Nineteen workshops were offered at Eco-Congregation Ireland’s inaugural conference, with topics ranging from ‘The Destruction of Biodiversity’ and ‘Is Corporate Greed Forcing us to Eat GM Food?’ (both led by Fr Seán McDonagh SSC) to ‘God’s Creation and Poetry’ (Dr Una Agnew SSL), ‘Awakening to the Spirituality of a New Earth Consciousness’ and ‘Sustainable Living and Spirituality’ (both led by Mary Kate Hagan RSM).
Alyn Jones of Alliance Youth Works led a session on ‘Helping Children and Young People Nurture Respect for the Earth’ and there were two workshops on ‘How to Become an Eco-Congregation’. One of these was led by Fitzroy Presbyterian Caring for Creation Group, Belfast; the other by the Oblate parishes of Inchicore, Dublin.
Rev Peter Owen-Jones’s workshop on ‘Media and the Environment’ looked at why the news is constructed in the manner that it is. Participants were given newspapers and magazines and then asked to write and present two and a half minutes of news.
A range of topics was covered focusing on security through to species extinction. A discussion was then held on why the current plight of the planet is not higher up the news agenda.
To read about some of the other workshops, see the following news items …