Resurgence 25X for The Planet
RESURGENCE 25X for the Planet Webinar
7th of September
Following on from the success of the previous Resurgence 25X events, on the 7th of September, ATPO, in association with GIY convened an interactive webinar dedicated to a vibrant recovery from COVID 19 for those working in and/or seeking positive change in the Sustainability/Green sector. Green issues and our parlous environmental state have been overshadowed in the public perception by the need to deal with the critical effects of the COVID pandemic. But the steady environmental demise of the planet continues and the need to effect significant change in our behaviours right now remains paramount.
As with the previous Resurgence 25 X webinars, this event was about looking a little ahead to see what possible positive change in the Green/Sustainability sector is achievable. And also looking back to see examples from our guests of resurgence from chaos and crisis. The intention is to share, magnify, and multiply the ideas and opportunities for a resurgence for the Sustainability/Green sector that can be adopted now and show fruit by 2025 (or earlier).
The event included
(A) My perspectives on mindset and momentum creation and key momentum shift for the Sustainability/Green sector.
(B) Inputs from 5 guest contributors presenting examples from a diverse range of expertise, practice, and perspectives.
(C) Interactive engagement activities (the X element) to expand on and multiply the resurgence themes from
the event.
Each of the guest speakers was given the same ‘5 for 25X’ challenge. To speak about their perspective on resurgence for the Sustainability/Green sector based on their knowledge, experience, and ideas for our recovery from COVID 19 over the next few years (to 2025). To add to the challenge each speaker was asked to provide at least 5 examples of resurgence in their delivery.
The guest contributors and their contributions are presented below.
Gilly, along with her husband Brian, is Co-Founder of Wildacres, a Nature Reserve and Biodiversity Education Centre in East Wicklow. After 20 very fulfilling and successful years working in Sales, Marketing and Management in the Media Services Sector, including a number of years as Managing Director of a subsidiary of Independent Newspapers, Gilly retrained to become a Nutrition & Fitness Coach. During this period she and Brian were searching for land in County Wicklow and in 2017 their dream came true when they acquired 17.5 acres on the beautiful Redcross River which they have since been transforming into a sanctuary for wildlife.
Giving what once was intensive farmland back to nature has been hugely rewarding, says Gilly. 'Seeing wildlife gradually return to these fields has been heartening. When you give nature a chance it responds positively and Wildacres is now a haven for lots of native butterflies, birds, bees and other insects, trees, hedgerow and wildflowers as well as a diversity of mammals and other wonderful creatures.'
Wildacres is on a mission to educate, encourage and inspire people throughout Ireland to protect wildlife, nature and our environment, to halt and reverse the devastating decline in biodiversity, and in doing so to
reap benefits for the health and well-being of all species. The Nature Reserve will welcome visitor groups from Spring 2022, and people can look forward to an immersive hands-on experience which will hopefully lead to much needed urgent action for the benefit of their own locality, community, country and ultimately planet Earth.
Gilly happily explains that herself and Brian are dedicating the rest of their lives to this Social Enterprise and want Wildacres to continue in perpetuity thereafter for the benefit of generations to come.
Here are Gilly 's five resurgence ideas
Action and Advocacy
Business and Biodiversity
Connection and Community
Donate and Dedicate
Education and Emergency
Ciaran is Director of Coillte Nature, the not for profit branch of the state-owned forestry company, Coillte. He leads a programme of large-scale land conversion projects which include the Dublin Mountains Makeover, the Midlands Native Woodland and the Wild Western Peatlands. He believes the potential for forestry to delivery sustainability solutions in Ireland is enormous and now is the time for some real vision and ambition.
Ciaran is currently engaged in a project to raise capital to create a network of new native woodlands right across Ireland and is encouraged by strong private sector interest in the initiative. Ciaran believes that forests can
deliver a wide range of ecosystem services to environment and society and we are only now truly appreciating their value.
Here are Ciaran 's five resurgence ideas
Planning our Future Forests
Creating Local Woodlands
A National Forest Trust
Payments for Ecosystem Service
Locking-in Carbon for the long-term
Brian is the Chief Executive Officer of AHAON, a technology and engineering firm that assists utility companies in achieving their sustainable 2030 goals and beyond. Brian is a professional engineer and project manager with over 18 years of international experience in delivering technically complex projects. He has held senior positions with the top ten global engineering and constructions firms, which has allowed him to work from Australia to Asia, The Middle East and Europe. Brian has led teams to complete first-of-a-kind infrastructure projects in the power, water and mobility sectors.
With the experience and knowledge gained from his career, Brian and his team developed a cutting edge Cryo Energy Storage Solution (CESS) to assist the global move from fossil fuels to renewable energy. It is a cost-effective and reliable way to store large quantities of energy for long durations, improving the overall efficiency of the electrical grid and allowing more renewables to be connected. AHAON is currently developing a pilot project of this ground breaking methodology to be constructed in the South East of Ireland.
Here are Brian's five resurgence ideas
Take Time to Think
Take Action
Disrupt
Build it
Move it
Ciaran and Jason are co founders of Tokonomics. Both Ciaran and Jason have wide experience in the food and hospitality industry. They also have expertise in information technology, emerging markets and future facing tech trends such as blockchain, DLT, SDG’s and the correlation between food and technology.
Tokonomics are creating new value systems for communities through social capital, digital assets and token economic models, with the mission to create positive social impacts. The project is focused in the areas of Food, Health, Education, & Finance. The core project is the Eatosystem, which is a community of Organic & Pre-Organic Farmers, Chefs, Businesses, and Schools, that Connect, Collaborate, & Evolve our Food System and Environment through Organic and regenerative Farming practices
Here are Ciaran and Jason's five resurgence ideas
Social Impact
The Organic System
New Value Systems
National Project - Global Project
EU Project Global Initiative
Iseult is co-founder and CEO of FoodCloud. an award-winning non-profit social enterprise. Launched in 2013 with co-founder Aoibheann O'Brien, FoodCloud offers two solutions to redistribute surplus food to its network of community groups and charity partners not only across Ireland. FoodCloud's technology solution connects retailers with surplus or excess food directly to local community groups, while FoodCloud's warehouse solution redistributes large quantities of surplus food from the supply chain to its network of community groups and charity partners across Ireland.
Since 2013 FoodCloud has expanded. Today, its mobile app solution is being used by 650 charities and community groups all over Ireland and by 9,500 charities in the UK. FoodCloud have also recently reached the milestone of 100 million meals redistributed. An average of 2,200 tonnes of food is rescued annually with an estimated value of €6.7m and leading to an avoidance of estimated 7m tonnes of CO2 emissions equivalent.
Iseult is one of Time Magazine's Next Generation Leaders. In 2016, Iseult secured Marie Claire's Future Shapers Award and Women Mean Business Social Entrepreneurs of the Year. In 2017 Iseult was included on Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs European list, received a Humanitarian Award from the Muhammad Ali Centre in Louisville, Kentucky, and was named the overall winner of the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Award. Iseult and Aoibheann received a Humanitarian Award from the Irish Red Cross in 2018 and in 2019 FoodCloud won the prestigious Green Technology Award. In 2020 Iseult was awarded the Social Responsibility Award at the first ever European Tech Women Awards.
Here are Iseult's five resurgence ideas
Reduce Food Waste
Reduce Food Miles including Grow your own food
Think in a Circular Economy Way
Increase use of cycling, walking and public transport
Be Part of a Community Level Response
To view the full event with guest speakers and interactive engagement with attendees see the edited highlights below.
