Síolta Chroí - Regenerating People and Wider Nature

This blog was written by Gareth Colon and Karen Jeffares of Síolta Chroí, who facilitated a workshop called ‘Ecosystem Restoration and Development Education: Regenerating People and Wider Nature’ at the IDEA conference on Wednesday 23 June 2022.



Can we create systems that restore ecosystems, sequester carbon and build biodiversity while supporting our communities to thrive? At Síolta Chroí we explore the concepts of permaculture and regenerative agriculture, ecosystem restoration, development education and contemplative wisdom practices and spiritual practices to explore this question.


Our mission is to restore Ireland’s ecosystems and communities. We focus on Ireland but global justice work is inherent in what we do. We are part of a global movement called ecosystem restoration camps. This is a movement of communities from all over the world connecting up and working to restore the ecosystems of their local and global community.


At Síolta Chroí we frame our work under three pillars:

1)     Education focused on regenerative cultures

The concept of regenerative culture acknowledges that the regeneration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes is not only a physical or technical concern, it is a deeply cultural one too. The dominant way of thinking in our culture has us disconnected from the natural world. If we make changes to heal the land but don’t change our relationship to that land, we will continue to damage the planet around us in one way or another. Regeneration thus requires a shift in perspective so that we see ourselves as co-inhabitants of this planet rather than the dominant species. How can we do this? We believe that deep individual and collective work is required that brings us through a journey of self-awareness, healing and transformation


2)     Exploring resilient and regenerative food systems

A regenerative food system creates resilience by localizing economies, supporting biodiversity, sequestering carbon and building greater food security. Our current food system is carbon heavy, de-localized and in many cases is poisoning the planet and our bodies. The food systems that we are exploring are ones that work with mother nature. A question to ask might be ‘What would a system look like that worked with Mother Nature’? Rather than trying to dominate over her. What would it look like if our food systems supported her to build up and work with nature to thrive in abundance? One example we explored in our workshop was a food forest. Have a look at this short video.


3)     Ecosystem restoration work

Ecosystem restoration provides tools to restore degraded landscapes. This offers us a chance to stave off the worst effects of climate change. Sequestering the excess carbon in our atmosphere on a massive scale is one of the last remaining solutions. By rehabilitating degraded ecosystems and restoring the soil to health on a wide scale, we can sequester enough carbon to create a safe level in the atmosphere.

An amazing example of what is possible happened in a relatively short space of time in China in an area called the Loess Plateau. Film maker John D. Liu documented the process in just 14 years an area roughly the size of Belgium was restored. You can watch the film here.


Conclusion

It is hard to write this and not enter into a colonial way of speaking. The limitations of our language means that when speak we speak in a way that separates humans and nature when in reality, we are one and the same.


This separating humans from nature leads to thinking in the environmental movement such as humans are bad, how can humans do less harm? Our responses to the ecologicial crisis are in limiting the effects of our badness on wider nature. Ben Folks, a permaculture designer in the USA, points out if that is how we think and we follow that thinking then we are better off dead. That is the only way to genuinely do no harm. To this he says “I want to live and I want the people and place around me to benefit because I have lived”.  One of the aspects we love about permaculture and regeneration is it asks the question ‘What if humans were a healing presence’?


Clearly we need healing from all manner of traumas at every level; from individuals to the planetary ecosystems. Perhaps by healing the land we can begin to heal ourselves and our traumatised culture. However to do this global justice education is essential.


For this and more information on our work go to www.sioltachroi.ie or https://fb.me/e/7px4Q1esQ


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!

Racial Justice Training: Exploring Contemporary Crises and Issues through Global Citizenship Education 2025

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!