Over the past five weeks, Comhlámh facilitated Seeding Change 2026, an evening course delivered in partnership with UCD Volunteers Overseas, which concluded last week. Bronwyn April, Comhlámh’s Training and Education Coordinator, discusses the programme and how it supported participants in a reflective learning journey that explored climate justice through dialogue, shared experience, and collective reflection.
Seeding Change approaches climate justice as relational and systemic rather than solely environmental. Throughout the course, participants examined how ecological harm and benefit are shaped by histories of power, colonial legacies, and global economic relations. These discussions encouraged participants to consider how environmental impacts are unevenly distributed across societies and how Ireland is also connected to wider patterns of environmental injustice.
A central part of the programme focused on positionality and ecological inheritance. Participants reflected on how early experiences with land, culture, and development shape the ways people understand environmental change. This helped situate climate justice within lived experience and social context rather than presenting it as a neutral or purely technical issue.
Systems thinking also formed an important component of the course. Using the “House of Modernity” framework, participants explored how dominant ideas such as separation from nature, hidden ecological costs, systems of control, and growth-oriented economic models interact to produce environmental injustice. Mapping these dynamics helped participants connect local experiences with broader structural processes.
The course also highlighted alternative ways of living through community practice. Contributions from Paul Redmond of Mud Island Community Garden and Gareth Conlon of Síolta Chroí shared grounded examples of ecological relations organised through shared stewardship, collective governance, and care for place. These initiatives illustrated how community-based approaches can reshape relationships with land and community within existing systems.
The final session connected ecological justice with human rights and solidarity. Aisha Hamdulay from Front Line Defenders joined the course as a guest contributor, exploring how environmental struggles intersect with the protection of human rights defenders and the role of solidarity across communities. The discussion emphasised that ecological change is sustained through relationships, mutual care, and collective responsibility rather than individual action alone.
TAILOR-MADE COURSES BY COMHLÁMH
If your organisation would like to explore these or other global justice issues in a way that’s grounded in your own context and work, Comhlámh can develop tailor-made courses and workshops for teams and groups across the development, humanitarian, education, and community sectors. We can adapt the format and focus to suit your needs, whether you are looking for an introductory or overview session, a deeper reflective programme, or a facilitated space for learning and dialogue.
If you would like to discuss what might work for your group, please get in touch with Bronwyn, our Education and Outreach Coordinator.