Eco Congregation Award
Sparkchange Awards 2019 October 18th
"Our life on earth is a team sport and is not a sprint to the end"
This is the "Story of the SDGs", explained Deirdre Harvey, CEO of The Wheel. She praised and welcomed the collaboration of Trinity College Dublin (TCD), The Wheel and Environmental Protection Agency in supporting the implementation of the SDGs at local level as can be seen in the programme below. The SDGS are a blueprint for all the challenges that we must address locally, globally and individually. They insist upon a "Leave No One Behind" inclusivity. Local Community's are socially resilient and have at their heart social entrepreneurs, local hereos with ideas and plans. Many are already doing their bit to achieve the goals but mightn't know it. It takes the help, support and guidance of all. Countrywide 11 community efforts have been shortlisted for award. There is so much happening from the bottom up and this is the spark that the SparkChange Awards recognise. Embedded is a "Just Transition 4 all". If we want to make change happen we have to make sure that change is routed in community. Collaboration, storytelling and sharing is part of the spark change plan. As is the age old adage reads "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". One project may indeed inspire the idea for another. Deirdre Garvey paid tribute to Coalition 2030 and all groups involved who met earlier in the day for the SDG Stakeholder Forum (6th). What comes across in spades is the Intergenerational learning, the moving the shaking and is quickly followed by the learning. Youngsters leading the way in many instances is how we will achieve together. "The importance of education system in raising the awareness and inspiring action in the SDGs cannot be underestimated. In Japan Norway and Sweden the SDGs are routed in the curriculum. There is a pollination of the SDGs. The SDG agenda doesn't belong in any one sector, SDG glasses should be filter for viewing our world. Our life on earth is a team sport and is not a sprint to the end. This isn't the end of the road for theses stories."
Dr. Vincent Carragher from TCD
Dr Vincent Carragher of TCD explained that there was such amount of passion and action in the work of the nominees and that "Dublin Castle is the perfect spot for this awards ceremony". The SDGs are the frame of a crown and and we (the SparkChangers) are the jewels (in this crown). The awards are a recognition of what has been achieved and the stories are what inspire and record. Dr/ Carragher invited us to look at the website and the story page in particular, the jewels in the Crown. He commented that he had seen a man shaving himself in a shop window and that homelessness pervades but that he remains privileged to work with you as changemakers. He encouarges all to fan the flames. He introduced a video (below) that he asked us to take the time to hear this story. The story of the SDGs must reach into all the remotest of places. The4 judges who were charged with assessing and they were unanimous in each category.
SparkChangeAwardsProgramme.pdfThe word family is missing from SDG and agenda 2030. Communities doing it for themselves.
What may appear as insurmountable can be achievable. Sparkchange is about people with a "Civic Curiosity".
A selection of photos from the evening
Eco Congregation Award to the Presentation Sisters in Ireland
July 4th 2019
Introduction
It has been over 200 years since the Presentation Order was founded and their work and footprint has extended to all parts of the world. In an effort to harness the collective efforts of all Presentation People the International Presentation Association was founded. The international Presentation Association are Presentation People who share the charism of Nano Nagle. They reach out in faith, in a spirit of hospitality, compassion and simplicity to all of creation. The cry of Earth and people made poor calls them to continue the mission of Jesus to bring forth a sustainable society founded on respect for Earth, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.
Econgregagtion Award Introduction .docx.pdf1. The Presentation Bog in Lixnaw.
The Presentation Sisters were invited to open a school in the North Kerry village of Lixnaw, with the promise of a 20 acre parcel of bog which they were told would “keep both them and the children warm”. In 2012 the Sisters conferred preservation status on their bog and began the difficult but important work of restoring the bog and gifting it back to mother nature. The Sisters took the best of advice and this restorative work is well underway and the positive results can already be seen. It is hoped that this will serve as an example to others who might consider similar restorative work but also to those living in the community to learn more about the wealth of the local biodiversity on their doorsteps.
1. Lixnaw Bog.pdf2. Challenge to Change
Challenge to Change is a Presentation initiative that starts conversations in school and at home; conversations that provoke thought, that raise important issues, that encourage participation and is hands on when it comes to forming opinions.
Challenge to Change invites the children of all Presentation Schools, both primary and secondary to consider the place of either themselves or others in the world and how they are affected by important issues that challenge all. Challenge to Change offers the students ways to explore and learn that awaken a respect for the environment, and understanding of our common home, our need to be at one with nature and to be responsible for the minding of our planet for the generations to come in the future. All the work of the students is centred on their understanding of the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals and the need for their implementation in full.
2. Challenge to Change.pdf3. The Good Day Deli
The GOOD DAY DELI was successful in it’s bid to open their innovative restaurant in Nano Nagle Place and is located within the beautiful walled garden. It’s perfect fit with Nano Nagle Place and the values and ethos nurtured within the GOOD DAY DELI have firmly established it’s natural home in Douglas Street. The restaurant is built on the original footprint of the old garden room and for that reason space is limited and the amount of glass lends itself beautifully to the hosting of a sizeable al fresco setting which truly is the quiet place in Cork City centre. “Their commitment to sustainability perfectly complements the ethos at Nano Nagle Place; The Good Day Deli owners who returned to Cork in 2015 after years in New Zealand, between them have 18 years’ experience in food and hospitality in two hemispheres, and pledge a commitment to sustainability throughout the food chain with a commitment to animal welfare, serving local, seasonal, organic and fair trade foods.”[1]
3. GOOD DAY DELI.docx.pdf4. Presentation Schools and Communities
As distinct from the very successful Challenge to Change Programme that currently operates in many of the Presentation Schools there is a deep rooted commitment to all the green issues and so many of the schools are part of the Green Schools Programme and spend much energy in committing to achieving the Green Flags that adorn many of the school entrances indicating different achievements that not only involve those attending the schools but also their families and their local communities. The entire school community are included in such initiatives as WOW (Walk on Wednesdays), or composting, recycling, water and heat conservation and of course the SDGs.
4. Presentation Schools and Communities.docx.pdf5. Ballygriffin and Sustainable Living.
The Presentation Sisters in Ireland and around the world have a long standing tradition and commitment to our environment. They place a special emphasis on how we should care for our Common Home and lead by example, not just in what they say but very much by their actions emulating Nano’s wish: “Not Words but Deeds”. Nano Nagle Birthplace, Ballygriffin, Mallow, Co. Cork is a centre for Heritage, Spirituality & Ecology. Sustainability and care of the earth form a major part of the ethos of in Ballygriffin. Central to the development of the Nano Nagle Centre is it’s environmental policy. The 32 acres of land at Ballygriffin have been farmed and are certified organic since 1999.
5. Sustainable Living.pdf
Conclusion:
The Presentation Sisters in Ireland are a welcome presence in all of the Parishes that host them and their contribution to their home parishes and indeed to education continues as can be seen in the 5 projects (as an example) mentioned in this application. The unfolding and generous work that continues in schools and parish communities serves as a down payment on a better planet and this work leads from the front. With other like-minded congregations and civil society organisations the Presentation Sisters have successfully aligned to take the message that Pope Francis articulates in Laudato Si to as many as possible in deeds as well as in words.
