Opening Speaker: Dr Peter T Coleman

Dr Peter T Coleman is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University and a renowned expert on constructive conflict resolution, addressing intractable conflict and sustaining peace. He also directs the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), is founding director of the Institute for Psychological Science and Practice (IPSP), and is executive director of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity. He is the recipient of various awards including the Peace Award from Meaningful World, in celebration of the UN’s International Day of Peace. His work has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Nature, Scientific American, PBS Newshour, and Harvard Business Review. His current research focuses on conflict intelligence and systemic wisdom as meta-competencies for navigating conflict constructively across all levels from families to companies to communities to nations. A member of the United Nations Mediation Support Unit’s Academic Advisory Council, he is a founding board member of the Gbowee Peace Foundation USA, and is a New York State certified mediator.  Dr Coleman has authored over 100 scientific articles and chapters and his most recent book, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization was released by Columbia University Press on June 1, 2021.

Opening Speaker: Dr Ebun Joseph

Dr Ebun Joseph is a Diversity and Race relations consultant, Module Coordinator and Lecturer, Black Studies at University College Dublin (UCD), Director of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies (IABS), Founder and Chairperson (2018-2022) African Scholars Association Ireland (AFSAI). Dr Joseph held the position of Career Development Consultant at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (2017-2021), and was a Teaching Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, Training and Employment Officer EPIC (2007 -2017). Ebun is an author, TV panellist, Columnist and an equality activist. With a research focus on Labour markets and race relations, she has presented at several conferences, businesses and nonprofits. 

Ebun is published and contributes regular responses on contemporary issues of race and racism in Ireland. Her recent book is titled, Critical race theory and inequality in the labour market: Racial stratification in Ireland, with Manchester University press. She also co-authored the book, Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools: Critical Approaches to Global Justice Education with Routledge in Jan 2020. Dr Joseph’s 2020 article won the IRJ Prize awarded to the paper adjudicated to represent the best original contribution to the journal in a given year.  ‘Composite counterstorytelling as a technique for challenging ambivalence about race and racism in the labour market in Ireland.’ 

Panellist: Ikal Ang'elei

Ikal is an environmental activist. She is co-founder and Director of Friends of Lake Turkana, a grassroots organization that seeks to foster social, economic and environmental justice in the Lake Turkana Basin. Ikal completed a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Political Science at Stony Brook University in New York. In 2012 she was awarded with the Goldman Environmental Prize, particularly for her voicing on behalf of Northern Kenyan indigenous communities about the environmental implications of the Gilgel Gibe III Dam.



Panellist: Mamobo Ogoro 

Mamobo is an award winning scholar, social entrepreneur, activist and artist. As a social psychology scholar, particularly in migration research, prejudice, discrimination and diversity, she advocates for the creation of safe, inclusive spaces for marginalised communities.

Mamobo is the founder of Gorm Media, an impact focused start-up digital media enterprise with a vision of unity and shared understanding. Gorm spreads its message of unity through digital media, engaging events and training programmes targeted to individuals who want to unify across differences.  In it's first year, Gorm’s has received a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland 2021 Award, and has been recognised internationally, as one of 30 organisations across the EU, US and UK chosen for the Landecker Democracy Fellowship by Humanity in Action. 

Mamobo has recently been named Activist of the Year in the inaugural Black and Irish Gala Awards 2021, one of Ireland’s 50 people to watch and one of 22 activists to watch by the Irish Independent and shortlisted as ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ in the Image Women in Business Awards. Mamobo is one of the youngest co-chairs at the University of Limerick, as she co-chairs the Ethnic Diversity Forum. She sits on the Board of Directors in the Lime Tree   Belltable Theatre in Limerick, and the Democracy and Belonging European Forum by UC Berkeley.  Photo Credit: Alan Place

Panellist: Dr Audrey Bryan

Audrey Bryan is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Human Development at Dublin City University’s Institute of Education (DCU IoE). She has published nationally and internationally in the areas of climate change education, gender and sexuality studies, racism and anti-racism and critical global citizenship education. Her current work explores the role of emotion and difficult knowledge in teaching for social and global justice. In making the case for expansive engagement with emotion in Development Education, Audrey criticises the growing fascination with neuroscience and techno-solutionism within Global Citizenship Education on the grounds that they are thwarting prospects for planetary survival and global solidarity by promoting market-led, technological solutions to global challenges and delimiting conceptions of citizenship. Audrey is a co-editor of Irish Educational Studies, the official journal of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) and has previously served on the editorial board of the journal Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review. She also serves on the steering committees of the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education, DCU and the UBUNTU Network for Sustainable Development.

Panellist: Bobby McCormack

Bobby McCormack is the co-founder and CEO of Development Perspectives. Bobby worked as a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Humanities in Dundalk Institute of Technology from 2006 - 2019 and has an MA in Development Studies and is a qualified mediator. Bobby is a board member of Dóchas and in 2017 was the recipient of the Dóchas, “Global Citizen of the Year“. Bobby has produced 5 documentaries, is an avid Man United fan and loves Dogs.

Conference: Charo Lanao

Charo has extensive experience in facilitation, training, consulting as a speaker and coach in over 15 countries. Through her work, she supports individuals and organisations to imagine possibilities, hold intentions and commitments and adapt, with creativity and flexibility to uncertainty. Charo encourages people and organisations to develop their self-awareness, understand what is their purpose, feel the importance of their work and believe in their own potential. She is also an an Atinchik, ICA and Art of Hosting facilitator to understand how we create together.

Workshop: Gertrude Cotter

Gertrude Cotter is a Lecturer at the Centre for Global Development, UCC. She lectures in the field of Development and Global Citizenship Education. She is the academic coordinator of the Praxis Project, UCC’s flagship project aiming to promote and integrate Development and Global Citizenship Education across the university. This project is based at the Centre for Global Development. She has also been the co-academic coordinator of ‘Id Est’ a project which introduces student teachers to Development Education. In addition she presents the Global Hub Radio Programme at Community Radio Youghal. In the past, she has lectured in International Relations and Latin American History at the school of education and also coordinated UCC’s Diploma in Development Studies. She was previously CEO of Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre. In an earlier career she worked as a development worker in Bolivia and Thailand. She has a particular interest in Community-Linked Learning and Multimedia Learning. 

Workshop: Gerard McCann

Gerard McCann grew up in the north of Ireland and currently lives in Lisburn, County Antrim. He graduated from Queen's University Belfast with a PhD in Economics and Social Science having completed a BA (hons) in Politics and an MA in Scholastic Philosophy. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in International Studies and Head of International Programmes. He is also the Erasmus Coordinator for the College. He has published a number of books on regional and international development. In his spare time, he acts as an advocate for the African diaspora in the UK and Ireland. In recent years, he has managed a series of Intensive Programmes in Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Netherlands, on topics as diverse as intercultural dialogue, HE internationalization, borders and migration. Dr McCann advises several continental universities and NGOs on Brexit and the European Union's international development policy. 

Workshop: Zelalem Sibhat

Zelalem Sibhat is from Tigray regional state, Ethiopia. He is a lecturer in Mekelle University, which is located in Tigray, Ethiopia. He has a master’s degree in Geoinformatics and bachelor’s degree in Land Resources and Environmental Management. However, he speaks at this event in a personal capacity. He is currently studying for PhD at University College Cork (UCC), in the department of food, business and development with a project title; Integrated Spatial and Socio-Economic (non-spatial) Modelling for Watershed Development: A Bio-economic Modelling approach. 



Workshop: Aurèle Destrée

Aurèle works as a consultant on land-based and transformative education for civil society organisations and international institutions. She lives in Belgium, where she supports social and ecological transition initiatives. Her current work is centred around deep ecology and the learning community. Previously, Aurèle worked for 13 years as Head of the Food Security Program of a central European think-tank Glopolis where she led policy analysis, advocacy work, awareness raising, and global education projects. During these years, she co-chaired the European Food Security Group of CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for relief and development, and lectured about the Right to Food and food systems at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. 

Workshop: Tereza Čajková

Tereza is part of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective, a collective of researchers, artists, educators and activists working on the interface of questions related to historical, systemic, and ongoing colonial violence and the ecological unsustainability of our current habits of being. She is pursuing a PhD in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Her research is oriented towards critical and decolonial perspectives on education. Over the last two years, she has been working with the Bridge47 project, co-designing Transformative Learning Journeys, a year-long cycle of training for cohorts of educators experimenting with different approaches to systemic change. 

Workshop: Gareth Conlon

Gareth Conlon has worked in Development Education for over 13 years, in different organisations including Comhlámh, Development Perspective and ECO-UNESCO. This journey led him to discover and learn about permaculture and spirituality. He is very interested in how permaculture, Development Education and spirituality meet. Together Gareth and Karen Jeffares  co-founded Síolta Chroí, Irish for "Seeds of the Heart", a not for profit cooperative in Co. Monaghan aimed at restoring the ecosystems and communities of Ireland.



Workshop: Karen Jeffares

Karen Jeffares has a strong passion for human rights and peacebuilding and worked for almost 14 years in this space. This includes over 5 years working in Latin America in conflict and post- conflict settings. On return to Ireland in 2014, she established the Irish branch of the international human rights organisation Peace Brigades International. She has been working in advocacy, development education and peace education ever since. She is also a qualified yoga instructor. Together Karen and Gareth Conlon cofounded Síolta Chroí.

Workshop: Mark Cumming

Mark Cumming started his working life in industry but the call to explore the world and work in solidarity with people who have and continue to be excluded from the mainstream brought him to Kenya as a volunteer some 30 years ago. Mark saw the connections between those excluded in our own society and people in Kenya. There he worked as a youth and community worker on programmes that were inspired by African Liberation movements and was involved in facilitating young people to analyse their condition and act collectively to transform their reality. That time set him on a new path that he has ploughed for 30 years, working in international solidarity work, with a range of development agencies, both state, secular and faith-based. For the last 8 years, Mark has worked as the Head of Comhlámh, prior to that he was the Governance and Human Rights advisor to Trócaire where he led a successful campaign to change the investment policies of the National Pensions Reserve Fund. He is currently working part-time as the Development Coordinator of the Sister of St Louis and engaging in freelance consulting.