Western Development Commission

The 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱’𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 (SMI 24) report has just been published.   SMI 24 is the latest update of the Western Development Commission’s (WDC) Sustainable Mobility Index designed to help those providing transport, engaged in mobility policy and in town development to determine what needs to be done and to identify good practices. This work was undertaken by WDC Policy Analyst, Dr Helen McHenry. It uses a range of data to provide an evidence-based understanding of sustainable mobility patterns in the region. SMI 24 covers 40 rural towns in the seven county Western Region and enhances our knowledge of town residents’ current mobility needs and how they align with developing policy. The Index is based on 30 indicators covering different modes, infrastructures and services for people in the 40 towns updating the baseline index (SMI 22) and showing what has since developed or been achieved and highlighting areas for improvement. There are five additional towns in SMI 24 following population increases shown in Census 2022.   The SMI gives useful insights into mobility in rural towns in the Western Region. It also provides a starting point for examining many wider questions about mobility in these towns and offers a wealth of detail on patterns of travel and the current availability of services and facilities. The report is available as a full report, as a standalone 4 page summary (English and Irish) and there is an infographic for each of the 40 towns included in the SMI. 👉 https://lnkd.in/e49R-KUY Department of Rural and Community Development Department of Transport Darragh O'Brien TD

🌍 Exciting news from Paris this week! Our Community and Green Finance Manager, Anne Graham, represented the West of Ireland at the Urban Days event hosted by the European Commission’s Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) and the OECD - OCDE. As part of this initiative, a policy paper for the West of Ireland was officially launched — outlining strategic recommendations to advance circular economy practices across Galway, Roscommon, and Mayo. This milestone follows a successful application, securing the West's place as one of 10 cities and regions selected across Europe to take part in this ambitious programme. The theme of the event, "Closing the Loop: Circular Economy in European Cities & Regions", reflects a growing recognition of the need to rethink how we use resources — and how collaboration across communities and stakeholders can lead the way. We’re proud to have contributed to this important step forward with input from regional stakeholders. 📄 Read the policy paper: https://bit.ly/42yxqLj #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #WestofIreland #UrbanDays #GreenTransition #OECD #EUInitiative #CircularCities #RegionsInAction Oriana Romano Georges Laimé Astrid Ladefoged

Siobhán Hetherington, Marketing Manger for Arigna Fuels (Arigna Group), Roscommon, describes the company's move from fossil fuels to creating a renewable energy resource using the byproduct of olive oil production...

🤫 We've been on the road capturing inspiring stories, but we're not quite ready to share them just yet. Be sure to follow our social channels to be the first to catch these videos when they drop. Hooke Bio Ltd.

Eoin Connaire of the Local Enterprise Office Galway is encouraging creative businesses to apply for the 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗽. There's still time 👉 https://loom.ly/nusUS0M

Join our CREW! We are seeking a Community Growth & Partnership Development Lead to join our growing team. CREW (Creative Enterprise West) is a leading innovation hub dedicated to growing the digital creative industries in the West and Northwest of Ireland. It provides essential infrastructure, training, mentorship, and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs, startups, and scale-ups in sectors such as film, animation, game development, design, and digital arts. As our Community Growth & Partnership Development Lead, you’ll play a key role in: - Creating initiatives, events, and collaborations that foster the growth of CREW and its community of digital creative enterprises across the West and North West of Ireland. - Building and developing new individual and industry CREW memberships. - Producing highly engaging content relevant to the CREW ecosystem. - Connecting community members with key opportunities and mentors. This role is perfect for someone with 4 years + experience who is passionate about start-ups, innovation and helping shape the future. Previous experience in community and event management, social media management and Hub operations is a plus.   Applications close: Tuesday 15th April 2025 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/e8Rj_tqi #JoinOurCREW #Community #Team #Hiring #Opportunities #JobFairy #WorkAtCREW Ardán | Galway Chamber | Enterprise Ireland | Western Development Commission | Connected Hubs | Údarás na Gaeltachta | Eirmersive | IMIRT - The Irish Game Makers Association | Institute of Designers in Ireland | Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland | Galway Culture Company | ATU Galway City School of Design and Creative Arts |

Connected Hubs is in Laval, France this week as an invited stakeholder on the CODIL Project, led by Údarás na Gaeltachta and Mícheál Ó Duibhir, working alongside partners from across Europe. This best practice visit, part of the Interreg Europe programme, has offered valuable insights into how the Laval region is taking a collaborative, long-term approach to ecosystem development — with a strong focus on supporting entrepreneurs, fostering innovation, and building sustainable regional growth. Site visits have included coworking hubs that are rethinking what shared workspaces can look like — including a creative example combining coworking with a café and bicycle repair shop. This afternoon, the group will attend Laval Virtual, a world-leading festival celebrating immersive technology, incubation and cross-sector innovation. Connected Hubs looks forward to continuing its contribution to the CODIL Project by sharing learnings from Ireland’s national hub network and supporting other regions in developing their own successful, connected ecosystems. Thank you to Valerie Moreau and her team for their hospitality during our time in Laval. #ConnectedHubs #CODILProject #Coworking #Innovation #EcosystemBuilding #KnowledgeSharing #LavalVirtual

As part of the N-LITE Project, our partners from Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK) joined us at Rathcroghan Visitor Centre for a motion capture session, bringing ancient Irish legends to life through cutting-edge immersive technology. This collaboration supports the creation of innovative digital experiences that enhance cultural tourism in the Western Region — reaching new audiences and celebrating our rich literary heritage. Learn more about N-LITE here: https://lnkd.in/geG7HnNp 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘕-𝘓𝘐𝘛𝘌’𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. #NLITEProject #WesternDevelopmentCommission #LiteraryTourism #ImmersiveTech #Rathcroghan #DigitalHeritage #WesternRegion #Roscommon #interreg, #interregNPA Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Mary Keaveney Imelda McCarron

"𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒-𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠." As Regional Development Executive at the Western Development Commission, Teresa Hooks works to foster growth and collaboration within Ireland’s creative industries. She highlights the 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗽 as a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect, form valuable partnerships, and expand into international markets. Are you ready to take your creative business to the next level? Apply now and let Ireland’s creative brilliance shine on the global stage! 👉 https://loom.ly/nusUS0M

University of Galway 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 is in full flow. Keynote speaker, Harry Hughes, CEO of Portwest Ireland, shared the journey of Portwest saying: "𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑝, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 - 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑤." Speaking on the subject of Leadership for the Future of Work, Margot Slattery, Global Group Head of Sustainability, ISS A/S said "𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝐼 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 - 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑠. 𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡." Key themes discussed focused on the use and future impacts of AI. #GalwayBusinessSummit Galway Chamber itag & itag Skillnet European Digital Innovation Hubs Network Data2Sustain Údarás na Gaeltachta Fáilte Ireland Nelipak Healthcare Packaging University of Galway - J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics