years.
“Like much of our work at the festival, Cultureways is an invitation to play, bringing artists and neighbourhoods together to reimagine everyday routes of connection.
“Via Cultureways, we hope to inspire a more sustainable city through new habits through community creativity.”