A decade of courses: The Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co Leitrim is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with some special events interspersed through the already exciting schedule of courses.
A wider variety of courses is now on offer at Jim Cronin's farm near Bridgetown, Co Clare; An Tochar Adult Education Centre, north Co Kerry; and the Airfield Trust, Dundrum, Dublin. New courses at the Organic Centre include How to Green Your Home; How to Green your Tourism Business; Gardening for Parents and Children; Wholesome Cooking for Children and Teenagers; and Growing and Cooking Unusual Vegetables. Other options include a month-by-month organic gardening course, in which participants attend day-long courses throughout the year. The Organic Centre also sells a wide range of organic seeds by mail order. See www.theorganiccentre.ie or tel:071 9854338 for full programme details.
Council gives counsel
Westmeath County Council has just published an impressive series of good practice guidelines regarding biodiversity for developers, householders and local authorities. The leaflets describe the diversity of habitats (including wetlands, fens, callows, woodlands and grasslands) and species (such as Irish hare and corncrake, which are under threat) in Co Westmeath. Crucially, they also offer suggestions on how such habitats and species can be protected during and after construction. Biodiveristy and wildlife legislation is also explained succinctly. The leaflets are available from Bernadette Guest, the heritage officer at Westmeath County Council. Tel: 044-32077; email: bguest@westmeathcoco.ie
Hotels of the future?
Now for our prediction of a new tourism sector that will gain momentum in 2005: the "bio-hotel" phenomenon. Founded in Austria in 2001, the Bio-hotel Association is the first Europe-wide association of organic hotels, with over 20 member hotels - mainly in Austria, Germany and Italy. The association's defined criteria call for hotels to completely convert to organic food (with a few exceptions made for drinks). They also stipulate that bio-hotels should buy regional products wherever possible. Member hotels are subjected to announced annual checks by an organic inspection body as well as unannounced random checks at irregular intervals. Many of the current members have also made a name for themselves in the wellness sector, offering massage, Ayurveda cures and spas. See www.biohotels.info
In the museum
Museum-based activities provide excellent educational opportunities for schools and families, and the new series on habitats at the Natural History Museum, Merrion Street, Dublin should give the over-sevens plenty to reflect on. The series, which begins today at 11.30 a.m. with a look at animals in the Arctic and Antarctic, will also explore the weather conditions desert animals survive in, how woodland animals live and animal life in tropical rainforests. Also, a little advance notice that the birth of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin will be commemorated on February 12th in the National Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin. See www.museum.ie for full programme or tel: 01-6486332.