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Green Foundation Ireland
is a registered charity which promotes education for sustainability in Ireland

OUR NEXT EVENT:

IN-PERSON PRESENTATION
“LET THE WILD GEESE FLY: Dialogue as activism and new systems of leadership as our planet faces the omni-crisis”
Wed 27 Mar 2024 – 19:00 to 21:00 (Irish time)

VENUE: Tailors’ Hall, 8 Back Lane, The Liberties, Dublin, D08 X2A3.

This presentation by Turlough O’Donnell is about how dialogue and mediation can empower communities and individuals.

OUR GUEST SPEAKER:

A retired Senior Counsel at the Bar and former Chair of the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, TURLOUGH O’DONNELL is currently practicing as a mediator with a strong interest in encouraging dialogue between people.

Examples of Turlough’s experience as a mediator include: facilitating discussions between the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), which resulted in agreement recognising the GPA as the player representative body of the GAA; facilitating discussions between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Association, which resulted in a new Postmasters contract with An Post; and being a member of the advisory group on the Magdalene Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme.

You can check out more details, including how to book, here

OUR LAST EVENT:

KAYAK AND CLEAN-UP
Mon 11 Mar 2024 – from 10:30 onwards

VENUE: Castle Lake, Bailieborough, County Cavan – meet at Drumkeery Car Park

This event is being held jointly by Green Foundation Ireland and Friends of Castle Lake

PLEASE NOTE: There is no need to book for this event – you can just turn up.

You can check out more details here

Kayaking on Castle Lake, Bailieborough

UPDATES:

In Memory of: MICHAEL EWING

Our Chair, Donna Mullen wrote the following tribute to Michael which appeared in The Natterer, the newsletter of Bat Conservation Ireland

We used to joke with Michael about his sense of direction. He would happily charge off, with us behind him, in completely the wrong direction. We would end up at the wrong restaurant or bus stop, and had many adventures while on a trip with him to meet politicians in Brussels. Michael was the Co-Ordinator of the Environmental Pillar, and his job was to get all the environmental NGOs to agree on policy, which we could then bring to politicians, the media, or other organisations. This was not an easy job, as Irish environmental organisations have different remits and a host of colourful characters. He used to say it was like herding cats. And when the cats began to hiss and spit, Michael would keep us all calm, with his patience, kindness, good humour, occasional singing, and an endless supply of bananas which he kept in his backpack. There is nobody else on this planet who could have kept us together, and he made the Environmental Pillar into the amazing organisation it is today. Because it turned out that Michael had a fantastic sense of direction when it came to environmental protection. When he wasn’t working with the organisations, he was volunteering with them – he was one of the BCI Daubenton’s Survey volunteers. He worked endlessly on the sustainable development goals and was very involved in work on the Aarhus Convention. Now that we are without him, the environmental movement is not simply lost, but bereft.

Ní fheicfimid a leithéid ann arís

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.

You can listen to the Code Red Podcast Series here

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, a director and former chair 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 Director and former Chair 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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Sign up for info and news here

Green Foundation Ireland

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 Networkwww.ien.ie
GFI is a member of the Environmental Pillar – www.environmentalpillar.ie
GFI is affiliated to the Green European Foundationwww.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.