A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND initiative for Ireland devised by students in Portlaoise will be launched on Wednesday 11 December.
‘Walk on Wednesday’ (WOW) came about when over 50 students and their teachers from six local primary schools gathered in county hall for a ‘Portlaoise Travel Cluster Project’ forum to discuss creating safer, healthier and more sustainable school journeys.
The project marks the first time in Ireland that all schools within a single town have collaboratively focused on the Green-Schools Travel theme simultaneously.
The forum was facilitated by Green-Schools travel officers Michèle Castiaux and Chiara Hanrahan.
Students were encouraged to share their achievements from their October Walk to School Week and to plan for the groundbreaking town-wide launch of the weekly WOW on Wednesday 11 December.
Laois County Council’s environmental awareness officer Sam McLeod said that A WOW day is where everyone who can, walks to school and work.
He said: “This is something that everyone can take part in, even if they can’t walk all the way from home. If you park ‘n’ stride you are still walking into school. On the bus, can you get off a stop early and walk the rest of the way?”
Students from Scoil Bhríde who attended the forum in county hall said: “It was such a fun and informative few hours. We played games and had a quiz, but we also had some serious issues to discuss. We talked about how to improve the traffic situation around our schools and we discussed our first WOW Day.”
Three weeks after the primary school students’ attendance at the forum, 28 students from the four secondary schools around town also gathered for their forum.
They began planning how their schools would promote and execute the town-wide WOW launch.
One of their suggestions was to hold a Santa Stroll. The plan was to ask Laois Chamber Alliance to play a key role by encouraging local businesses to support and motivate their staff to take part in the festive, community-driven event.
Chiara Hanrahan, travel officer and team leader with Leinster Green-Schools, said: “Green-Schools are excited to work with Laois County Council to deliver this exciting cluster project along with the ten schools in Portlaoise. By working together as a community, we can achieve so much more. We hope to see real change on the daily school run in the town, such as reducing congestion, emissions and happier, healthier students.”
For the Portlaoise Travel Cluster Project, Laois County Council is sponsoring the implementation of the Green-Schools Travel theme, aiming to increase sustainable travel among students and pupils.
The initiative, said the council, uses proven strategies from the national Green-Schools Travel programme, including travel audits, student surveys, educational workshops and mapping exercises.
By promoting walking, cycling, scooting and the use of public or shared transportation, the programme encourages a shift toward active, eco-friendly travel options. This approach not only fosters healthier habits among students and pupils but also reduces local traffic congestion and emissions, supporting broader climate and sustainability goals for the county.
Laois County Council’s community climate action officer Karen Moore said: “The forums were so helpful to the schools in giving them a sense of community, working to a common goal of more people walking and cycling in Portlaoise.
“One really noticeable output was the advice Chiara and Michèle from Green-Schools gave on how the students can effectively deliver this messaging back in their schools so that people listen and feel they can act.”