Mary Lawlor @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, delivers keynote address at DCU Institute for Climate and Society @dcuclimate.bsky.social annual conference. Read more here: launch.dcu.ie/4lQ77Ju #DCUClimate2025

To close off #DCUClimate2025, Institute for Climate & Society Co-Director Professor Pat Brereton offers some reflections on the day's events

In Lebanon, a guy being interviewed by @hannahmcccarthy.bsky.social objected to the term ‘seed bank’, because they hate the banks, which have recently collapsed. They call them ‘seed libraries’. #DCUClimate2025 @dcuclimate.bsky.social

@dpmrobbins.bsky.social: what does media get right and wrong in reporting on climate? @marcusstewart.bsky.social (Earth Horizon Productions): we need more climate literacy in newsrooms. Priyanka Borpujari (PhD student, DCU): we need to ask questions, listen to people's stories #DCUClimate2025

A beautiful reading of some new work by poet, Grace Wilentz, on the reintroduction of the lynx into Europe. Fabulous that the arts have been so central to this year’s conference.

The panelists discuss their experiences of reporting on the climate front lines, noting the intersection of climate change with the social, political and economic. If you just write about climate change “you’re not getting the full story” - @hannahmcccarthy.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025

Our final panel of #DCUClimate2025: Reporting from the climate front lines

On the theme of this year's conference - activism, storytelling and the arts - up next is a poetry reading by poet and writer, Grace Wilentz, Writer-in-Residence at Notre Dame, Dublin #DCUClimate2025

AlanJames: the language used around climate issues “is devoid of any emotion” - let's think not of climate action but “climate love” Trish: “it absolutely needs to be all hands on deck” - let's each of us think: "well what the hell can I do with my few skills?" #DCUClimate2025

Thinking about climate science, art and activism @dcuclimate.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025 AlanJames Burns talks about the real impacts on disabled communities of climate change, and the lack of access to knowledge & nature. Dr Trish Morgan describes the importance of de-siloing.

@trishmorgan.bsky.social from DCU School of Communications challenges our use of the word 'art', which "puts a moniker" on something “intrinsically human” Rebecca Wilson of @researchireland.bsky.social highlights the need to "empower" the public by making research more accessible #DCUClimate2025

Artist, curator and festival maker AlanJames Burns, highlights the challenges faced by disabled and differently abled people in engaging in climate action - and how they are often forgotten in activism #DCUClimate2025

Dr Eileen Hutton, Artist and Head of Art and Ecology, Burren College of Art, discusses "how we read the landscape" - how we can foster place-based responses to environmental challenges #DCUClimate2025

Up next ▶️ our third panel of the day: Climate science, art and activism #DCUClimate2025

“We want to live in community like the mosses do, like the trees do” - write Kerri Ní Dochartaigh at the #DCUClimate2025 annual conference

“Be more oak!” Kerri Ní Dochartaigh describes how a single oak tree cares for more than 2,000 species. Rosie O’Reilly on the rights of nature: “where is nature in the university?” She calls on us to de-silo & apply critical thinking. #Art and #environment @dcuclimate.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025

Luke Casserly, multidisciplinary performance maker, discusses slowness, intimacy and care in their artistic practice @lnhowley.bsky.social from the DCU School of English discusses the use of eco-criticism in teaching: “It is easier to engage with your environment through art” #DCUClimate2025

POV: writer Kerri Ní Dochartaigh asks us to close our eyes, root ourselves in the ground and think of the structures that support us - most of all, the earth. "Art is mother earth." #DCUClimate2025

"Art doesn't give us something. It is something... Art is nature, and nature is art" - visual artist Rosie O'Reilly offers reflections on the arts and the environment #DCUClimate2025

“At our annual conference today, we are delighted to be able to spotlight a diverse range of contributions to the climate and ecological crises through activism, storytelling and the arts.” says Director @dcuclimate.bsky.social Dr Diarmuid Torney @diarmuidtorney.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025

@dhandprof.bsky.social opens our panel with some reflections on the role of art: “Art can give us a narrative around this crisis”, creating stories we can engage with #DCUClimate2025

Up next ▶️ our second panel of the day: The arts and the environment #DCUClimate2025

Some great responses from our panel to the question of how we can best support human rights defenders. Panelists noted the role of collaboration, training, the media, but also, importantly, respecting human rights defenders' own agency. Now to audience Q&A #DCUClimate2025

Sarah De Roure from @frontlinedefenders.bsky.social says environmental defenders know what support they need. Fidelma O’Kane from Save Our Sperrins describes the imbalance of resources between activists and companies, and the need for networks of support. @dcuclimate.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025

Irish people wanting to take action to protect the environment should focus on their TDs (members of parliament) - a concerted campaign of writing to public representatives can be very effective says Mary Lawlor @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social , speaking at the @dcuclimate.bsky.social conference today.

A clear message from @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social “Don’t give in to hopelessness, that’s useless” @dcuclimate.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025

Following on from our keynote from @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social, our first panel of the day: Defending environmental human rights at home and abroad. We'll hear from speakers from @frontlinedefenders.bsky.social, @dundee.ac.uk, Save Our Sperrins and @dublincityuni.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025

Great crowd at @dcuclimate.bsky.social #DCUClimate2025 for @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social’s opening keynote address.

A question from @diarmuidtorney.bsky.social on government's climate performance. "The rhetoric often doesn't match the reality" says UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social, as she encourages climate activists to be "a crowbar in the system" #DCUClimate2025

On the consistent breach of climate targets by major corporations, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social notes: “This should be considered criminal, but it is those who oppose it who are criminalised” #DCUClimate2025

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social addresses #DCUClimate2025 with a stark warning: the defence of private interests and status quo presents a “serious risk” to climate defenders. But a glimmer of hope: "human rights defenders haven't given up"

Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, reminds us that ‘climate change IS a human rights issue’. Her keynote speech at the @dcuclimate.bsky.social annual conference is a call to action, and a strong defence of #climate and #human #rights defenders worldwide.

Here's what to expect from today's event - please follow us on @dcuclimate.bsky.social for the day.

Up next: UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor @marylawlorhrds.bsky.social will give a keynote address to #DCUClimate2025

We want to explore how the arts and humanities can help us understand, explore, and somehow deal with the unfolding climate and biodiversity crises. And what a way to kick off today's conference than with a recital from the DCU Campus Choir.

And we're off! #DCUClimate2025 kicks off this morning with a rousing performance by the DCU Campus Choir. Very on-brand for this year's conference: 'Dispatches from a changing climate: Engaging society through activism, storytelling and the arts'.

We're thrilled to be hosting a performance by the acclaimed Irish vocal quartet Landless next Tuesday @ 5pm on the DCU Glasnevin Campus. All are warmly welcome to join. Please register here: bit.ly/3YFTl1Z

Just one week left to register for our DCU Institute for Climate and Society annual conference, taking place on Tue 29 April. We'll explore the role of activism, storytelling & the arts in responding to the climate crisis. Details & registration here: www.eventbrite.ie/e/dispatches...

Looking forward to discuss the recent #IMO #GHG #Framework at @espol-lab.bsky.social. Many thanks @earsomj.bsky.social for the invitation! Recent research on this see: brill.com/view/journal... @dcuclimate.bsky.social @dublincityuni.bsky.social

Yesterday, @easac.bsky.social's launched its report 'Security of Sustainable Energy Supplies'. Some highlights: 1) the energy transition improves energy security; 2) we need citizen engagement; 3) win-win-win links exist. Thank you @paulakivimaa.bsky.social for being such a great co-chair!

This week will define the future of #shipping and it is a key moment for #climate action and #multilateralism! #IMO #MEPC83 @dcuclimate.bsky.social

Will shipping industry introduce a global carbon tax this week? Piece by DCU's Dr Goran Dominioni @gorandominioni.bsky.social for @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social. Read here: launch.dcu.ie/42zlwCb

BOOK PROOFS! Very excited to be at this stage and can’t wait to see Oceanic Connections out in the world. For fans of poetry, the blue humanities, Ireland, the Caribbean … 🌊 📖

Graduation day is one of my favourite days of the year & last Friday was no exception! Wonderful to welcome back to @dublincityuni.bsky.social @dcuclimate.bsky.social the graduating class from our MSc in #ClimateChange. We're very proud of them all and can't wait to see where life takes them!

📣 Join us for the @dcuclimate.bsky.social annual conference on Tuesday 29 April! We'll be exploring the role of activism, storytelling & the arts in responding to the climate crisis. Details and registration here: bit.ly/4cgGNUv

The Climate and Sustainability Exhibition has moved to Cregan Library! Learn how the @dublincityuni.bsky.social community is responding to the climate emergency. For more visit: dcu.ie/library/climate-and-sustainability-exhibition

Hear from Institute member Dr Danny Marks and DCU colleagues at 'The Lived Environment' Futurology event tomorrow evening @ria.ie. Details and registration ⤵️

Great to be featured in Bunkerpost's new #ShipEnergySurvey2025 "A #Trump presidency may help the uptake of #LNG as a bunker fuel, and this is not a real solution due to its GHG profile" More here: doi.org/10.1017/err.... @dcuclimate.bsky.social @deli-dcu.bsky.social @climatecocentre.bsky.social

✅ Stakeholder Event: Climate Democracy in the EU. RETOOL project workshop at LSE explored courts & advisory bodies’ roles in #ClimateGovernance. Key topics: #ClimateLitigation, #DemocraticGovernance, and resilience amid political challenges. 🔗Learn more: retoolproject.eu #RetoolProject

And it's a wrap-up of Part 1 of the @dublincityuni.bsky.social training on #shipping #decarbonization for #IMO delegates. Many thanks to the guest speakers from @unctad.bsky.social #UNCTAD, @iddri.bsky.social, @ucl.ac.uk, and #Maersk for the great contributions. @dcuclimate.bsky.social