On Saturday, the 8th of October 2022, Maria Walsh MEP launched the Smart Villages Headford Initiative with the aim of enhancing cooperation, building new alliances, and delivering funding for the town. Having previously announced Mountbellew as its pilot location in November 2021, Galway Rural Development confirmed Headford as its second location, following a town meeting which had a capacity crowd in attendance to discuss the potential of the town as a ‘Smart Village’ destination.
Speaking at the launch, CEO of Galway Rural Development Steve Dolan, said:
“Essentially, the Smart Villages concept opens up new opportunities to improve the sustainability of rural areas and it reflects the principles and methods associated with being ‘smart and competitive’. By any measure, Smart Villages Mountbellew has been an unqualified success and we’ve now had a wonderful beginning here in Headford.
“As a start point, Smart Village training has been developed to address the needs of the community and businesses alike… to help up-skill the wider Headford community under a number of strategic themes in the areas of food, nature, smart towns, and transport…”
More information on the launch can be found here.
An article entitled ‘Mountbellew – A Rural and Smart Future’, is featured on pages 14-15 in the 2nd edition of the NRN’s Smart Villages and Rural Towns Newsletter launched earlier this year. You can view it here.
Image source: Galway Rural Development
Source: Galway Rural Development
