As you all know I am currently a student on Decor8's Blogging Your Way e-course, which I am really enjoying. As part of the course, we are developing mission statements/visions for our blogs, along with lots of other really interesting and thought provoking tasks and discussions. For any of you thinking of blogging or wanting to learn more about blogging, you really should check out the courses they have on offer over on the website, I recommend it highly. Anyway I have been busy developing a mission statement for my blog which I have posted on my About Page and here it is for you all! I am changing my blog layout a little, do you like the grey/white background or did you prefer the floral theme. I would be grateful for any comments or feedback on my mission statement and my blog.....

As most of you may not be aware, my background is in urban and regional development, I have also worked in heritage related posts and in rural development. I am a qualified planner and did some teaching too. I am also a farmers wife, may I add. So today I would like to introduce to you, The Urban Nexus Initiative. This initiative was initiated by two of my  friends whom I met when we pursued a Masters Degree in University College Dublin. While we have gone our own ways career wise since, we are still in contact and enjoy meeting up every so often.

For those of you who are not from Ireland or are not aware of the Initiative, it is a design and research based programme developed in 2010. It's main aim is to explore cities using alternative techniques and methods in order to inspire creativity and originality in the city design. It is all about more holistic approaches to how the urban realm is designed in the modern day city.

In order to put this into practice, they have developed the XXI Century Liffey Project (The Liffey being the main river which flows through Dublin City). This is an urban design project to re-vision and re-imagine the Liffey Quays for the XXI Century. It is basically about the River Liffey and its quays- an iconic space in Dublin City, but a space that seems to have been left behind. Through the project they aim to re-imagine the role the quays play in the XXI Century Dublin by considering design as the vital element in the creation of dynamic and interconnected spaces. They have began to stimulate discussions and debates through various methods including a number of exhibitions, lunch time talks and seminars prior to any proposed plans for the area. Ultimately they hope to initiate new ways of thinking which can be applied to the wider urban areas of Dublin and other cities alike.

{All images from Urban Nexus Initiative}