WELL-BEING: Kerry PPN will be hosting the Community Well-being Vision for Killarney Municipal District Area next Thursday. Pictured were: Deirdre Hegarty (KCC Healthy Kerry), Mike Riordan (KASI), Caroline Toal (Kerry PPN Development Officer), Kevin Murphy (Social Enterprise Manager Eur Óg) and Susan Murphy (KCC). Photo: Michelle Crean

Exclusive

By Michelle Crean

A brand-new national initiative on community well-being is to be rolled out in Killarney next week.

Kerry Public Participation Network (PPN) wants to hear from all the groups and organisations in the Killarney Municipal District area, as they host the ‘Community Well-being Vision’ for the Killarney Municipal District area next Thursday, February 27 in the KDYS Youth Centre, Fair Hill, Killarney.

Kerry PPN is a collective of all the community, voluntary, social inclusion and environmental groups in Kerry of which there are now over 740 registered groups, Caroline Toal, KPPN Network Development Officer, told the Killarney Advertiser.

Established in 2014, the PPN provides the community voice on Kerry County Council committees, such as the Strategic Policy Committees and the Joint Policing Committee (JPC). It also runs training courses for member groups and shares information about funding and activities.

“Developing a vision for community well-being means thinking about what we have and what we need to help Kerry to be as great as it can be for us and for the many generations that follow on from ours.”

Under this programme, the Kerry PPN and the other 30 Public Participation Networks in the country will look at community well-being under the same headings; social and community development; environment and sustainability; work, economy and resources; health; values, culture and meaning; and participation, democracy and good governance.

“By using these six headings across the country, we can see whether we in Kerry have the same concerns and causes for celebration as others.”

Kerry PPN is very excited to be part of the national community well-being initiative, Bill Morrell, PPN Secretariat member added.

“So, for example, if our natural environment is poor, it will affect our mental and physical health as well as our economy. In other words, all the parts of our community well-being are interconnected.”

Everyone is welcome to come along to this event and groups will also be able to feed in online.

For more information or to get involved you can contact Caroline Toal at 066  7183672 or ctoal@kerrycoco.ie.