Water wading and dog drawing on the northside this weekend

The Glen River Park on the northside of Cork city will be a hive of activity this weekend to mark this year’s World Water Day which is observed annually on 22 March.

Part of the ongoing Gleann a’ Phúca’ Creative Climate Action project, two free events will take place on 23 and 24 March. On Saturday Catherine Seale-Duggan, Community Water Officer with the Local Authority Waters Programme, will host an event called What’s in the Water? where participants, who are advised to wear wellies for wading, will be asked to consider some questions around the river’s health and how to protect it before using citizen science kick sampling methods to seek out the tiny life forms and organisms that exist in the water.

Ms Seale-Duggan said: “Will we find the elusive caddis fly larva, or the mayfly, that exist only in clean water? Or will we find blood worms that can exist in really polluted rivers? Perhaps we will be surprised!”

The sampling part of the event takes place from 12-1pm, meeting at the bridge at Ballyhooley Road Car Park. All sampling equipment will be provided but attendees are invited to bring along white pots for scooping up river life, a magnifying glass and a picnic for lunch in The Glen Resource Centre.

Afterwards, from 2-4pm, attendees are invited to join artist Elinor Rivers on A Slow River Walk at the water’s edge to continue the sensory exploration of the park and its water bodies.

Meanwhile on Sunday artists Annie Mar and Aaron Ross will host A Dog’s Nose View, a dog drawing workshop where participants will experience the world and explore the sounds and scents of nature from a dog’s perspective. Dog walkers will be led by their canine friends on an excursion around the park, stopping at their favourite locations which owners will then be supported to draw from their dog’s perspective.

For more, visit gleannaphuca.ie.