President Higgins Receives 'Voice for Humanity' Award at IDEA Conference

IDEA Members Honour Michael D. Higgins at Annual Conference

Approximately 200 educators, artists and activists honoured President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins with the inaugural Global Voice for Humanity Award at the IDEA annual conference, which took place this week in Malahide, Dublin. IDEA members presented President Higgins' with the award in recognition of his commitment to justice, equality, and global citizenship education throughout his life.


You can watch the full video of his address below!

Speaking at the event award recipient President Michael D. Higgins said;


“May I thank the Irish Development Education Association for this great honour, the Global Voice for Humanity Award, for which I am most grateful. I have always viewed education as a catalyst for social change, and that is why the work of the Irish Development Education Association is so important. The need to cultivate independent thought, and to create mechanisms to ensure that everyone across our shared, vulnerable planet in peril has access to quality learning opportunities is a fundamental necessity for a fruitful, vibrant and participative life. May I take this opportunity to thank all those operating, in whatever your field, for your passion and your unwavering commitment to social justice globally, to development education, global citizenship education and the advancement of a strong and ethical global consciousness. I will continue to champion your causes.”


Speaking at the event, the CEO of the Irish Development Education Association, Ruairí McKiernan said


“President Higgins has long been a rare kind of leader - someone who combines intellectual courage with deep humanity. He has spent a lifetime speaking out against injustice, standing with the marginalised and challenging us to think critically and act with compassion. Through his words, his leadership, and his example, he has inspired people in Ireland and beyond to believe in the power of education and the responsibility of citizenship." 


"The role of Global Citizenship Education educators in Ireland cannot be underestimated. The climate emergency, global instability, and far-right extremism, misinformation and racism have increased the need for Global Citizenship Education now more than ever in our society. Educators are at the frontline of countering division by creating opportunities to learn about the world, the interconnectedness of the challenges we face, and how we can take positive action in ways that build bridges and foster hope. President Higgins has inspired many of the educators leading Global Citizenship Education in Ireland today, and we are privileged to honour him with our inaugural Global Voice for Humanity Award." said Ruairi.


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!