Spark Skills is our community education programme, designed to bring people together to learn practical skills while building trust, relationships, and a sense of shared purpose. The goal is simple: equip people with the skills and confidence to take part in collective climate action and to see themselves as part of something bigger than individual change. 

The course covers practical, hands-on skills like bicycle maintenance, solar energy basics, energy efficiency, and 3D printing for repair. Every session is built around cooperation and teamwork. Participants learn not only how to fix a bike or wire a panel, but also how to work with others, share knowledge, and create something together. 

We piloted Spark Skills with two groups before running it at scale. Feedback was collected through surveys, discussions, and reflective journals kept by participants. This helped us understand what worked, what needed changing, and how social connections were forming in the group. The evaluation was supported by an Action Researcher from Technological University Dublin, who helped us refine the course after each round. 

Graduates of Spark Skills have become active contributors to the wider project. They’ve joined volunteer workdays (or Meitheals), helped prepare our space for events, run surveys and door-knocking campaigns, hosted festival stalls, and even built practical infrastructure like benches and bikes for community use. Many keep coming back to help deliver future courses. 

Spark Skills has shown that when people learn together, they do more than pick up new skills — they build the confidence and connections to take action for their community.