Earth activism and social permaculture with Starhawk and Davie Philip.

We where greatly honored to welcome Starhawk for this inspiring 4 day event.

Unfortunately Alfred Decker was not able to come but we were delighted to have the support of Davie Philip from Cultivate in Cloughjordan who cohosted this event with us.

Earth Activism and Social Permaculture with Starhawk and Alfred Decker 

We live in a challenging time on the journey of humanity, but one which is also full of potential and possibility. Through our everyday actions we can activate change and initiate a new way of being in the world. We were delighted to offer this unique and inspiring 4 day workshop in partnership with Cultivate based in Cloughjordan, and bring together earth activists, permaculture change makers and sustainable community advocates to share some time in nature, strengthen our connections, and deepen our practice.

The programme was facilitated by international guest Starhawk and Davie Philip of the Cultivate Cooperative (Cloughjordan), with the aim of embarking on a journey of transformation, and regeneration of both the inner and outer landscapes, as we explored how we address the issues of our times through Social Permaculture design princliples and Permaculture core ethics - Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share.  

The event explored how an understanding of ecology and the principles of permaculture can infuse our activism, including how to structure groups and organisations that can meet our core human needs, while also sharing key tools for staying calm, grounded and present during moments of chaos and challenge. Participants gained new insights into the design principles and tools for evaluating strategy, crafting actions and campaigns that tell a clear story, improving intra-group communication and resolving conflicts, and with renewed energy, hope and inspiration going forward.

The 4 Day Workshop included an inspiring field trip to Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland’s leading sustainable community, and its thriving Community Supported Farm, with an overview of the life and development of the EcoVillage by Davie, cofounder and member. We also had an informative and deeply inspiring conversation from Ollie Moore, EcoVillagemember and activist on his visit to Palestine last year and on solidarity initiatives underway as a result with the United Agriculture Workers Committees in Palestine

Over the course of the day and guided tour of the local and ecovillage we explored how applying ecology and permaculture principles can strengthen group dynamics, enhance resilience, and support more effective collaboration.

Starhawk

Starhawk (she/her) is the co-founder and executive director of Earth Activist Training. One of the foremost voices in Earth-based spirituality, Starhawk is an author, activist, and permaculture teacher and designer. Her 13 books include such beloved reads as The Spiral Dance, The Earth Path, and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Starhawk drew from 30 years of living collectively to write The Empowerment Manual, which is the basis for her social permaculture course, Empowering Collaborative Groups. Starhawk has been recognized by the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA) as a leading figure in permaculture and has been awarded dual diplomas for excellence in education and permaculture site design. As a teacher of magical activism and permaculture education, Starhawk’s life work takes her across the globe. She currently lives part-time in San Francisco in a collective house with her partner and friends, and part-time in a little hut in the woods in Cazadero, California, where she practices permaculture in her extensive gardens and writes. Her website is http://starhawk.org.

Davie Philip is a sustainable community advocate with over 25 years of experience in fostering resilience, climate action, and cooperative living. He is a co-founder and project manager at Cultivate, the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative, where he leads the Community Climate Coaching program. A co-founder of the award-winning Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Davie is actively involved in its Community Farm and serves as a director of Cloughjordan Co-Housing, developing a low-impact co-housing neighborhood.

A passionate permaculture educator, Davie specializes in Social Permaculture and was an early catalyst of the Transition Towns movement in 2005. He served on the Council of ECOLISE, the European network for community-led sustainability initiatives, for six years, including a term as co-president (2019–2021).

Recently, Davie has been working with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Ireland Hub, coordinating a Community of Practice for cultural creatives to reimagine an economy that serves both people and the planet.  www.sustainable.ie 

We had 22 wonderfully inspiring participants from various organisatons and pathways.. and from various county's of Ireland and beyond !

After Starhawk's training, we enjoyed a weekend of the All Ireland Permaculture Gathering, and again greatly welcomed an input from Starhawk where she offered visionary steps being taking in her own communities in addressing the irgency of permaculture training for refugees, and a new groupinf of Permaculture & Palestine, where she shared about many issues where social permaculture has an impact including, addressing food desserts and food poverty at home in the US !

We thank you all who were involved, for joining us on this exciting journey and staying with us! We hope to continue to regather in the months and years ahead

more info will follow on these events