Join our new Learning Hub!

Can you remember a time when you learnt something that changed your perspective forever?

In Friends of the Earth we are committed to a process of consistently learning and unlearning about the systems of power and oppression that influence our lives and the world around us. We believe that we need to understand systems in order to effectively change them.

We also believe in challenging ourselves to consistently create more welcoming spaces for people to engage in a process of interrogating the root causes of global injustice. By doing this we aim to help grow and work with a more critically informed network of change makers across Ireland.

That's why we're launching a learning hub - a carefully curated space for discussion, critical thinking, peer education and building a sense of solidarity.

We asked our supporters to vote for from a selection of books to include in our learning hub, and below are the winners!

1. Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future by Mary Robinson
2. Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move by Reece Jones
3. On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein
4. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit

These four winning books will make up the core texts around which our Learning Hub 2020/21 will orbit. And this is no ordinary book club - instead we’ll co-create living read and watch lists around issues or themes that emerge from our core books. When creating these lists we’ll engage with groups that are involved in these issues. This means that you can still be part of the programme if you only have time to read a few of the articles or watch some of the videos on the read and watch lists. We encourage you to read the books - but it’s not essential!

Here's how our 2020/21 Learning Hub will work:

1. Read the book and / or associated read and watch lists (You can receive a book of your choice from the 4 winning books by donating to Friends of the Earth here)
2. Join the free public event where a contributor will join us to explore the issue and actions that can be taken to improve the situation(we’ll do our best to get Mary Robinson…!)
3. Participate in a development education workshop. We'll create a reflective, critical space for exploration of the issue - and for connecting the dots between seemingly disparate issues of global justice - fostering a sense of interconnectedness and an understanding of root causes.

We'll be hosting eight events per year - two per book, one a public-facing engagement event, and one an in-depth development education style workshop for exploring the issue at hand.

And as the weather is changing, becoming more blustery with each passing week, what better time of year to set yourself a reading challenge? How about trying to read all four of the Learning Hub core books?!

It is with thanks to Irish Aid that we are able to fund this activity as part of our Global Citizenship Education programme, Making Common Cause – Global Citizenship Education for a Global Justice Transition.