“It is critical to build and support leadership skills in local communities”

Lisa Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer at Tipperary Energy Agency, Ireland.

Through its people-centred approach, the Climate Leadership Programme by REMARKABLE addresses the key characteristics of leaders. What are the attributes of a climate leader to you?

A climate leader has resilience, a deep capacity to stay the course on climate leadership and withstand setback and short term agendas and negative stakeholders.

Then, the climate leader possesses flexibility, given the longer-term nature of the actions and policies that are being implemented, leaders must be able to adapt to changing circumstances, stakeholders and funding whiles maintaining forward momentum.

Finally, the leader is collaborative because they need to be able to bring a wide range of participants and stakeholders with them to achieve both long term goals and short term wins.

Why does Ireland need climate leaders?

Climate actions impact on all aspects of society. To be effective these actions need leaders who bring focus, momentum and clear communications otherwise plans can become diluted and superseded by short term priorities.

Tipperary Energy Agency’s vision is that all communities, organisations, and citizens participate in the energy transition and achieve carbon neutrality. How do you support climate leadership in practical terms?

We have seen leaders with a willingness to be first mover, willing to take risks, financial and political to make actions happen. They are also able to convince stakeholders to support their plans.

We at Tipperary Energy Agency provide technical and strategic advice to leaders. We also educate and advocate on climate actions locally, thereby building support and knowledge in our community for climate actions.

We through our European partners and networks, bring best practice knowledge to our local leaders and bring evidence of climate actions from other European countries.

Lisa Vaughan

This can be very effective in demonstrating the benefits of proposed climate actions locally

Why do you think REMARKABLE is what local leaders and communities in Ireland need?

To deliver complex change in the adoption of climate actions in any organisation or community, it is critical to build and support leadership skills in participants at many levels. REMARKABLE will give local leaders the opportunity to step back from  busy day to day activity and  focus on how to enhance their personal skills, capability and  communication styles to deliver climate actions and gain broad support for them. They will also have the opportunity to gain from and transfer knowledge and skills to each other and to emerging leaders through a robust learning framework.