Date and Time: 11am -4:30 pm Friday 16th October 2009
Venue: The Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2
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Date and Time: Monday September 14th 2009, 6pm.
Venue: Central Hotel, 2 Exchequer Street, Dublin.
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For Transition Initiatives on the island of Ireland
‘Sustainability is a concept more than a strict code. It refers to responsible and ethical methods of practice in economic, social and environmental management. In many ways sustainability refers to new methods of old practices. It is often misinterpreted as relating solely to the environment, but in practice, it is an integrated approach to all aspects of life – economic, social, environmental and cultural.’
Anne Behan, 1959-2004
The Anne Behan Community Sustainability Award for Transition Initiatives will be presented every year by Feasta, the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, to…
Date and Time: Date and Time: 8pm Tuesday 7th July
Venue: Venue: Butler House, 16 Patrick St, Kilkenny
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Recording of parallel workshop with Corinna Byrne.
This video is available to Feasta Members and attendees of the conference only. Please contact website @ feasta.org for access.
Recording of parallel workshop with Vicky Heslop and Michael Hayes.
This video is available to Feasta Members and attendees of the conference only. Please contact website @ feasta.org for access.
Recording of parallel workshop with Dan Sullivan.
This video is available to Feasta Members and attendees of the conference only. Please contact website @ feasta.org for access.
Corinna Byrne examined the policies needed to get Irish land to absorb CO2 rather than release it. Besides discussing how the large amounts of carbon locked up in peatlands can be safeguarded, she reviewed the role that biochar could play in reducing nitrous oxide and methane emissions and building up the fertility and carbon content of the soil.
Michael Hayes pointed out that Ireland has more high quality soil per head of population than any other country in the EC, and the rainfall and climate to grow biomass very efficiently. He described how this biomass could be refined into a wide range of valuable products, many of which would replace petrochemicals.
Dan Sullivan contrasted the experience of Pittsburgh and Cleveland in the present downturn. Cleveland is struggling to stem a complete collapse of its housing market while in Pittsburgh, foreclosure rates are low, home prices are climbing slightly and construction rates are increasing. He attributed the difference to the fact that Pittsburgh has a site value tax and Cleveland does not.
Bruce Darrell thinks that a secure food supply is an essential part of the response to the climate, energy, economic and health crises. As state planning for such a supply has been grossly inadequate, he detailed the key actions that we need to take at a personal, community and regional level to compensate.
Emer O’Siochru believes that the proximity principle has to be turned on its head if communities are to become sustainable. She argued that, instead of bringing similar activities closer together to reap the benefits of scale and agglomeration, different activities should be beside each other to be more energy- and carbon-efficient. She wants new, low-carbon food, energy and shelter production systems to be integrated locally to transform and invigorate rural communities.
Anne B. Ryan argued that the adoption of a new self-limiting worldview is as crucial as the adoption of new technologies. “We are all born with the capacity for enough and everybody has a part to play in the creation of a culture of enough, as a way to understand the world and to live in it,” she says.
Richard Douthwaite, co-founder of Feasta and much-loved colleague and friend, died on November 14th 2011 after a long illness. We will miss his unique and far-ranging intellect, the clarity of his thought and writing, his warmth and his laughter. Tributes to him have come in from around the world and you can read them here.
In line with his wishes, we are continuing with our scheduled events and publishing of articles.
Independent radio producer and Feasta member Mary Phelan travelled to Tanzania and Zanzibar earlier this year in order to make two radio documentaries on the effects of climate change in East Africa. The first programme, which focuses on the impact climate change is having on Zanzibar, will be broadcast on Saturday 5.3.2012 on Newstalk 106-108fm at 7am. The second programme, looking at the situation in northern Tanzania and Mount Kilimanjaro, will be broadcast the following day, 6.3.2012 at 8am.
Schumacher Ireland Summer School
Exploring the transition to a sustainable society on the island of Ireland
Schumacher College is organising its first Summer School in Ireland from 11th to 15th June 2012, in conjunction with Queen’s University Belfast. Feasta members Jonathan Dawson and Peadar Kirby will be among the course teachers. [...]
Feasta’s Autumn conference examined measures that this country could adopt to secure its economic future which would not leave it reliant on external factors largely outside of its control. Scenarios explored included the potential collapse of the eurozone. The conference featured prominent international and Irish economists and was aimed at economists, politicians, policy-makers, business people, social partners, and other key decision-makers.
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