A small coastal village in southwest Ireland, with a population of just over 600, proudly claims that it is the only place in the country to have the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) incorporated into its village sign.
The residents of Fenit, which sits on the shores of Tralee Bay in County Kerry, decided in 2021 that their first-ever ‘Welcome to Fenit’ sign should do more than list amenities.
“It should express the values, priorities and principles of the village,” says Catherine Carty, UNESCO Chair Manager at Munster Technological University and member of the Fenit Town Hall Community Group.
The SDG symbol, which represents the 17 goals agreed by the UN’s 193 member states in 2015 as a blueprint for a better world, was decided upon as a fitting choice for the small coastal community.
“It was an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to an important global and national agenda at the local level,” says Carty. “It made the SDGs visible, local and practical.”
Global goals on a local level
Awareness of the SDGs was initially very low in the village, Carty notes, and those who had heard of them did not know how to connect them to local life. Once explained, residents responded positively.
“Instead of focusing on the negative, it orients people to the actions they can take,” notes Carty.
A major focus of the village when applying the SDGs is protecting the waters of Tralee Bay, which is a Blue Dot waterbody. This status is given to Ireland’s highest quality, most ecologically sensitive waters or coastal bodies.
Residents take part in beach clean-ups, and locals are spreading awareness about the importance of water quality, including working with schools and young people.
An abundance of life under water
Beneath the surface, Tralee Bay offers a rich ecosystem that includes eelgrass meadows, native oyster beds and seaweed habitats. It is one of the few self-seeding wild oyster fisheries in Europe, an important species that can support biodiversity.
“Tralee Bay is wide, shallow and estuarine, with rivers flowing into it. That productivity creates a mosaic of habitats, such as seagrass, reefs of seaweed and other underwater habitats, supporting life from juvenile fish and sea bass to undulate skate, white skate and angelshark,” says Louise Overy, a Marine Biologist at Munster Technological University, which has a campus in Tralee.
The abundance of life in the bay also includes dolphins, crayfish, lobster and spider crabs. The area has even been recognised as an Important Shark and Ray Area, providing an important habitat for threatened species.
However, the bay’s inhabitants are at risk.
“Undulate ray down 97%; the monk fish, the angel shark, massively down, almost extinct,” says underwater videographer and filmmaker Ken O’Sullivan. “How do you explain that to future generations if we don’t protect that and if we don’t do it now?”
From source to sea
“Really good water quality is key to maintaining the amazing life that we see beneath the water,” says marine biologist Overy.
To raise awareness, locals have made a film, entitled ‘Tralee Bay Blue Dot’, which explains how activities upstream affect bathing water and marine biodiversity.
“People now better understand that what happens upstream in homes, farms, forests, rivers and drains can affect the bay,” says Carty, who produced the film.
Farmers and foresters are now working to prevent agricultural runoff (water that can contain fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste) from entering the rivers and destroying sensitive habitats.
Fenit’s bathing water is currently rated Excellent, but the wider catchment needs ongoing protection and targeted action.
“Excellent bathing water should not lead to complacency; it should motivate the community to protect what is good and restore what has declined,” says Carty.
Greater awareness, greater action
Within the local community, water quality is now a popular topic for discussion.
Fionola Hogan, a retired Clinical Psychologist, swims five mornings a week in the bay, even in winter, an activity she describes as “part of my routine, my health and my community.”
“As swimmers, we are very aware that water quality is not abstract, we feel it directly,” she details. “Clean water gives people confidence to swim, brings individuals and families to the beach and keeps the bay safe for everyone.”
In the local secondary school, teacher Mo O Connor says students are taught about the SDGs by learning about the bay’s water quality and biodiversity, and the importance of climate action through litter and community projects.
“The SDGs become easier to understand when pupils can connect them to places they know,” says Mo O Connor. “They understand that protecting the bay is not just something adults or governments do, young people can help too.”
Beach clean-ups are part of the school programme, and students identified one of the main culprits behind litter.
“We realised that around 90% of litter we were picking up was wet wipes which were forming strands along the shoreline,” says 17-year-old student representative Abby. “When we identified this issue, we wanted to be part of the solution.”
Four-year deadline
With less than four years left until the 2030 deadline to achieve the SDGs, the UN Secretary-General recently called on the global community to “fully implement” them, urging that the “world cannot go back.”
For Carty in Fenit, she hopes the small village can be a shining inspiration, emphasising that sustainable development is about “moving together, from source to sea, from this generation to the next.”