IDEA Annual Conference 2025

Reclaiming Ground for Hope, Alternatives, and Action 


Date: Wednesday 28 May, 10.30am - 5.00pm

Location: Grand Hotel Malahide, Malahide, Co. Dublin, K36 XT65

 

Around the world, the threats of climate breakdown, genocide, and the stripping back of human rights are accelerating daily. At the same time, the escalation of disinformation, militarism, extremism, and authoritarianism undermines hard-won battles for equality and social justice at many levels of society. As educators whose work is centred on global justice and solidarity, what is our role in reclaiming ground to imagine, explore, and create alternatives to this current reality? As practitioners of Global Citizenship Education, what can we do to retain focus and remain energised, active, and hopeful in unlocking alternatives for a better world?


Join us at the IDEA Annual Conference 2025 to hear from inspiring educators, thinkers, leaders, and activists who will share their experiences of co-creating change and reclaiming ground for social and global justice. This year, we are honoured to present President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins with the inaugural Global Voice for Humanity Award, recognising his lifelong commitment to justice, equality, and education. The award ceremony will feature a special musical performance by acclaimed composer and violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire.


The conference will also feature contributions from a diverse lineup of speakers:

  • Grace Dyas: Award-winning artist and activist known for her work addressing social justice issues through theatre and film.
  • Joe Caslin: Renowned street artist whose large-scale murals highlight themes such as mental health and LGBTQ+ rights.
  • Dean Oke: Youth worker and spoken word artist focusing on empowering young people through creativity and social impact.
  • Lynn Ruane: Independent Irish politician and advocate for marginalized communities, with a background in community drug services.
  • Seán McCabe: Head of Climate Justice and Sustainability at Bohemian Football Club, engaging communities in climate transition initiatives.
  • Donnah Sibanda Vuma: Human rights advocate supporting migrant and refugee victims of exploitation and violence.


Come together with other IDEA members to share challenges and successes, and to reflect on the ways Global Citizenship Education can contribute to a fairer world. This conference will provide an opportunity to strengthen our collective work – through education – to reclaim space for hope, alternatives, and action.


Find out more


The event has sold out, please email Áine at aine@ideaonline.ie to be added to the waiting list

 

If you have any specific questions regarding the award ceremony, please email ruairi@ideaonline.ie.




Disclaimer

The views, opinions, and perspectives expressed by any speaker, host, facilitator, trainer or participant in IDEA webinars, seminars, events, talks, trainings, workshops, videos or podcasts are solely those of the individual(s) concerned. These views do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or values of IDEA, its National Council, its members, funders, or partner organisations.



IDEA provides platforms for dialogue and learning in the spirit of critical engagement, inclusivity, and diversity of thought. The hosting or facilitation of any individual, group or event does not constitute endorsement of any specific viewpoint expressed.


October 8, 2025
We are looking for a consultant to design an interactive data visualisation tool for our Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education in Ireland. The consultant will lead the design or tailoring of off-the-shelf survey software and analytics software to our needs, in collaboration with IDEA staff. Please submit a tender including a description of stages in the development process, number of days, expected fee, and experience of relevant personnel for the work to be carried out to anya@ideaonline.ie . The deadline for application is Wednesday, 29 October, 5.00pm. Read the full terms of reference here.
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.”
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 (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!