They’re the little surprises that make life interesting.

And if you’ve got an idea for a project that will enhance, improve, and enliven people’s experience of Cork city centre with a focus on public spaces, increasing footfall and supporting the local economy, Cork City Council wants to hear it.

They’ve just launched the 2023 City Centre Placemaking Fund, inviting local community groups and businesses located within the city centre to apply.

Potential projects range from greening and environmental improvement projects to atmospheric lighting, murals, and artistic attractions, provided they contribute to people’s overall health, happiness, and wellbeing.

If you’re looking for inspiration, previous projects supported by the Placemaking Fund have included ‘La Cocina Pública/The Public Kitchen’ where a mobile kitchen housed in a shipping container offered dinner to up to 200 people using local recipes, aromas, practices and customs from the South Parish area residents and included performance, story-telling, and music.

The original city centre parklet on Douglas Street was also a popular project and was later rolled out to locations all over the city.

As well as the street art on St. Paul’s Avenue, the fund also saw Pope’s Quay transformed as Myo Café worked with street artists, art tutors, stonemasons, the Cope Foundation, and the Simon Community to install outdoor chessboards and planter seats.

“We are particularly interested in projects that contribute to the greening of the streets and encourage urban biodiversity in the city centre which may include for example window boxes, hanging baskets, outdoor areas/rooftops with pollinator-friendly or edible plants, creating vertical green walls, food towers or installing bird/bat boxes or insect motels.” said a spokesperson for Cork City Council.

The application form can be downloaded here and the closing date is Friday, June 9th, 2023.