IDEA’s Lab 2024

Dates: Thursday 04 July,10.00am-6.00pm and Friday 05 July, 10.00am-3.00pm  

Location: Blackstairs Eco Trails, Carlow


IDEA is thrilled to open applications for our 2024 Lab. 


In this first of its kind residential Lab, we will create a space where members can bring their ideas for projects and try out new planning and design methods. Participants will have the opportunity to work on an idea from scratch to (almost) finish with the support of expert trainers and learn through group exchange in a welcoming and inspiring setting. 


Participants will come out of the training with: 

  • An early project design proofed, tested and built through group feedback, iteration, trialling and support.   
  • New approaches in designing innovative projects they can apply to their workplace 
  • A chance to share their experience around the challenges for innovation 
  • Headspace and time to work on the design of an innovative project 
  • A chance to experiment with innovative methods in practice with expert support 
  • A chance to actively learn through group exchange and strengthen the sense of an innovative community of practice in Ireland 
  • A chance to strengthen their project through the presence and knowledge of an expert 


How? 

Please email anya@ideaonline.ie to request an application form. Requesting an application form does not commit you to applying. 


The deadline for returning application form (including organisational sign off letter) is Friday 31 May, midnight. You will find further details in the application form. 


Cost

This training is funded by Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs and is free of charge for IDEA members. IDEA will ask for a small refundable deposit to hold your team’s spot, further details are available in the application form. 


Irish Aid is the Government’s overseas development programme which supports partners working in some of the world’s poorest countries. Irish Aid also supports global citizenship education in Ireland to encourage learning and public engagement with global issues the ideas, opinions and comments expressed in this training are entirely the responsibility of its author(s) and do not necessarily represent or reflect DFA policy. 


Timeline: 

  • Applications open: 07 May 
  • Applications close: 31 May, midnight 
  • Confirmation and deposit invoice: Week 03 June 
  • Preparatory session with trainer (online): Week of the 17 June 
  • Lab arrival: Where possible we advise arrival on Wednesday 03 July in the evening. Accommodation and food will be covered from 03 July, 5.00pm - 05 July, 3.00pm 
  • Lab: 04 July,10.00am-6.00pm. 05 July, 10.00am-3.00pm  

 

 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch at anya@ideaonline.ie if any of the above pose a barrier to your participation, or if you have any other questions. 


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!
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!
September 26, 2025
Date: 06 November a nd 18 November from 3.30–4.30pm Location: IDEA offices, 6 Gardiner Row, Dublin 1 Due to positive feedback following a workshop during our annual conference, we are thrilled to invite members to a full 2-part interactive workshop about “Racial Justice” on 06 November and 18 November. This event will take place in-person in Dublin. Our facilitators Bronwyn April and Mdahyelya Bassi will guide participants through a critical exploration of the interconnections between racial justice, philanthropy, migration, and decolonisation within global and Irish contexts. The workshop will delve into how historical and ongoing colonial legacies influence contemporary issues of racial equity and social justice in Ireland and beyond. The dates for this event are fast approaching, so if you have any specific accessibility requirements, please email events@ideaonline.ie as soon as possible. Places for this event are limited, and registration is mandatory. Deadline to register is Monday, 04 November. Register below!