Green Foundation Ireland
OUR NEXT EVENT:
FILM SHOW
“Wilding”
Mon 4 Nov 2024 – 19:30 (Irish time)
Venue: Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, County Meath
Based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book by the same title, Wilding tells the story of a young couple that bets on nature for the future of their failing, four-hundred-year-old estate. The young couple battles entrenched tradition and dares to place the fate of their farm in the hands of nature. Ripping down the fences, they set the land back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe.
English | UK | 75mins | 2023 | Cert: G | Dir: David Allen
You can check out more details, including how to book, here
OUR MOST RECENT EVENTS:
ONLINE TALK
“Bumblebee Conservation in Ireland”
Tues 27 Aug 2024 – 19:00 (Irish time)
By Zoom (log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
Our talk will include an overview of bumblebees in Ireland, the threats facing them, what is being done to protect them, and how people can get involved.
The focus is mostly on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and all the different groups that have been trying to implement its recommendations, as well as how citizen science can help monitor bumblebee populations.
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
ONLINE TALK
“Human Coexistence with Wildlife
Across Spaces, Ecosystems and Sectors”
Wed 7 Aug 2024 – 19:00 (Irish time)
By Zoom (log-on details will be issued nearer the time to those who register)
We, as humans, share our space with wildlife every single day. Typically, this occurs in ways that we are aware of, but it also often occurs in ways that we don’t think about. Policies and frameworks have historically separated humans and wildlife, assigning space to each as though we do not (or cannot) coexist together. However, as pressures on ecosystems and wildlife populations multiply, it is important for us to acknowledge the ways in which we interact with and impact wildlife on a daily basis.
During this talk, we will explore some of the ways in which humans and wildlife interact, ranging from the global to the local scale. We will also touch upon how we can make choices to better facilitate coexistence..
OUR GUEST SPEAKER:
Dr LAURA GRIFFIN is a wildlife ecologist currently working at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a postdoctoral researcher. Her work focuses on promoting human-wildlife coexistence, specifically by exploring how different human activities impact on vulnerable wildlife species and using these findings to inform management practices.
Laura has worked on a variety of projects internationally, including ecotourism and biodiversity studies across Ireland, South Africa, and Greece. She completed her PhD with the Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour in University College Dublin (UCD), where she assessed the effects of recreational feeding on fallow deer in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Her current research in Canada focuses on how declining populations of caribou and moose are being impacted by forestry activities (ie, harvesting and burning) and insect outbreaks resulting from climate change. Laura believes that public engagement is key in the success of many wildlife coexistence projects and that sharing research findings enables people to create positive change.
You can check out more details here
IN-PERSON TALK
“Is the Ecological Crisis also a Spiritual / Philosophical Crisis?”
Weds 19 Jun 2024 – 19:00 to 21:00 (Irish time)
VENUE: Tailors’ Hall, Back Lane, The Liberties, Dublin, D08 X2A3.
Drawing from many years of experience as a writer, a professor of philosophy and a Zen teacher, David Loy has been focusing primarily on the ecological crisis through his work in Ecodharma. Ecodharma incorporates many traditions in understanding that the climate crisis is also a spiritual / philosophical crisis: a function of our (the human species’) profound separation from the natural world.
Ecodharma offers a way of thinking and a way of living, that works to heal this deep rupture. In order to respond appropriately to the ecological crisis, we must acknowledge its psychological and emotional impact (despair and grief), which will enable us to get beyond denial or passivity and embrace the changes needed, both personal and collective. Ecodharma emphasises the importance of both individual and collective transformation, in addition to technical and scientific solutions.
OUR GUEST SPEAKER:
DAVID LOY is a writer, a retired professor of philosophy, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Centre in Colorado, USA, and a Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen lineage. American ecophilosopher and activist Joanna Macy has described David as a ‘beacon’ in his contributions to environmental issues. And like her Active Hope work, David’s Ecodharma approach embraces cognition, emotion and practical wisdom.
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, 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.
Would you like to receive info and news about our future events and activities?
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.
