How I was inspired by IDEA’s SDG workshop for Deloitte Ireland

As part of our work through the Bridge 47 project, IDEA delivered an online interactive GCE workshop on the SDGs to Deloitte Ireland’s staff with Global Action Plan on 19 October as part of Deloitte’s Impact Week. Here is a blog written by a Deloitte staff member who attended the workshop, sharing her experience and learning.

Immediately after attending the SDG workshop as part of our Community Impact week, I felt a great sense of purpose. I had some knowledge on the SDGs before attending the workshop but I had never put much thought into what I could do both within my workplace and in my personal life to make an impact in working towards the goals. I found the workshop very engaging as not only were we provided with information on the goals but we also got the opportunity to have group discussions and share our own thoughts or opinions on certain aspects related to the goals. I thought the application “Slido” was great to allow these discussions to occur! There was also a very open atmosphere created by the facilitators so all attendees on the call were comfortable to share their opinions and this resulted in some great discussions. This workshop has definitely prompted me to reflect on my own day-to-day activities to ensure I am making positive steps to work towards achieving the SDGs not only within my professional life but also within my everyday actions. 

During the workshop, there was a section where we focused on one topic in particular – homelessness. After exploring and discussing the root causes of the problem, we separated out into smaller groups to discuss what needed to be done from the point of view of, government bodies, within our own companies, civil society and as individuals. I found this exercise to be particularly engaging as it made me think about the SDGs in the context of a real-life, everyday crisis that needs to be solved both within our communities and globally. This exercise also made me reflect on the opportunity for a large company like Deloitte to make real positive impact towards reaching these SDGs by continuing to make meaningful impact on crises such as homelessness. This workshop, in my opinion, has really helped empower the individuals that have taken part to take action and make positive change within both the professional and personal lives. 

This blog is written by Hannah O’Keeffe, the Internal Sustainability & Workplace Safety Admin for Deloitte Ireland.

Anya’s Next Chapter: Farewell, Legacy, and Our New Recruitment

October 6, 2025
After three remarkable years with IDEA, we are sad to share that Anya Sparynska is moving abroad to begin a new adventure. During her time with us, Anya made an indelible mark - first by shaping a pioneering programme role, and later by guiding us in a capacity development role that strengthened our impact across Ireland’s development education sector. From designing and implementing innovative initiatives to building partnerships and capacity across our member organisations, Anya has left IDEA stronger, more connected, and more ambitious for the future. “I am sad to leave at such a pivotal time in IDEA: we are faced with unspeakable horror, as the need for justice and accountability grows ever more urgent. I have seen, however, our members and staff respond with creativity, humanity and dedication to these challenging times and find inspiration in it, even at this darkest hour. A desire to be close to my family and the pressure of the housing crisis have driven me to Brussels, but I know I will be back as Ireland - it’s passionate, brave and kind people - now feels like home. I will be sure to follow IDEA and our members’ work closely in the coming year and hope to stay in touch! “Working at IDEA has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Seeing ideas and passion turn into real impact and change has been incredibly fulfilling - I’ll carry those lessons, and the very special friendships made along the way with me always.”

Launch of IDEA's Theory of Impact for GCE

September 26, 2025
Date: Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm Location: Online via Zoom IDEA is thrilled to invite members to the online launch of our new “Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education” on Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm, Online via Zoom. During this session, we will present the model, share insights into the process behind its development, and explore how it will be used to strengthen impact across the sector. We will also introduce a new tool in progress, an interactive data visualisation map designed to showcase our collective impact as a network. For many years, IDEA and its members have been grappling with the concept of impact in Development Education/Global Citizenship Education (hereinafter ‘GCE’). As GCE practitioners, tracking impact helps us to identify how, where and with whom our work is creating positive change, as well as investigating areas in which our impact could be stronger. Furthermore, we can also benefit from examining the collective impact of GCE carried out by the wide-ranging work of IDEA members, and from exploring how these impacts contribute to the major social changes to which the GCE community aspires. Driven therefore by the need to understand how projects and programmes are collectively “making a difference” in IDEA we looked at models that could help us visualise and capture GCE “impact networks”. We formulated our vision of impact and then a theory of how we expect this desired impact to be achieved to allow us to map our activities and collect data to corroborate that theory. This Theory of Impact model is how we hope to illustrate this complex GCE impact network. Building on work done by IDEA over many years including building sectoral capacity in using Results Frameworks for GCE, our Quality & Impact working group, engagement with Irish Aid on their Performance Measurement Framework (PMF), and the successful roll-out of a Code of Good Practice for DE/GCE, this Theory of Impact represent the next stage of our effort to ‘develop a consistent approach to measuring impact among the sector’. We are therefore thrilled to invite you to the presentation of our ‘Theory of Impact for GCE’. At this online presentation, we will tell you about the process that led to the creation of this model, how it will be used and what we hope it could bring to the sector. We will also touch on a new tool being developed based on the model, which should allow the creation of an interactive data visualisation map of our collective impact as a network. Join us as we launch into this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Join us as we begin this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Register below!

IDEA Advocacy Toolkit and GCE Policy Guide Workshop, November

September 26, 2025
Date: 11 November, 10.30am – 4.30pm. Location: IDEA offices, 6 Gardiner Row IDEA launched its new Advocacy Toolkit and GCE Policy Guide resource pack in early March. The advocacy toolkit and policy guide were developed for IDEA members to strengthen their capacity to effectively advocate with policymakers and to actively engage in policy processes on GCE in Ireland and the wider world. IDEA will facilitate a full-day in-person workshop on these resources in the IDEA offices on Tuesday, 11 November ,10.30am – 4.30pm. Places are limited to 20 participants and will be given on a first come, first served basis. Please note that this is a repeat of the workshop that took place in May and is aimed at members who did not have the opportunity to participate in May. A vegetarian lunch will be provided. Register below!