Farm Walks Project Manager (Phase II) – Request for Tenders

The Dock invites tenders from suitably qualified and experienced individuals or companies to provide Project Management Services for the Farm Walks (Phase II) project.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is Midnight Sunday 23rd March.

ABOUT FARM WALKS

Phase I (2024)

Farm Walks is a Creative Ireland Shared Island initiative led by Leitrim County Council in partnership with The Dock, Leitrim Sustainable Agriculture Group and Ulster Wildlife. In 2024, Phase I consisted of six Farm Walks developed with artists and farmers in Leitrim and Fermanagh. Each Farm Walk featured a talk by an invited artist whose work resonated with that farm, its creative potential, heritage or other special characteristics. Through the Farm Walks, the partners sought to explore the common ground between artists and farmers, to build further capacity for cross-border cooperation, to highlight shared farming and environmental interests, and to showcase common themes of biodiversity, farming in harmony with nature, water quality, and climate action.

Phase II (2025)

In Phase II, the partners seek to deepen collaboration through a programme of ‘residencies’ in 2025. Farmers will be provided with the opportunity to work with an artist to explore common interests and to explore how creative activity can benefit both the farmer and the artist. The format is based on Leitrim County Council’s Spark programme and is bipartite in structure.
The first part of Phase 2 is an open research process of 10 days over 2 months. If, following this 2-month period, an artist/farmer partnership wishes to continue to work together, they can then seek to undertake a further collaboration of 20 days over a 6-month period. 

The programme is broken into these two parts so that for the second part, the proposal is a joint endeavour co-created by the artist and farmer. The number of participants is subject to available funding; the partners anticipate 6 farms will participate in the first part and 4 farms will participate in the second part.

• Links for reference:
  • https://www.thedock.ie/communities/rural
  • https://www.thedock.ie/exhibitions/farm-walks
  • https://www.thedock.ie/artists/farm-walks
  • https://bit.ly/FarmWalkVideos
  • https://www.leitrim.ie/council/services/arts-creativity/leitrim-arts-office/community-engagement/spark/

ABOUT THE ROLE 

The Project Manager will work with the partners to oversee the development and delivery of a series of creative residencies connecting artists and farmers on farms in Leitrim and Fermanagh.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

The Dock is committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to doing the work to ensure the future of the arts is more equal, equitable and representative of Irish society. We are particularly interested in applicants who are currently underrepresented within our team and sector; this includes but is not exclusive to people with Asian, Black, and ethnically diverse heritage, from the LGBTQIA+ community, and/or from working class background.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• To manage the application process and provide support/advice to artists and farmers.
• To provide support to farmers and artists during residencies. In particular:
  • To manage one on-site visit every two months with artist/farmer collaborators. (14 visits)
  • To manage one online check-in every month with artist/farmer collaborators. (28 online check-ins)
  • To support artist/farmer partnerships preparing proposals for 20-day residencies. (Max 6 meetings)
  • To organise three in-person meetings with all partners and participants.
• To ensure key objectives are clearly communicated throughout the project with project partners and stakeholders, with participant farmers and artists, and with the general public. In particular:
  • To attend monthly online meetings with the partners
  • To provide monthly written reports to the partners
  • To prepare short monthly submissions about the project for the partners’ newsletters
• To ensure MOUs are prepared and signed for all stakeholders identifying respective roles and responsibilities including commitments and undertakings and responsibilities in relation to insurance and health & safety.
• To support the evaluation of the project with an external evaluation partner.
• To organise documentation of the project.
• To collate and prepare reports, documentation and evaluation results for submission to funders.

General

• To undertake Safe to Create training as required
• Other duties may be reasonably requested by The Director

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

• Essential
  • Full, clean driver’s licence and own vehicle
  • Minimum 3 years’ professional experience in the arts
  • Excellent time management
  • Excellent written and spoken communication skills
  • Experience working with rural communities
  • Experience working with artists and creatives
  • Experience managing budgets and reporting
• Desirable
  • Experience in managing socially-engaged projects
  • Experience with EDI initiatives
  • Experience with Environmental Sustainability initiatives

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Submissions will be assessed on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender in accordance with the following criteria and weightings:

Criterion A – Eligibility

• Tenders must submit a signed declaration that they can and will comply with the following requirements in relation to tax, insurance and organisational capacity. Only tenderers in a position to provide this may be considered for the contract.
  • Tax Clearance - Tenderers must either submit a valid Tax Clearance Certificate or submit a signed statement that they are able to produce a valid Tax Clearance Certificate should they be awarded a contract.
  • Insurance - Tenderers must submit a signed statement confirming that they either have public liability and employer’s liability in place or confirming that should they be awarded a contract, they are willing and able to procure any insurances deemed necessary.
  • Organisational Capacity - Tenderers must submit a signed statement confirming that they have the time and resources required to carry out the contract and have no other commitments that would prevent the contact from being carried out effectively.

Criterion B – Approach/Methodology as evidenced in cover letter and at interview.

• Tenderers must submit a cover letter outlining their suitability for the role and their approach and methodology to the work that may be further explored at interview.

Criterion C – Track Record

• Tenderers should submit an up-to-date CV or company profile with CVs of relevant personnel that may be involved in the management of projects.

Criterion D – Cost

• Tenderers are asked to provide Lump Sum Cost of Services inclusive of VAT and all other expenses such as travel and accommodation and a pricing document that includes a breakdown of the lump sum detailing the number of days anticipated for the different tasks, a daily rate for those tasks and any other expenses such as travel, accommodation etc. All costs must be submitted in Euros exclusive of VAT. Tenderers should indicate whether they are registered for VAT.

Tender Submmission

Tenders containing the following Informationmay be submitted online through the link below before Midnight Sunday 23rd March .

• Cover Letter outlining your suitability for this project (max 2 A4 page)
• C.V., biography or company profile.
• Names and contact details of two referees
• Lump Sum Cost of Services inclusive of VAT and any other personal expenses such as travel, accommodation etc.
• Breakdown of lump sum indicating the number of days anticipated for different tasks and daily rate for those tasks.

Late submissions will not be processed. Interviews will take place, in person only, on Monday 31st March 2025.

DOWNLOAD TENDER DOCUMENT (size 830 KB)

For further information contact Mary Conlon at mary.conlon@leitrimcoco.ie