On 29 June, Dundalk hosted the first co-creation workshop with local stakeholders. The event was part of the first series of VARCITIES Co-creation workshops, taking place in June in all the eight Pilot Cities. The goal of the first series of workshops was to introduce the visionary solutions to the local stakeholders in order to validate and refine them collectively, before starting the co-design process.

The event took place online and it was attended by more than 20 participants in total.

The workshop started with Grainne Tuomey (Acting Senior Executive Office Corporate Services Louth County Council) giving an overview of the project, followed by Padraig O’Hora and Ursula Conlon from Louth County Coucil who presented the 3 visionary solutions.

VARCITIES Visionary Solutions

1. Creation of Outdoor Learning Pod between Dundalk Library & Museum Quarter to showcase the newest technologies and host shared functions
2. Outdoor Urban Green learning & Sensory Garden for health and Well-being
3. New Bike Stations and Sensors on Bike-stations

What we learned from participants and local stakeholders (main inputs)

• Concerns were expressed about the relocation of the cars in the courtyard, since the area is also an entry and service area for the Museum
• Explore opportunities to engage volunteers, for instance in the maintenance of the area
• Integrate the Learning Pod as much as possible with the surrounding
• Carefully consider the accesses and the needs for pedestrians and bikes
• Enhance the attractivity of the place
• Safety is a major concern and need to prevent antisocial behaviors