Youth Theatre Ireland awarded funding

Youth Theatre Ireland has been awarded funding under the Youth Climate Justice Fund 2026 to deliver a new nationwide programme that will support young people and youth theatre leaders to explore climate justice through theatre, while embedding practical, climate‑positive approaches in how youth theatre is made.

The Youth Climate Justice Fund, administered by the Department of Education and Youth, is designed to help young people design and participate in projects that raise awareness, build skills and drive practical action on climate issues within their communities. This year, the Department announced almost €500,000 in funding for ten youth‑led climate justice projects taking place across Ireland in 2026, with Youth Theatre Ireland receiving over €23,000.

Youth Theatre Ireland’s funded project will deliver up to 16 regional, in‑person workshops across two connected strands:

Youth Theatre Support Scheme – Climate Action TrainingA series of training workshops for youth theatre leaders, building on Youth Theatre Ireland’s previous climate justice work. The sessions will focus on sustainable theatre practices — including low‑waste production methods, circular approaches to materials, and climate‑positive planning — helping leaders to put practical tools in place within their own youth theatre settings.


Climate Positive CreativityA youth‑led programme developed with Youth Theatre Ireland’s Soundboard (Youth Advisory Group). These hands‑on workshops will invite youth theatre members and emerging leaders to explore climate justice through making and design — with practical sessions in costume, set and theatre design. Using participatory theatre techniques alongside sustainability skills, Climate Positive Creativity will support young people to build climate literacy, develop agency, and grow confidence as peer leaders within their groups and communities.


A key legacy output of the project will be the creation of a Youth Theatre Climate Positive Toolkit — a set of accessible, digital resources that will bring together workshop learning, best‑practice guidance, templates, and case studies. The Toolkit will be made freely available online, enabling youth theatres nationwide to adopt and adapt climate‑positive approaches well beyond the funded period.

Youth Theatre Ireland’s Soundboard will continue to play an active role throughout delivery — supporting workshop design, helping to shape engagement with young people across the network, acting as ambassadors for the programme, and contributing to evaluation and review.

Eoghan Doyle, Director of Youth Theatre Ireland, said “We’re sincerely grateful to the Department of Education and Youth for this investment in youth‑led climate justice. This support will allow Youth Theatre Ireland to expand climate‑positive practice across our national youth theatre network, while creating practical resources that can benefit the wider youth arts sector. I also want to warmly thank our Soundboard for their insight, creativity and leadership in shaping the application. At Youth Theatre Ireland we believe in placing the voice of young people at the centre of what we do, and this programme is a direct reflection of that commitment.”