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Mrs Claire Maguire and Mrs Collette O’Hare, Mount Lourdes Grammar School

Mount Lourdes Grammar School led by Claire and Collette in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast hosted a Sustainability Conference on March 7th, 2025. Approximately 250 students from both within Mount Lourdes and also from a number of neighbouring schools attended the event.
The event kicked off with a live panel discussion entitled ‘Education to live in a Sustainable World’. The panel was comprised of Queen’s University academic staff from the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE), local business leaders, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Education Authority and CCEA. The panel discussion, which was student led, focused on panel members current involvement with sustainability, the role that young people can play in promoting sustainability and sustainability skills in demand for the future workplace.
A ’Business Meeting’ followed between panel members and local school principles and students along with members of Fermanagh Chamber of Commerce. Discussions centred around how education and industry can work together in preparing students to contribute to the sustainable world with a view to enabling greater numbers of young people to work and live locally in the future.
Next students attended innovative workshops in small groups to experience sustainability initiatives first hand and to gain greater awareness of new approaches to sustainable living. The workshops included ‘Hydrogen – powering the future of transportation – QUB’, ‘Sustainable waste materials – QUB’, ‘Green Chemistry – water pollution – QUB’, ‘Sustainable Agriculture – CASE’, ‘Jeans to Phone case – Titanic Denim’, ‘Tackling Textile Waste – QUB’, ‘Climate Action -QUB’, ‘Green Bricks – QUB’, ‘Renewable Energies – UU’, ‘Green Journey -Belmore Court and Motel’, ‘Monitoring Health in Sustainable Homes – UU’. The workshops aimed to inspire students to become more proactive about environmental issues.
A sustainability stalls fayre completed the day with wide ranging businesses and service providers exhibiting their sustainable credentials and green initiatives to school students. This gave students the opportunity to liase with local employers, ask questions and make connections which could potentially influence their career paths in the future.
This conference, which involved collaboration between local schools, universities, businesses and service providers, proved very inspirational to all who attended. It is hoped that students’ knowledge and critical thinking around sustainability issues will have been greatly enriched.

Rouskey Community and Development Association

Rouskey Community and Development Association has placed environmental responsibility at the very heart of its work, championing sustainability and inspiring positive change across their rural community. Their flourishing community garden is a shining example of their commitment, developed through environmentally conscious practices such as the exclusive use of peat-free compost and the adoption of the no-dig gardening method. These techniques not only protect soil health and biodiversity but also promote long-term food sustainability. A community food box, where residents are encouraged to take what they need, further supports their vision of a resilient and self-sustaining local food system.

Rouskey Community Association’s dedication to sustainability extends to the kitchen. They are delivering air fryer cooking classes to promote healthy eating, encourage the use of locally sourced produce, and demonstrate how to prepare nutritious meals using a single, energy-efficient appliance. This initiative not only supports healthier lifestyles but also reduces energy consumption, making sustainable practices more accessible to the wider community.

Demonstrating their ambition to minimise their environmental impact, the Association is working with the National Lottery’s Sustainable Community Buildings Fund to futureproof their community centre. They are actively exploring innovative insulation methods and energy-efficient improvements to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. Strengthening this commitment, members of the Association’s committee have also completed Carbon Literacy Training, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to lead on climate action at a local level.

Beyond practical actions, the Association fosters a deep appreciation of the natural world. Situated in the heart of the Sperrins Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, they celebrate and promote their extraordinary surroundings through creative initiatives, including art and photography classes and pottery workshops that raise awareness of local biodiversity. Their green gym initiative further embodies their ethos, encouraging residents to connect with nature, improve their wellbeing, and strengthen community ties.

Rouskey Community Association stands as a powerful example of how a small, determined community can lead on environmental action, champion sustainability, and inspire lasting change.

Diana McChesney

Diana has been recognised for the outstanding commitment to protecting the environment and inspiring positive action across the community.
Known for tireless dedication, Diana continually demonstrates what it means to live by climate-friendly principles through devoting time to activities such as organising litter picks, redistributing surplus food to prevent waste, and encouraging reuse through overseeing the Fermanagh Freecycle Facebook page. This initiative alone has helped countless items find a new purpose rather than ending up in landfill.
The efforts already taken have influenced many others to take small but impactful steps towards sustainability. Whether it is neighbours making a habit of collecting litter on their daily walks or households thinking twice before throwing something away, Diana’s leadership has created a ripple effect throughout the community.
Speaking about receiving the award, Diana said:
“I’m just trying to leave as light a footprint as possible for my children to see that they can leave no trace and help the planet they grow in. They’re already taking this on board in many ways, which gives me pride to see as they’re still so young.”
Diana’s work is voluntary, motivated by care for the environment and community, and serves as a powerful example of climate action at a grassroots level.”

Roy Spence

Roy is completely fixated on the environment and ecology. Over the past 25 years, Roy has been the forester in charge of Fermanagh and South Tyrone working tirelessly to improve woodland habitat. In recent times, Roy has taken up work with the River Blackwater Catchment Trust which now allows 100% focus on environmental issues. Professionally, Roy deals with water quality, habitat, heathland restoration, climate education with school children, carbon capture, all things wildlife and invasive species control. Personally, Roy spends time producing all his own fruit and vegetables organically at home and has turned the garden into a wildflower meadow that is used to showcase best practice to others to encourage the transition from green grass to a habitat alive with plants and insects.  At weekends, Roy takes time to walk the local roads with his son lifting litter and disposing off correctly. Along side this, Roy takes time to build items such as bird boxes, bat boxes, insect hotels and bird feeders, and writes articles and posts for social media about wildlife and climate issues. Roy now chairs a wildfire group to protect Slieve Beagh and works with many environmentally focused groups including RSPB, Ulster wildlife, butterfly and squirrel groups.