Students given voice at Arcadia Creative Climate Awards exhibition

Giving students a voice on environmental issues is the core focus of the annual Arcadia Creative Climate Awards exhibition (ACCA Expo) which took place on the TUS Athlone campus last week.

The Creative Climate Awards initiative is run by Athlone's Arcadia Retail Park in conjunction with Cllr Frankie Keena's 'Junior Mayor' initiative, which is focused on 'giving young people a voice' on local environmental and political matters.

A total of 17 primary and secondary schools participated in this year's event, which challenged local primary school pupils to develop ideas for helping the environment, while secondary school students were asked to envision what Athlone would look like in 2050.

The annual event was opened by Maeve O’Reilly from TUS Green School Campus who commended the students on their fantastic work in identifying ways to protect our environment.

Town Mayor Cllr Frankie Keena lauded the quality of entries from all the participating schools, stating that the exhibition continues to go “from strength to strength”.

“This year there were 17 participating schools from both the primary and secondary sectors throughout the county. The support from the school staff is really appreciated, as I am very much aware of the demands on their school time.

“This year there were fantastic entries from Ardnagrath NS, Cornamaddy CNS, Clonbonny NS, Ballinahown NS, St Oliver Plunkett Boys NS, Coosan NS, St Mary’s NS, Milltown NS, Scoil na gCeithre Maistri, Athlone Community College and the Marist College.

“The event is one of the highlights of the Junior Mayor initiative as it gives the students an opportunity to work as a team in identifying and delivering a project focused on the environment.

“The quality and standard of the various environmental projects that were on display was exceptional, with some excellent ideas presented by the students. The format is similar to that of the BT Young Scientist event, where each school is given a stand to present their project and to engage with the public,” Cllr Keena said.

The Athlone Mayor complimented all those who helped the exhibition come to fruition, and looked forward to the 2026 hosting of the event.

"A special word of thanks to Fiachra McLoughlin, of Arcadia Retail Park, who annually sponsors the ACCA Expo. Fiachra and his colleagues Mark and Morgan put a lot of work into this event, and, post event, he was talking about what we could do for next year's exhibition.

“Fiachra has a very keen interest in helping and promoting the youth through both sport and wider education.

“The exhibition was kindly hosted by TUS with particular mention to Joanne Gillivan who co-ordinated the programme schedule. Following the exhibition the students and staff enjoyed an excellent presentation by Sheila Plunkett, TUS Research Department, and her colleagues Grace and Awab. The students really engaged with the speakers who had numerous questions relating to their findings. We are so fortunate in Athlone to have such a fabulous university on our doorstep,” Cllr Keena said.