Off Grid - The 4 Cs
Care: Well, care is perhaps the biggest concern in our innovation. This is because we are carrying out this project as of the fact that we all CARE about the environment on the Offgrid team. The aim of our project is to introduce green energy into our community through the school, and alongside this we hope to make others aware of the environment and to start considering their impact on this planet more carefully. Care is a major factor in this project because what we want to get across our passion for the environment, and really pass it on to other individuals, in our community, and elsewhere. We want to address the problem of the lack of green or solar energy in Ireland by incorporating the issue into our YSI project, and how important it is to try and make a difference. This is because we are releasing greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. CO2 and CFCs (Chloro-fluoro carbons) can disrupt the delicate balance of nature and life itself, by rising sea levels and drastically altering the state of weather in our world. We want to show that we care about the environment and the future as well as the wellbeing of the world in time to come. We take care seriously and want to show just how big of an aspect care is to our project, and simply encourage… care.
Cooperation: Now, what is a project without cooperation. Be it within a group or between other bodies, to make things work, you have to work with others. So, we started the project on the encouragement and inspiration of our teacher, Mr. Sam, who promoted and cooperated with us to come up with ideas for the project. With his help, we began to explore the environment and the implications we as humans are having on or world as we know it. We then arrived at Offgrid. A project with the aim of introducing green energy into our community, making others aware, educating others and throughout all of this, working with other. But before we cooperated with others we had to cooperate amongst ourselves. We did this by utilising teamwork and everyone’s skills to appoint coordinators, researchers, writers, implementers and communicators to cooperate with various bodies of relevance and ultimately make the project a success.
But subsequently, we decided to research solar energy companies with the aim of integrating renewable energy into the school. Eventually, we landed on Activ8 Energies and agreed that they would be the most fitting body for us to cooperate with, and just that we did. We talked with Margaret King of Activ8 Energies as a representative and in this way, she presented us with the most suitable solar package available to us, the prices involved and so on. This is one way we cooperated with someone and in doing so we built up the reputation of their company, our school and the project as a whole, as we had cooperated with a large external body and this is a fine achievement and boost for all. Also, we cooperated with more individuals outside the community like politicians such as Bríd Smith, Eugene ‘Gino’ Kelly, Richard Bruton, Minister for education and Denis Naughton plus more. We contacted Brid Smith initially as she had been in the process of introducing a bill in relation to the environment (Limiting/reducing the sale of fossil fuels). We cooperated with Brid Smith by organising a meeting with her to discuss our project and her views on everything also. Through this we gained a valuable contact, who promoted our project by having it shown to the Dáil and also paving the way for more collaboration with the oireacthas and the Government in general. We received advice from Gino Kelly as regards how to approach getting our message across ( In terms of green energy etc) and this is how we have cooperated with politicians. Not to mention, we have recently started getting onto Richard Bruton and Denis Naughton, who have noted our endeavours an are looked to in terms of cooperation to back our project, as many people have.
Speaking of which, a vital part of this project has been cooperating with our school, in several ways. We have cooperated with them by updating them with details, events and processes of the project, and through this they are currently supporting our project and helping us do so too. For example, we looked to them in a board meeting, of which members of our group attended, too find they could fund half of our project’s expense on the solar panels if needs be, and really admired the goal. Furthermore, we have arranged a nonuniform day within the school, which has the potential to raise a lot of money for the project, as well as raise awareness for everything it stands for too. Not to mention, we have also looked at cooperating with the community, which can hopefully be done more extensively in the future. This may include igniting solar energy in the area, encouraging people to live clean, green lives, and making them inspire other to do the same. Anyway, these are some ways we would love to give back to our community, and these examples have been glimpses /synopses of the way in which cooperation is important to us, and we believe it is in any project.
Communication: As for communication. Well, one of the goals of this project is to communicate our message of caring for the environment, cooperating with others and making a change. This is an important part of the project. For starters, we had to communicate with our teacher the ideas and plans for the project. Throughout this we had to communicate as a team to establish what roles we would play in the grand scheme of things and really make this project a success. All through communication.
Following on from this, we had to communicate with bodies like Activ8 Energies in order to find out more about the solar panels. We then learnt which ones one should get from Margaret King, all through communication. As well as this, communication was key as we spoke with various politicians and spokespeople like Bríd Smith, Gino Kenny and Richard Bruton, in person, on the phone and in email, all forms of communication we have used throughout the course of the project.
As or our Speak Out, we have begun to discuss this matter in relation to what we may do. For one, I think it may be interesting to display our logo “Offgrid” and dress accordingly with the theme of green, whether this be literally in green, or actual figuratively related environmental themes like as the solar panels, wind vane or sun, this could also be accompanied with our school uniform. We could then have our best speakers address everyone on the project and what it entails, and all else.
Change: Finally, change. Well, the word innovation means change or the introduction of something new. As regards our idea. It is simply to bring about environmental awareness to as large an audience as we can, by perhaps introducing green energy into the school or educating others on all aspects of this change like the information behind it and even the fact of guiding others through the process. You see, what we want to do is not just change our school and community. We want to inspire others to make people change. Maybe by showing how passionate we are about the project we can encourage others to care for the environment. To think about how they live their lives and how they could live greener. We have made change by being some of the first people to attempt YSI in our school, being the first to attend board meetings, get onto solar companies, and so on and so forth, but we would like alternative things too. We want people to care as much as we do. To try and make a change maybe not in others’ lives, but they’re own. Because, at the end of the day that’s all it takes to make a change, an innovation. To change just one person’s life.
Thank you
Leo Cunningham-The Offgrid Team.