Between 2018 and 2020, four Reading Your Local Landscape training courses have been delivered in County Clare. These have involved 50 community members based in Scariff, Miltown Malbay, Kilrush and Killaloe. Two further courses are currently underway in North Clare and South East Clare (Feb 2020-June 2020) involving a further 24 participants.
The courses have been funded by the Clare Creative Ireland Strategy, Limerick & Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB) and Clare County Council. The course content is developed by Zena Hoctor and delivered by Zena, in conjunction with guest lecturers and LCETB tutors.
Researching & documenting the heritage features of a local area
The central aim of the ‘Reading the Landscape’ training is to enable course participants to identify, examine and record the built, natural and cultural heritage features of their own local area through desk research and fieldwork. Instruction and tuition is provided in landscape heritage resource identification and recording techniques, focusing on the immediate local area in which the course is based, while providing a wider countywide and nationwide overview. A range of training techniques are employed, including class based lectures, case studies, group exercises, field trips and project work.
Empowering skills & creativity
Through this process, local community members are empowered to discover, recognise, promote and conserve their unique local heritage resources. Each participant applies the learned techniques through practical group and individual heritage studies. This empowers the creativity of the course participants and promotes individual and community well-being, through local heritage exploration. Course participants discover and engage with their cultural heritage and reinforce a sense of belonging to their own local area.
Upon completion of these studies, a public showcase exhibition is organised, where the participants display their findings visually and orally. We are now delighted to be able to showcase a number of the participants studies on this website and we hope you will enjoy discovering some local heritage gems!
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