A BIOFUEL-POWERED bus left Dáil Éireann yesterday to take 21 young people on a eco fact-finding mission in England and Wales.
The group has been involved in a climate change project organised by Challenge Europe, an international project which has asked 275 young people to develop 40 eco-friendly ideas.
Some 16 countries are involved in the project which is managed on the island of Ireland by the British Council, with support from agencies such as the Cultivate Living and Learning Centre and Comhar, the sustainable development council.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley met the group before they left and said he was interested in seeing what the fact-finding mission uncovered.
“Climate change remains the greatest challenge of this generation and solutions to the global economic situation lie in investment in climate change,” Mr Gormley said. “Ireland has its own unique challenges in the area of climate change but there may be things we can learn from our nearest neighbours.”
The expedition will stop at places such as the Centre for Alternative Technology and the Eden Project in Cornwall. The bus will also visit Totnes, Devon, to see examples of green-lifestyle solutions. Participant Eoin Campbell said the trip is “a fantastic educational opportunity. It is our hope that we will discover ideas and approaches that we can use to inform some of the projects we have been working on.”
