Donegal’s Áine Coll honoured for her dedication to innovative climate action

Donegal’s Áine Coll, who went above and beyond as a Climate Ambassador in 2025, has been recognised at An Taisce’s annual Climate Ambassador Awards, which took place in Dublin’s historic Tailors’ Hall.

The room was filled with a wonderfully diverse group of people, differing in the counties they call home, their generation, occupation, interests, skills, life experiences, and journey, yet they all share a common connection as Climate Ambassadors and their dedication to planet protection.

Ten awards were presented, with the honoured Climate Ambassadors representing organic farmers and horticulturists, Lions Clubbers, educators, sustainable travellers, active retirees, Tidy Towners, TY and college students.

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As part of the STAND Ideas Collective, UCD student Áine, who is from Oldtown, Falcarragh, was part of the winning team that received funding to develop the Creative Climate Coven. This project reimagines Dublin as a hub for accessible and sustainable arts spaces, such as the derelict space in the Liberties that they restored to create a hub for clothes repair, weaving workshops and life drawing classes. Áine furthered her work harnessing the power of the arts for climate action by delivering nature-themed upcycling workshops for children at the Rose Festival in St Anne’s Park.

While balancing her Master's studies at UCD, she represented the Climate Ambassador Programme at a panel on Climate Action at university level, as well as planting native trees all across the campus.

As a member of the Sustainable Menstruation Youth Advisory Council with VOICE Ireland, she contributed to the development of a menstrual sustainability training manual along with participants from eight European countries. It is no surprise that her volunteering efforts were rewarded when she took part in ‘Be The Arrow’; Gaisce’s 40th anniversary challenge, and received recognition from the former President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins.

Áine on her time as a Climate Ambassador: “I’m from a rural Gaeltacht, so it was really good to be involved in a national campaign like this, especially through An Taisce.”

Cathy Baxter, Director of Education and Community Action, said, “I was delighted to present the Climate Ambassador Awards on behalf of An Taisce and want to acknowledge how this programme fosters a dynamic network of changemakers, driving awareness, sustainability and behavioural change at a local and often national level”.

The collective achievements from all of the 2025 Climate Ambassadors are nothing short of remarkable! 133 Climate Ambassadors were trained by An Taisce’s Climate Action Team earlier this year, and together they delivered 471 climate actions, directly engaging over 216,000 people. The group also released 521 climate communications, reaching an estimated 1.9 million people in 2025!

The Climate Ambassador Programme, with the support of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, has been in operation since 2017. It continues to expand, as proactive citizens decide to upskill in climate science, solutions and communications, enabling them, with support from An Taisce and a strong network of dedicated peers, to carry out climate action.

Throughout the year, Climate Ambassadors engaged their communities in enhancing biodiversity, coastal conservation, freshwater ecology, the circular economy, environmental education, nature restoration, sustainable travel, climate communication through the arts, sustainable energy, tree planting, rewilding, peatland preservation, flood mapping and prevention, and environmental advocacy. In addition to their impressive impact and extensive list of achievements, An Taisce also commends this year’s Climate Ambassadors for uniting communities, boosting neighbourhood bonds, building trust, bridging generational gaps, and playing an important role in shaping Ireland’s future.