King Charles and I have one thing in common, we both visited Northern Ireland over the past few weeks. Causeway Coast and Glens Peace Officer Sara Jane Mc Goldring had initially invited us to meet to do some PEACE Plus Digital and Data Planning for her programme, and when we reached out we realized that there was an appetite across the province.

Our team of ecologists and business analysts travelled with me, as the CEO, to gain insights into pain points for data and PEACE Plus Planning. Organisations across the region are currently investigating solutions.  I know that our award winning digital solution combined with an place based learning from our ecology team could be an additional resource for a lot of work in implementing the €1.2 Billion project over the next five years.

Travelling across the Province and border regions we visited 

• Causeway Coast and Glens in Coleraine at the Lodge Hotel 
• Donegal, LondonDerry and Innisowen at the Mount Erigal Hotel 
• Eniskillen and the border counties at the Ardowen Theatre 
• Omagh, Starbane and Mid Ulster at the Strule Arts centre 

PEACE Plus Lunch and Learn Events 

Our approach was to host a series of Lunch and Learn events over 15 days. Having lived in this beautiful part of the world for 15 years, the beauty of the region,  this trip was like going back to visit an old friend. We hosted short 45 minute discovery sessions looking at the themes of PEACE Plus, data planning and also our end to end solutions in delivery of Sustainability Programmes as an engagement tool across all programmes specifically in Water  Quality and Biodiversity.

The sessions included PEACE Plus Data Planning by streamlining tracking and achieving engagement. The toolkit of innovative blended programmes was showcased by our ecology team. These award-winning environmental programmes have been rolled out to more than 2000 people in the past two years. They blend place-based learning with online instructor led sessions and fantastic engaging eLearning to ensure we provide in communities with a 26-engagement programme that is accessible and built on the best universal design principles. However, the biggest issue for those attending was the tracking and reporting PEACE Plus data. 

The introduction of PEACE Plus Sustainability blended learning was well received understanding that post Covid our participants are more sophisticated and value time in a different way. Being able to engage across a Zoom, improve and deep dive learning via eLearning while getting out to meet people in person makes it an ideal tool for engagement. 

Sustainability Themes and PEACE Plus Data Planning 

There was great conversation across all PEACE Plus themes, specifically about the need for connection with nature and sustainability. Both the live biological water analysis, chemical water analysis  and eLearning toolkits were really well received. We discussed our other programmes and shared  some videos that showscased the companies ethos. Sustainability is core to our work. In removing paperwork from compliance and spreading awareness around biodiversity we are passionate about making the communities and businesses we serve more green in their approach. Everyone Counts, we value, appreciate and respect everyone we engage with both in house and externally. Our people are the key to our success and we are proud of our diverse and inclusive working environment.

We are lean and dynamic and can adapt to changing environments. Data is at the core and our agile approach allows us to effectively support our clients and makes us responsive and resilient when faced with challenges. We are connectors. Connection is at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s through connecting the communities we serve with our in depth knowledge or the linking of data to the projects for compliance and management purposes.

Biodiversity Programmes and Place Based Learning 

We worked with local government such as  LAWPRO community officers to develop local water biodiversity courses. These included digital and data planning for sustainability information and our team delivered plan mentoring, online sessions, field trips and networking events. 

The larger programmes are outlined below 

• Accredited Courses: LANTRA Climate Action 101 is an accredited action programme to help deepen organisation’s commitment to sustainability.  We will enagle you to develop your sustainable goals and actions around climate and biodiversity to support your environmental Corporate Social Responsibility goals.

• National frameworks: Wild Work. Similarly to PEACE Plus cross border projects this programme was a partnership across 4 regions and is being developed into an national programme by SECAD, Cavan and West Limerick community partnerships. Veri Connect  look after the digital and data planning and  project management and the design and delivery of the ecology courses.  

• Interregional Programmes: Nore Vision From a sustainability point of view data planning and developing digital assets for a living laboratory has resulted in this programme setting up its own River Catchment Trust. Now in it’s third funding cycle this was initially run across Laois, North Tipp and South Tipp partnerships. Some videos below outline the digital enablement we bring as well as place based learning 

Overall we met with 17 individuals from different both sides of the border working in councils and governmental cross border agencies and Leader and other development companies. The feedback was great and we have initiated a number of pilot programmes with our prospective clients to assist them with the start of their process. We look forward to more trips and a very busy 2023 supporting our old and new partners with PEACE PLUS data planning .

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At Veri Connect the software is only the beginning…….We enable effective programme delivery and compliance in a sustainable way through digitisation. Sustainability is core to our work. By removing paperwork from compliance and training delivery, we are passionate about making the communities and businesses we serve more environmentally responsible . We supply training management software for businesses in the public and private sector who need to capture data about their existing programmes. We also have an in house development team who build industry specific custom training solutions for large organisations who need something more bespoke. Finally, we provide training programme management and deliver training for large training programmes. Our key areas are employability, mentorship and biodiversity.