Cascade

Cascade – Connecting Communities to Climate Change Down our Laneways

Cascade is a Creative Climate Action project exploring how Ballina’s historic laneways can adapt to increased rainfall due to climate change by transforming these spaces into beautiful, climate-resilient public spaces. Laneway ideas were co-designed with the Ballina community throughout the project, ensuring that outcomes reflect local needs, stories, and ambitions. Residents, businesses, schools, community groups, and Mayo County Council worked alongside the Cascade team through a series of workshops and laneway activities. Together, they mapped problems such as flooding, lack of planting, and underused spaces, then imagined practical “what if” interventions - from raingardens and pocket forests to art installations and river links.

As part of this collaborative process, the Cascade team created a negotiated design for Ballina’s laneways, a plan that reflects ideas gathered from residents over the project’s two-year duration.

The negotiated plan:

• Celebrates water and the unique qualities and histories of place
• Strengthens connection across the town
• Embraces inclusivity in the design of public space

The plan proposes practical, repeatable interventions to make better use of rainwater and underused laneway spaces. Rain could be diverted into raingardens, swales, green roofs, and rills, turning stormwater into a visible, celebrated resource. Collected rainwater could feed drinking fountains, pet bowls, or cleaning systems, while pocket forests and community gardens introduce greenery and activity into the lanes. Sensory experiences, water features, and art installations deepen people's connection with water and place.

Some of these interventions have been introduced in O’Hora’s Lane, which has been revitalised as a vibrant, climate-resilient shared space. The laneway has been transformed with cleaning, painting, replaced rainwater goods, functional art, rainwater planters, sensory elements, seating, and a rainwater-fed green wall of over 600 plants. Together, these interventions capture, slow, and redirect rainwater while supporting biodiversity and improving air quality. They transform the laneway into an inviting space where people can pause, sit, listen, and enjoy water as a celebrated feature of the urban landscape. Downpipes carry out essential but often overlooked work, and this inspired the functional artwork ‘Ida’ by Ríonach Ní Néill - an aluminium downpipe sculpted in the profile of a woman's face. The piece honours Ida O’Hora, a Ballina freedom fighter who, at just 19, founded the town’s Cumann na mBan branch and played a vital role in Ireland's War of Independence.

Cascade invites communities to imagine the full potential of their town laneways. The installation in O’Hora’s Lane demonstrates what’s possible, while the negotiated plan offers a shared vision for future transformation.

You can view the negotiated plan here, and we welcome feedback via this short online form - (opens in a new window)https://forms.gle/zbMNyMayoSvgZGUF6

Dates: 10 Oct 2023 - 31 Dec 2025

Research Team:

• Dr Philip Crowe,
• Ms Orla Murphy