This article is from page 4 of the 2014-04-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A MAJOR new survey is being undertaken in North Clare, which aims to examine how happy the 18,000 residents of the greater Burren area are with their lot in life.
The survey, which is being undertaken by the newly-formed ChangeX Burren organisation, is the first of its kind in Ireland and will be used to analyse different approaches that could be taken to sustaining Burren communities, which are under constant threat from depopulation and economic hardship.
When completed, the ChangeX Burren project will be used as a prototype to roll out a ‘wellness’ analysis of other communities in Ireland and eventually to compare relative happiness in different areas as well as tracking changes over time.
Work on the ChangeX Burren survey has been underway since February and the project will be officially launched on May 8. Once the survey have been completed, they will be analysed with the help of NUI, Galway, and a number of community initiatives will be promoted to tackle any problems identified in he survey.
These initiatives include the promo- tion of a number of existing community groups such as Grow It Yourself (GIY) groups, Coder Dojos and the Slow Food Movement.
“The idea of the survey is to give us an insight into what innovations would work [to improve life] in the Burren region but also to measure well-being. Key to the whole process is community involvement and we want to community to take this into their own hands from the very beginning,” said Elaine Williams of ChangeX Burren.
“Well-being is a very broad term, and one person’s idea of well-bring is very different to anothers, so people will define their own definition of well-being for themselves. The hope is that through the survey we will be able to come up with a base-line definition of well-being for the Burren.
“The Burren is the pilot project for this. It is a great opportunity for the people of the Burren to be involved in this. It is the perfect place to start. We are very excited because there is already a great community spirit in the Burren.”
The group are hoping to collect as many completed surveys as possible before the end of next week but will continue to collect surveys after that date. To complete the survey email elaine@changex.io.