Damon Henry

Over the next two years, what do you hope to achieve through your work with local communities?

I want to support the realignment of the Lagan in the minds of the people who live around it. The river is the city’s greatest heritage asset. A healthy and living Lagan has the potential to connect all of us and to be a symbol of a city at peace with itself and its environment. To achieve that admittedly lofty goal, the first step is to see the people in the local community using the Lagan on a regular basis, not just commuting along its banks to work, but to use its full potential, to be able to spend time on or around it as in other cities across the world. If my work can assist in bringing people to the water, in enabling the community to feel a greater modicum of ownership over it, then I will be delighted with the work we have done across this project.

How can people living in the area get involved, share their stories or help shape the future of Belfast Historic Waterfront?

There is a litany of ways to get involved in the project, either with ourselves here at LORAG or with our partners across the waterfront. If you want to reach me directly you can do so via heritageengagement@lorag.org if you have any stories related to the history of the Lower Ormeau, south Belfast or the river generally then please get in touch! Otherwise, keep an eye on our social media and publications like Neighbourhood Matters for updates on projects, such as our Lockhouse development, and invitations to get involved with our plans. We will be running joint projects between the three areas involved and establishing bodies for residents like the Waterfront Heritage Forum – watch this space!

How to you plan to increase the awareness of your communities to Maritime Heritage and increase their sense of connection to the Belfast Historic Waterfront?

Life can be so hectic for people that it can be all too easy to overlook the things directly in front of us. In such a noisy world to get people to slow down and take stock is a gradual process and must be done in a way that is useful for those you’re asking to join you on that journey. So, you start by building steady foundations, you make your activities accessible and fun for a variety of people, meeting the community where it’s at. Utilise your space and resources wisely by asking people what they want to see from the project and by collaborating with what is already ongoing across the waterfront. All the while, you’re bringing people to the river, sharing the space around it and educating them in how it works. As an example, our walking group participated in a Lagan wildlife bingo with our partners in Ulster Wildlife, showcasing the breadth of life the river holds but we all too often miss. This was part of a wider citizen science project called The Big River Watch, contributing a small piece to a huge range of data across Ireland and Britain.  The best way to increase awareness is just to go and do it, prove it, that it can be done, that the river truly belongs to us all and watch awareness grow organically. There is no better example of this than the Féile na hAbhann (festival of the river) which has grown from a small community festival to a two-day affair with over 14,000 in attendance. This has transformed the Lagan walkway into a vibrant, colourful space, making it the connective tissue between communities, instead of a commuter highway or space for anti-social behaviour. With foundations like that to build from the process of increasing connection has already started, come along with us and help us shape the rest of the journey.