Watch it Back: System Change Week Webinar Series

Our System Change Week of online seminars explored interconnecting topics such as climate justice, racial and gender equality, sustainable housing, food systems, economic justice and lots more.

The series offered bite sized talks that touched on local and global perspectives on global justice issues while highlighting solutions championed by groups in Ireland and around the world. Inspiring speakers shared information and resources connecting the dots between global justice issues and empowering us to take action.

Missed these webinars? We’ve got you covered! We recorded them for you to watch back at your leisure! Scroll on down to find recordings from each webinar - along with some excellent resources on the issues being explored!

Climate & Social Justice in Ireland

Our first system change seminar was led by Yvonne O’Callaghan from SIPTU (Trade Union) who explored issues of Climate, Economic & Social Justice. Yvonne provided an overview of climate action in Ireland and how it relates to a wide range of topics such as workers rights as part of the just transition. Participants found this to be a particularly good opportunity to understand the linkage between social justice and climate justice from an intergenerational perspective. We addressed economic justice and the fact that there are no jobs on a dead planet. You can read more about this with SIPTU’s report on What A Just Transition Means for Workers. Watch Yvonne’s talk back here or in the screen below.

Fighting Climate Injustice Around the World

We delved deeper into the meaning of climate justice with Kwami Kpondzo from Friends of the Earth Togo. Kwami gave us a global view of the fight against climate and social injustices and spoke about our collective struggle to save the planet while tackling global injustice and inequality. Participants commented that this talk not only increased their understanding of climate justice, but also gave advice for networking, organising, and campaigning for the cause through Kwami’s recommended action points. At the start of the talk we watched a 10 minute video by ADT Togo about impacted communities and the need for climate justice which you can watch back here. To see the full talk with Kwami and learn more, watch the full recording here or via the screen below.

Climate Justice and Racial Justice

We discussed the links between climate justice and racism, and the need for an intersectional movement with Myriam Douo from Equinox/ Friends of the Earth Europe. Myriam spoke about climate from a racial justice perspective exploring historical and current forms of colonialism - including multi-national corporations exploitation of natural resources and people for profit. Myriam shared additional resources for participants who wanted to delve deeper into these issues including the book and e-book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” by Walter Rodney. Learn more by watching the recording of Myriam’s talk here or via the screen below.

Tackling Racism and Climate Change

One of the questions raised during this series was how we address issues of climate and racism locally here in Ireland. Memet Uludag from United Against Racism joined us to explore these issues with a short talk on Unity in Struggle for a Different World: Climate Change & Racism. Learners commented that they found it empowering how Memet connected different social and environmental struggles to the same broken system with an emphasis on the urgent need for solidarity. You can learn more about United Against Racism’s work and join their campaign via their website here. Watch the recording of Memet’s talk here or in the screen below.

Accommodation and the Environment

Next we examined Why Social And Affordable Accommodation Is Good For The Environment with Fiona Dunkin from Clúid. This opened our eyes to connections between accommodation, location, class and climate change while also showcasing opportunities and solutions from a local Irish perspective. Participants were particularly intrigued to learn about the social enterprise with EnergyCloud - which brings renewable energy to homes in Ireland experiencing fuel poverty. You can learn more about how climate change relates to accommodation in Ireland by watch Fiona’s talk here or in the screen below.

Climate Change and the Irish Economy

We turned our focus to an economic perspective with Paul Goldrick Kelly of the Nevin Economic Research Institute to look at Climate Change and Our Economy. This was a truly eye opening talk that brought to light many questions around economic stability in a changing environment. Paul also explored the relationship between employment, emissions and alternative economic models. Participants highlighted their desire to learn more about the economy we want to see and actions we can take to get there. The Nevin Economic Research Institute have a wide selection of free learning materials including videos and podcasts about economic justice. Take a look at Paul’s talk here.

Food Sovereignty and climate justice

One of the most popular topics we explored during System Change Week was Food Sovereignty & Climate Justice. We were delighted to be joined by Annelies Schorpion, the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity & Resource Justice Coordinator at Friends of the Earth Europe. Annelies’ talk connected agriculture with so many of the issues addressed throughout the System Change series. Attendees from around Ireland joined this webinar to learn about fair and sustainable food systems and global peasant movements resisting the current industrial food system. They found it hugely interesting to learn about La Via Campesina and agroecology - and about how these movements and practices connect to local initiatives emerging here in Ireland like Talamh Beo. Learn more by watching the recording back here or in the screen below.

Gender and Climate Justice

To mark International Women’s Day, we hosted a talk about Gender Justice & Climate Justice presented by V'cenza Cirefice. It explored ecofeminism, climate change as a feminist issue, women on the frontlines, feminist solutions, and examples of actions for solutions around the world. Learners watching this talk considered how to bring ecofeminism into their own work. This talk highlighted the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network as a resource for further learning. If you’d like to know more about how gender equality can bring about climate justice, watch back V’cenza’s talk here or in the screen below.

Energy and Gender Justice

We also considered energy poverty through a gender lens with Katharina Habersbrunner and Dr Lidija Živčič. This webinar explored the gendered role of climate change, the gender blind European Green Deal, strong women actors, gender dimensions of energy, and good practices for a gender just sustainable future. Learners attending this talk were interested to discover the gender imbalances that exist when it comes to land ownership and were inspired by the concrete examples of actions being taken to mitigate gender gaps in energy policy. We shared a short report with 6 ways to promote gender justice & to dismantle patriarchy. You can watch this talk back here or in the screen below.