PRESS RELEASE: YOUNG PEOPLE CALL ON IRISH MEPS TO CREATE A FAIRER ECONOMY, AT HOME AND ABROAD

 Young people will today (16 January) share their vision for a new European economy which challenges how countries have approached and tackled the financial crisis to date, promoting sustainable economic development, both in Europe and globally.

Entitled “Challenging the Crisis” , the campaign focuses on promoting cohesion through Social Economy and will involve lobbying Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to increase recognition.

The group of “Young Global Advocates” consists of young adults from Europe’s most indebted countries – Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia – and is led by an Irish organisation, the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA). “We believe increasing social cohesion in Europe and globally is vital now after the crash, with social unrest on the rise in the most affected countries,” explained Adam Sweetman, 24, from Co. Dublin, who is one of the Young Global Advocates spearheading the campaign.

This youth group believes the social economy “is recession proof” because profit is not the only goal. Rather it means an economy which benefits society in the countries concerned, and that would also fundamentally alter the way we do business in our relations with the rest of the world, especially the world’s poorest countries. 2015 is the ‘European Year for Development’ – a crucial year where world leaders will make decisions that must create a world we can all prosper in.

Although the EU’s youth unemployment rate still hovered at around 22% in 2014, the Young Global Advocates are keen to focus on solidarity with other parts of the world.

As part of the ‘European Year for Development’, the campaigners believe that a model of people-centred growth through a social economy in Europe would send the message that international development still matters to us, even in times of economic difficulty. Eleanor McKenna, aged 25 from Drogheda, who has been involved in the initiative since its launch in early 2014, describes it as “an opportunity to connect with people facing similar challenges to us in Ireland, and who share our passion for social change on a global scale”.

The campaign will be officially launched in Spring 2015 but today the Irish group presents their idea at an event hosted by Dóchas and Concern Worldwide to Irish MEPs including Mairéad McGuinness and Brian Hayes. Today the young people call on Irish MEPs to back ambitious commitments to end inequality, climate chaos and the polarisation of society at home and globally. The event comes one week ahead of the launch of Ireland’s participation in the “European Year for Development” at Dublin Castle, and Dóchas and Concern Worldwide have invited Irish MEPs – and young people – to reflect on their vision for the year ahead.

WHO: Young adults leading the ‘Challenging the Crisis’ campaign

WHAT: Event with Irish Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)

WHERE: European Parliament offices, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 WHEN: 11am – 12.30pm, Friday 16 January

For more information contact 0879747579. Information on the launch of the European Year for Development in Ireland is available from Dóchas. Find out more about the Challenging the Crisis project here and follow us on Twitter @CtCrisis. Join in support of the year using #EYD2015.

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!