Tom Roche is the founder and coordinator of Just Forests and an individual member of the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA), RCE Dublin and Stop Climate Chaos. He served a 5-year apprenticeship as a carpenter before emigrating to Australia in 1967 at the age of eighteen. On his return to his hometown of Tullamore in 1971 he setup and ran a small furniture-making business in Tullamore for 25 years before starting Just Forests in 1989. He also facilitated approximately 600 Wood of Life workshops in 220 schools/venues nationwide including 4 weeks in Dublin ZOO. Tom was the 1st Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) endorsed Contact Person for the Republic of Ireland. He acted as FSC coordinator for 5 years and facilitated the establishment of the first FSC national steering group. This led to the independent certification of Ireland’s forests.
Exploring Contemporary Issues through Global Citizenship Education, ‘Getting to Grips with Greenwashing’
Date: Tuesday, 30 April,12.30-2.00pm
Location: Online via zoom
IDEA is hosting webinar series: Exploring Contemporary Crises and Issues through Global Citizenship Education. The third session in this series is entitled ‘Getting to Grips with Greenwashing’ and will be held on Tuesday, 30 April, online from 12.30-2.00pm.
This webinar will explore the topic of “Greenwashing”. It will help educators to understand “greenwashing” (defined as the practice of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice) as a global justice issue and support educators to bring it into their work. It will explore educators’ possible responses and approaches to addressing this topic with learners. It aims to equip those working in Global Citizenship Education with information, approaches and methodologies to address “greenwashing” in educational settings. Participants will hear from expert speakers and practitioners in the area and have time dedicated to a Question & Answer session.
Speakers will be Tom Roche, founder and coordinator of Just Forests, and our individual member, Nadia Moussed, global youth worker running the ‘UP Cork’ LGBTI+ youth group and Alex Whyatt, Global Citizenship Coordinator, Global Action Plan. The moderator for this webinar is Elaine Nevin, National Director (Chief Executive Officer) of ECO-UNESCO.
The deadline for registration is 29 April.
Register below!
Biographies
Nadia Moussed is a Youth and Community Worker and manages the Global Youth Work project at Cloyne Diocesan Youth Service. She has a BSc in Youth and Community Work from the School of Applied Social Sciences in UCC. For the last 5 years she has been working with young people from marginalised groups. Currently and for the last 4 years, she has worked as a global youth worker running the ‘UP Cork’ LGBTI+ youth group in supporting the young people to explore global justice issues such as inequalities, protection of human rights, power dynamics, and the Sustainable Development Goals through the lens of environmental justice and creating space for advocacy through active citizenship. Her engagement with those seeking protection is an ongoing endeavour as years of collaborations will witness at an individual, local, national, and global level
Alex Whyatt is GAP’s global citizenship education (GCE) coordinator and is responsible for overseeing GCE projects in schools and adult education settings. In his current role he plans and delivers training for teachers, students and community groups, develops resources in GCE for climate action, and builds and maintains partnerships to enhance impact. His experience as a communicative English language teacher in South Korea, Czechia and Lebanon developed his skills in person-centred, inclusive, and participatory training and resource development. In 2020, Alex completed an MSc in International and Comparative Education at Stockholm University, where his thesis explored the perceived value of learner-centred teaching approaches in an Accelerated Learning Programme. He values openness, empathy, and teamwork, and firmly believes in the transformative power of education to meet our present and shape our future.
Elaine Nevin is the National Director (Chief Executive Officer) of ECO-UNESCO since 2002. Elaine holds a BA in Geography and Political Science and an MA and a Higher Diploma in Education. She has worked in the field of environmental education since 1995 and believes that empowering, educating and engaging young people is an essential component to achieving sustainable development. Elaine has headed up a range of projects in ECO-UNESCO including the Young Environmentalist Awards programme; Youth for Sustainable Development peer education, the development of ECO-UNESCO as a QQI accredited centre, and the development of Green Youth Employability programmes. She led the consultation on the National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in the Republic of Ireland in 2008 which fed into the National Strategy on ESD in 2014. She is currently heading up ECO-UNESCO's involvement in the UNESCO Global Action Programme on the implementation of ESD and is a member of the key partner network for the implementation of UNESCO's GAP under the key priority area 4 - 'Mobilising and Empowering young people'. Elaine sits on and has sat on a range of bodies including the Irish Environmental Network, National Youth Council of Ireland (past Vice-President; current Chair of the NYCI Specialist Organisation Network), and is the Chairperson of the Advisory Group on the National Dialogue on Climate Change. She was a Ministerial Appointee to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 and was reappointed to the EPA Advisory Committee in 2016; she is a member of the Advisory Committee for the National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in the Department of Education and Skills, and sits on the Steering Committee of the Regional Centre of Expertise in ESD Dublin.
