Ecology meets theologyHow can we prepare people for the twin pressures of oil depletion (felt primarily in rich countries) and climate change (impacting initially in poorer countries), which will lead to social breakdown and conflict? How can we be trained to be "planetary hospice workers"? These were questions which arose at the Seventh Assembly of the European Christian Environmental Network, held in Milan recently.
Hands-on learning experiences that give people direct contact with nature, such as earth-literacy programmes in ecological centres, pilgrimages, nature walks and retreats, were among the suggestions to help people respond to these challenges. "Education that gives people resilience, skills and inner courage to come together in sustainable communities must be the priority," says Sr Catherine Brennan from Eco-Congregation Ireland, who attended the conference and participated in a silent call for action outside Milan Cathedral during the event. Churches are encouraged to include ecology and climate change in ministerial teaching, initiate eco-management programmes, monitor and engage with politicians and encourage people to enjoy the beauty of creation instead of material things. www.ecen.org.
Freedom of information
How individuals can gain access to government decisions that impact on their own local environment will be a key topic at a gathering of international leaders of the Access Initiative at the Institute of Technology, Sligo from Thursday to Saturday next. The Access Initiative is a network of civic organisations that works to ensure that people have the right and ability to influence decisions about natural resources that sustain their communities. Representatives from the EU Commission and European Parliament will also speak about development policy within the EU on Wednesday in the same venue. www.accessinitiative.org or tel: 071-9155388.
Walk with Italian style
Historian Pat Liddy will lead a walking tour of Italian Dublin tomorrow, starting from the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square at 4pm. The tour will visit Trinity College Dublin, to view the influence of Renaissance architecture on buildings there, and the old Kildare Street Club (now the Alliance Française building). It will also visit the new Italian quarter north of the river Liffey. It will end in City Hall at 6pm where Italian writer Concetto La Malfa will show his documentary about Joe Nannetti, the famous Irish-Italian politician, trade unionist and lord mayor of Dublin. The event is part of Dublin City Council's Let's Walk and Talk - New Shores, Ancient Footprints series to mark the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue.
Good historic housekeeping
Ireland's finest Palladian house, Castletown in Celbridge, Co Kildare, is the venue for a seminar on Good Housekeeping in Historic Houses on Tuesday, November 4th. Katy Lithgow, head conservator of the National Trust in England, will give the keynote address on the development and practice of preventative conservation. Other sessions will deal with caring for prints, drawings and archival material, glass and ceramic objects, textiles and oil paintings. The seminar is organised by the Irish Georgian Society and the ESB's Georgian House Museum on Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin. Cost: €130. Tel: 01-6767053 or e-mail info@igs.ie.
ECOWEB
www.irishcommunitygardening.org
A new website on community gardens in Ireland. The site developed from the first meeting of the National Network of Community Food Initiatives earlier this month.
