Islands in isolation

Horizons:In 1841, more than 34,000 people lived on the islands around Ireland. In 2002, there were fewer than 9,000. Island Life: The Islands of Ireland, an exhibition of photographs of daily life on the islands of Ireland from the late 19th century onwards, opened in the National Museum of Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo, yesterday.

The images, from the National Photographic Archive are drawn from the Lawrence and Diggen Collections and from photographs by Colman Doyle, document a century of change. Isolation, remoteness and difficulty of access preserved a way of life on islands far longer than on the mainland and ultimately led to the collapse in population. The exhibition continues until the end of February 2008. See www.museum.ie

Celebrating archaeology

Irish archaeology enjoys possibly its highest ever profile, and the publishers of Archaeology Ireland magazine will celebrate this at a conference next Saturday from 9am to 6pm in the Astra Hall, UCD Student Centre, Belfield, Dublin. Speakers will look at changes in archaeological discovery over the past 20 years and examine how discoveries have been communicated through heritage parks, museums and interactive websites. Crew members of the recent Sea Stallion voyage from Denmark to Ireland will speak about their experiences. For more details, see http://fmd.ie or tel. 01-2947860.

An organic anniversary

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association (IOFGA) is hosting a public seminar on organic farming on Sunday, November 18th in Mellow's College, Athenry, Co Galway. Speakers at the seminar include Trevor Sargent, Minister of State for Food and Horticulture, Peter Melchett, director of the Soil Association in Britain, John McKenna, food writer and Michael Hickey, organic farmer. For more details, tel. 043-42496 or see www.irishorganic.ie.

Stabilising society

Peter Barnes, American author and "social entrepreneur" will give the Feasta annual lecture on Tuesday at 7.30pm in the Emmet Theatre, Arts Block, Trinity College Dublin. His talk will look at how governments can find ethical and economic frameworks to stabilise the climate. His new book, Climate Solutions: A Citizen's Guide is published this month. A seminar on bringing about change will be held from 11am-2pm on Tuesday in Enfo, 17 St Andrew's Street, Dublin 2. For more details, see www.feasta.org.

Environmental history

A conference entitled "Sea and Sky, Bogland and Mountain" in Trinity College Dublin next Friday and Saturday will look at environmental, maritime and climate history of Ireland. Historians from Iceland, Scotland and England will speak on topics ranging from the Irish annals as a source for weather history to the traditional role of turf in the Irish economy. For details, contact Patrick Walsh at the department of history, TCD, tel. 01-8961020 or e-mail pwalsh4@tcd.ie.

horizons@irish-times.ie

Eco Web

www.expo-events.com/planexpo/

Check out this site for details of Plan Expo, the largest construction and architectural exhibition of the year, which ends today in the RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin. This year, there is a strong emphasis on sustainable building methods and renewable energies.