Green Foundation Ireland
OUR NEXT EVENTS:
BIODIVERSITY WEEK
ONLINE TALK
“Challenges in Beekeeping: From Tree to Hive”
Tues 20 May 2025 – 19:00 (Irish time)
By Zoom (log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
Today (20 May 2025) is World Bee Day and our talk will focus on the development of accommodation for honey bees and associated issues.
OUR GUEST SPEAKER
PADDY HOLOHAN started beekeeping about 40 years ago as a hobby, joining the Carlow Beekeepers’ Association when it reformed about 20 years ago.
The group puts on monthly lectures and runs introductory courses for people starting beekeeping. We have an apiary where we provide hands-on experience to new members. Members act as mentors to novice beekeepers until they get up to speed, as well as giving talks in schools and on World Bee Day in the Carlow Farmers’ Market.
You can check out more details, including how to book, here
BIODIVERSITY WEEK
ONLINE TALK
“The Power of Local, Ethical Food for Community Well-Being”
Fri 23 May 2025 – 19:00 (Irish time)
By Zoom (log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
Our talk will focus on the importance of communities choosing to buy local, sustainable, and ethically sourced food. At the Dublin Food Co-Op, they believe this is not only better for the planet but also essential for building stronger, healthier communities. By supporting small businesses – many of which they’ve had the privilege of helping launch – they foster a local economy rooted in fairness and care. But their support doesn’t stop there. They also collaborate with other community-driven and social enterprises. One inspiring example is the Cherry Orchard Community Garden and during this talk, they will share more about their common mission and their ongoing partnership.
Together, they show how food can be a tool for connection, sustainability, and community well-being.
OUR GUEST SPEAKERS
Originally from Sardinia in Italy and currently the Manager of the Dublin Food Co-Op, ANNA RITA MELE‘s connection to the Co-Op began in 2008. Like many, she was looking for a way to shop affordably without compromising on quality or ethics.
PEADAR LYNCH is an experienced horticulturalist and beekeeper with previous experience delivering community based horticulture training. Since 2019 he has worked as Manager of the Cherry Orchard Community Garden, an award winning social enterprise managed by the Liffey Partnership.
You can check out more details, including how to book, here
OUR MOST RECENT EVENTS:
BIODIVERSITY WEEK
Kingfisher Project
“Biodiversity Session”
Sun 18 May 2025 – 05:00 to 07:00 (Irish time)
NOTE that the Kingfisher Project will close to the public at 7:00am on Sun 18 May 2025
VENUE
Blarney Park Allotments, Kimmage, Dublin, D12 W8C8.
PLEASE NOTE: There is no need to book for this event – you can just turn up.
The Kingfisher Project, in collaboration with Harold’s Cross Village Community Council, Dublin City Council and Green Foundation Ireland, is holding this Biodiversity Session which will include bat watching, dawn chorus from our feathered friends, and moth discovery and identification.
ABOUT THE KINGFISHER PROJECT
The Kingfisher Project is repurposing and transforming public lands at Blarney Park Allotments on the banks of the River Poddle at Kimmage in Dublin into a community knowledge, awareness and educational resource to address our relationship with the natural world and to build community capacity and resilience to cope with the consequences of human induced climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
The Kingfisher Project is a catalyst for attitudinal, behavioural and consumption pattern change that centres on enriching individual households and the urban environment through knowledge, awareness and interaction with nature and the community action it inspires.
You can check out more details here
BIODIVERSITY WEEK
Kingfisher Project
Open Day, including “Showcasing the Pixel Gardens”
Sat 17 May 2025 – 10:00 to 14:00 (Irish time)
VENUE
Blarney Park Allotments, Kimmage, Dublin, D12 W8C8.
PLEASE NOTE: There is no need to book for this event – you can just turn up.
The Kingfisher Project, in collaboration with Harold’s Cross Village Community Council, Dublin City Council and Green Foundation Ireland, is holding this Open Day where you can discover more about the Kingfisher Project and about what we can do to help bring nature back into our towns and cities.
ABOUT THE KINGFISHER PROJECT
The Kingfisher Project is repurposing and transforming public lands at Blarney Park Allotments on the banks of the River Poddle at Kimmage in Dublin into a community knowledge, awareness and educational resource to address our relationship with the natural world and to build community capacity and resilience to cope with the consequences of human induced climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
The Kingfisher Project is also involved in the Pixel Gardens Initiative, which encourages and supports the individual household to transform their domestic garden and space for climate action, biodiversity and food security.
You can check out more details here
BIODIVERSITY WEEK
IN-PERSON TALK
“Make Your Home a Nature Reserve”
Fri 16 May 2025 – 19:00 (Irish time)
VENUE
Foxrock Parish Pastoral Centre, Kill Lane, Foxrock, Dublin, D18 V304.
Our talk will explore the individual animals, how they think and what they need to flourish – including what individuals can do in the home and in their community to encourage wildlife.
OUR GUEST SPEAKER
Chair of Green Foundation Ireland, DONNA MULLEN is a farmer, consultant ecologist, and director of Wildlife Surveys Ireland, with an award-winning farm, awards and placements which include the RDS Sustainable Enterprise Award, the EU Rural Inspiration Award, and the Ellison Award. Donna has a keen interest in environmental law and co-ordinates the campaign to have the environment protected under the Irish Constitution. She lives on a farm nature reserve in County Meath with her husband, four children, and an assortment of animals.
You can check out more details here
ONLINE TALK
“Managing Common Invasive Species”
Wed 19 Mar 2025 – 19:00 (Irish time)
By Zoom (log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
Our talk will take a look at what is meant by invasive species, why it is a concern for Irish biodiversity and how action can be taken on a local and national level.
OUR GUEST SPEAKER:
Orla Ní Dhúill is a writer and environmentalist from Dublin, based on Achill Island in County Mayo.
Her work focuses on biodiversity communications, public engagement with nature, in particular regarding pollinators, invasive species, and woodlands.
You can check out more details here
TU DUBLIN GREEN WEEK
IN-PERSON FILM SCREENINGS and DISCUSSION
“Nature Restoration in Ireland: Meet the Storytellers”
Tues 11 Mar 2025 – 16:00 to 18:00 (Irish time)
VENUE
BST-236 Kinema, TU Dublin Bolton Street, Dublin, D01 K822.
EVENT PROGRAMME
16:00 to 16:35: SCREENING of This is Your River
16:00 to 16:35: SCREENING of The Forest Midwife
17:10 to 17:45: PANEL DISCUSSION
Speakers include:
Beta Bajgart – Film-maker, The Forest Midwife
Olive Leavy – National Co-Ordinator of Irish Forest Owners
John Gormley – Film-maker, This is Your River and GFI
Chair: Pat Brereton – Green Foundation Ireland
17:45 to 18:00: LIGHT REFRESHMENTS
You can check out more details here
TU DUBLIN GREEN WEEK
IN-PERSON TALK
“Reviving the Irish Atlantic Rainforest”
Tues 11 Mar 2025 – 13:00 to 14:00 (Irish time)
VENUE
Room BST-417, TU Dublin Bolton Street, Dublin, D01 K822.
Eoghan Daltun will talk about his work to rewild his farm on the Beara Peninsula and what can be learned from the process. This lunch-time talk will be chaired by Dave O’Connor from TU Dublin’s School of Architecture, Building and Environment.
OUR GUEST SPEAKER:
EOGHAN DALTUN came to prominence when he told his story of rewilding a 73-acre farm he bought on the Beara Peninsula. An Irish Atlantic Rainforest (Hachette Books Ireland, 2022) charts that remarkable journey. Part memoir, part environmental treatise, as a wild forest bursts into life before our eyes, we’re invited to consider the burning issues of our time: climate breakdown, ecological collapse, and why our very survival as a species requires that we urgently and radically transform our relationship with nature.
In 2023, he travelled the length and breadth of Ireland photographing areas of temperate rainforest, in a bid to illustrate their beauty and immense ecological value, and to document, in almost all cases, their state of decline.
Eoghan has recently returned from Costa Rica where he saw at first-hand how nature restoration is not only necessary, but achievable.
You can check out more details here
ONLINE TALK
“Digital photography as a non-invasive method of sampling Atlantic puffin chick diet at multiple Irish colonies”
Wed 5 Mar 2025 – 19:00 (Irish time)
By Zoom (log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
Atlantic puffins are in decline across their global range, and are one of two species of seabirds nesting in Ireland found to be in decline. Diet is thought to play a key role in the species population ecology, though little is known about the diet of Irish puffin chicks. Our talk will look at research which aims firstly to assess the feasibility of using digital photography to survey puffin chicks diet at multiple Irish colonies, and secondly to investigate inter-colony variation in puffin chick diet.
OUR GUEST SPEAKER:
After developing a keen interest in climate and biodiversity policy during as an undergraduate in International Relations in Dublin City University, James Corcoran Hodgins has been involved in the green movement since 2014. Having worked in Outdoor Education for a number of years, he recently returned to study, and completed an MSc in Applied Coastal and Marine Management in University College Cork.
You can check out more details here
UPDATES:
CLIMATE CHANGE PODCAST SERIES
Code Red
Code Red is a climate change podcast from the Centre for Climate and Society at Dublin City University. The Code Red series looks at how the worlds of policy, politics, the media, the arts, and other sectors have responded to climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. Code Red features an interesting and diverse mix of guests from academia, policy, the cultural industries and civil society.
HONORARY FREEDOM OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
Awarded to: Duncan Stewart and Greta Thunberg
On 21 June 2023, two environmental activists – DUNCAN STEWART and GRETA THUNBERG – were awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin, the highest honour that can be bestowed by Dublin City.
Duncan, Patron of Green Foundation Ireland, has been a leading Irish advocate for environmental issues for over 40 years. A champion for environmental issues, sustainable energy and architectural conservation since his student days, for the past two decades Duncan has also been a popular television personality in Ireland. Duncan’s Eco Eye series was driven by his interests in the protection of Ireland’s environment and enhancement of biodiversity. It was Ireland’s longest running environmental series and one of the most popular shows on Irish television – there were twenty-one series in total and all available episodes can be found on our website, courtesy of Duncan.
Greta, from Sweden, is the world’s most prominent global climate campaigner of our time. She has worked to address the problem of climate change and, at the age of 15 in 2018, founded the movement known as Fridays for Future (also called School Strike for Climate), which gained worldwide attention and inspired school students across the globe to participate.
You can view our video here
CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY ON BIODIVERSITY LOSS
Submission by Green Foundation Ireland
In September 2022 Green Foundation Ireland made a submission to the Citizens’ Assembly on the topic “How the State can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss”.
The Citizens’ Assembly is a body comprising the Chairperson and 99 citizens, randomly selected to be broadly representative of the Irish electorate, established to consider some of the most important issues facing Ireland’s future.
We would like to thank COLIN STAFFORD-JOHNSON and FIONN KEELEY for allowing us to use their videos as part of our submission.
You can read our submission here
WHAT WE DO
Green Foundation Ireland hosts seminars, workshops and conferences to demonstrate how practical action can create systems change in both education for sustainability, and work towards a green economy and society.
We work on local and Island of Ireland projects and with partners in Scotland, England and Wales, and the European mainland.
RESOURCES FOR ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION
In association with Green European Foundation, GFI publishes eco literature, both online and hardcopy, and circulates the European Green Journal. All available episodes of the Eco Eye programmes, hosted by GFI’s Patron Duncan Stewart, are available courtesy of Duncan.
All of the above can be found in the Resources Section of our website.
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VALUES AND VISION
GFI has a vision of ecology that values the life of all creatures on our planetary home and is embodied in practical action for a sustainable life for all.
We encourage participation by people and communities in finding practical local responses to intractable problems.
We tell stories of resilience and change in the face of adversity, based on good science and community action.
MEMBERSHIPS and AFFILIATIONS
GFI is a member of the Irish Environmental Network – www.ien.ie
GFI is a member of the Environmental Pillar – www.environmentalpillar.ie
GFI is affiliated to the Green European Foundation – www.gef.eu
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
GFI thanks the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications for the funding it receives through the Irish Environmental Network.
GFI also acknowledges the support of the European Parliament through funding for projects agreed with Green European Foundation.
