25 May, 2016

It is CIT’s first year being part of Enactus and the team were very excited and proud to represent CIT in the Enactus Ireland National Competition for Social Entrepreneurship. The team comprised of Rebecca Robinson (Team Leader), Kiran Shaju, Jack Milne-Dowd, Dylan Dixon-O’Rourke and Martin Crowley.

The team travelled to Dublin to present the work accomplished to date to a panel of judges made up of CEO’s, Managing Partners and key influencers and players in industry. Enactus CIT presented two projects that were the focus of this year’s efforts.

At the start of the semester Enactus CIT students worked on setting about the introduction of an apiary on campus with the vision of creating micro businesses from the by-products of beekeeping e.g. honey, candles, soap, moisturisers etc. Enactus CIT has received approval from the President of CIT, Brendan Murphy, to go ahead with this project which would have multiple benefits. Establishing an apiary would benefit many departments and students in CIT by learning through a multi-disciplinary approach, impacting such departments and courses that include business, engineering, horticulture, culinary arts, social care and science to name a few.

The local community would benefit in terms of training and education initiatives that could see individuals learning about the importance of biodiversity as well as providing skills to individuals who may be unemployed so they could set up their own businesses from keeping bees. The other add-on benefits of establishing an apiary is the positive impact on the local environment, economy and society. The vision for this project is that in time Enactus CIT plan to create flat pack versions of apiaries for exportation to developing countries along with a training manual in order to promote social, environmental and sustainable enterprises internationally. This is a long term project however Enactus CIT will be working on this over the summer months. 

Secondly, Enactus CIT set about pursuing a shorter term impactful project with individuals and marginalised groups within the Cork City area. After an initial needs assessment with various charity partners, Enactus CIT chose to work with Churchfield Community Trust and The Cork Foyer Project. Churchfield Community Trust is based around giving individuals who have addictions or who offended the confidence and skills to improve their future prospects. The Cork Foyer Project, a partner of Churchfield Community Trust is a transitional housing and training centre for young people aged 18 to 25 who were homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless.

Churchfield Community Trust and The Cork Foyer Project were chosen as a perfect fit for Enactus CIT students to get involved as they have 3 main initiatives that match up perfectly to what courses are offered in CIT. Churchfield Community Trust have a Garden Café where they serve their own produce grown on site, they have a growing area where they grow chemical free plants and herbs to supply into Cork University Hospital and finally they have a carpentry workshop where they make high quality garden and crèche furniture. This allowed CIT students studying various subjects to get involved in many aspects of the organisation, using the students skills, benefitting themselves and the Trust. Along with Churchfield Community Trust, students helped to provide marginalised individuals with more of an opportunity to develop their skills and give them the experience and confidence to pursue their careers further.

Enactus CIT are very encouraged by the progress to date and are looking forward to next semester. The projects undertaken to date compliment CIT as an institution, it develops students and it complements the courses being offered in craft and design, horticulture, business, culinary arts, engineering and tourism and hospitality to name a few. This synergy compliments also our partners in a highly impactful, skilled and resourceful way.

Enactus CIT are very proud of the direct impacts that have benefited over 86 individuals to date, these impacts include: • Enabling more participants to benefit from what Churchfield Community Trust can offer

• Reducing inequalities and providing our partners with more innovative infrastructures
• Creating equal opportunities in terms of training and access to education
• Creating business development and growth opportunities for our partners
• Encouraging efficient, effective and environments use of the land CIT competed against 8 other institutes and universities within Ireland.

Dublin City University were this year’s worthy winners and we wish them all the best in The Enactus World Cup taking place in Toronto in September this year. If you would like to find out more or get involved in any of our initiatives please contact rebecca.robinson@mycit.ie

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