An Ecosystem for Bio-economy Innovation

Cill Ulta’s regeneration

Since 2004, Cill Ulta has transformed the 13 acre site into a social enterprise centre and test bed for sustainability and economic development. Their mission is to champion the bioeconomy, food sovereignty, sustainable energies, farm-to-fork research, circular economy, Irish agricultural heritage and the Irish language.

In the last 5-years (2017 -2023), the Cúlra Créafóige project has been dedicated to rejuvenating the economic viability of agriculture in Cloich Cheann Fhaola through sustainable and ecological farm enterprise diversification, focusing on the cultivation of abandoned lands using regenerative agriculture and heritage crops.

The project will be the next step to becoming a living lab where industry and academia collaborate and innovate. It will create local employment in the Gaeltacht area, helping to preserve knowledge and language. It will showcase regenerative agricultural practices and conserve natural habitats. It will become a hub for the community and a place of education.

Site Development

The Cill Ulta site has long been associated with regional regeneration. Early 1960s construction of eight greenhouses began on the 13-acre property. Heavily dependent on oil for heating the structures, vegetable production became unsustainable in the 1980s. After years of abandonment, in the early 2000s, Cill Ulta began reconverting the area for sustainable and regenerative agricultural production.

From the linear to the bioeconomy

The dominant economic model today is based on the linear economy, which is not any more sustainable. Even the circular economy, a revolutionary improvement, is still dependent on the extraction of raw materials and results in waste.

The bioeconomy, however, offers society a path to apply knowledge, science, technology and innovation as sustainable solutions to the way we use and consume our biological resources, which respects nature and increases social equality by reducing the use of fossil resources and developing local practices, products and jobs in the places we want to live.

The Bioeconomy Tapestry

In combining bioeconomy and the tech industry, the masterplan proposes a unique environment that will challenge preconceived ideas and act as a fertile ground for the development of new ideas and approaches. Symbiotic relationships will emerge as the tapestry evolves and strengthens. Strands that might usually compete are given space to thrive. The Bioeconomy Tapestry creates an environment to learn from and preserve essential heritage while innovating to meet today’s challenges.

The bioeconomy masterplan

The concept for the masterplan is to weave together the many pressures, challenges, ambitions and opportunities that exist between the brief, the context, the site and the bioeconomy to create a project that is more than the sum of its parts. The result is a rich tapestry of strands that are not typically found together. Heritage and Innovation, agriculture and nature.

Heritage and innovation
At the advent of modernity, heritage and tradition started to become seen as old ways of doing things, out of date and less efficient. While modernity brought many great improvements, it also brought environmentally damaging practices. The location of Cill Ulta in the rural Donegal Gaeltacht means that much of the agricultural and cultural heritage of the area remains in living memory. With new challenges, this heritage is now being looked at as holding potential solutions. New insights and understanding can produce innovations within these heritage practices breathing new life into them and taking us forward. The masterplan seeks to both learn from heritage and modern practices and to provide an incubator space for them to thrive and cross pollinate.

Responding to Change
As the year passes, the type of work, wildlife and feeling of the site will change too. This transience, sowing and harvest, death and rebirth is part of the essential character of the site. The change in the rhythm of the life of the site that this creates has been understood and incorporated into the design of the masterplan.

The existing greenhouse
The existing greenhouse is the last remaining of the eight that once occupied the site and has recently been renovated. It will remain the main internal cultivation structure and a sensory garden will be created. A new entrance will be built on the north facade to connect to the circular route.

Celebrating the Harvest
Harvest time in rural Ireland is traditionally an important time of celebration. Communities gathered to celebrate the end of the growing season and, through meitheal, supported each other in bringing home the harvest. The proposal is to use Cill Ulta's camps during this time to bring together staff, business workers, researchers and students. The camps could be transformed into outdoor gathering spaces to showcase the traditional culture and the economy.

Blue and Green Bioeconomy
Being an island, Ireland is strategically well positioned to exploit the potential of the sea from a bioeconomy perspective. Cill Ulta enjoys a privileged position that allows the development of blue bioeconomy activities such as seaweed harvesting.

The masterplan

Integrated services
The servicing of the site is designed to minimize any potential negative aftermath on the surrounding environment and provide a net positive impact on energy production and organic waste processing. Existing overall energy demand, including on-site transportation emissions, was estimated, as well as strategies to cover this demand and additional loads proposed for the masterplan. The high level of ambition when fully realized is for the site to produce more energy than it consumes.