Making spACE for Community

Come together to connect, share ideas and celebrate the power of community learning.

• Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2026
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  Time: 10:00 AM, registration begins at 9:30 AM
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  Location: Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Ave, Grace Park, Dublin, D09 R232

Connecting Roots. Growing Futures.

People build communities through connection, participation and shared learning. Adult and Community Education creates spaces where people come together to learn from one another, build relationships and strengthen their communities. Learning happens in countless ways. Whether through sport, music, arts, volunteering, cultural activities, community development or local initiatives, learning happens in many forms. Many of these are not always recognised as learning.

Join us for Making spACE for Community, a national gathering celebrating the many ways Adult and Community Education connects people and helps communities flourish.

The organisers will give participants a unique opportunity to hear diverse speakers, join workshops, and enjoy music from community voices.

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Jim Clarken is the CEO of Oxfam Ireland and an Executive Board Member of Oxfam International. He was appointed by the EU Commission to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and was elected as Chair of the Agency. He is a Commissioner at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) and a member of the Workers and Employers Committee at IHREC. Jim is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Business and Law at University College Cork, a member of the Advisory Board of Ireland’s largest Business School. Jim is a leading commentator on global issues relating to human rights, inequality, sustainable development, the rights of refugees and migrants, and the role of business in protecting and promoting human rights, contributing to political and public debate in a wide range of international fora. A passionate advocate for the rights of women, Jim has driven a gender-focus through Oxfam’s work. He has led Dochas and the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence and was appointed by the Ceann Comhairle (Speaker of the Irish Parliament), to the Forum on Family Friendly and Inclusive Parliament to transform Ireland’s parliamentary system to delivery greater balance and diversity. He is an advisor to the Irish Government on its role at the UN Security Council.

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Niall Tierney has been the Director of the Global Programmes Unit within Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade since September 2023. That Unit supports Ireland’s cooperation programming in S/E Asia, Central America, Colombia, SIDS, Palestine, and Jordan, as well as the Ireland Fellowship Programme and the Global Citizenship Education programme. Previously, Niall was seconded to the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Mozambique in support of the national responses to the Covid19 pandemic and conflict in northern Mozambique. He also served as Head of Ireland’s Cooperation in Mozambique; Deputy Head of Cooperation in Ethiopia and was Ireland’s negotiator to the SDGs 2013-2015. Prior to joining the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013, Niall served as Country Director and in other roles for Concern Worldwide in West and Southern African Countries for 13 years.  Niall holds an MSc in Economics and an MSc in Development Studies.

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Katlyne is the Education Lead at The Bohemian Cooperatives, a new not-for-profit to be established this autumn with the purpose of building a Community Wealth Building ecosystem in Dublin and stewarding the first cooperative pathways within it. Katlyne has a background in anthropology, community development, and social and environmental justice, and now leads the development and delivery of the Education and Community Participation Hub at The Bohemian Cooperatives. This education work sits at the heart of the wider community wealth building initiative, building a movement and providing real opportunities for people in the community. 

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PANEL

Kevin McParland is a lecturer in the Department of Humanities at Dundalk Institute of Technology, where he teaches Global Youth Work and Community Development. He has extensive experience working with young people, women’s organizations, and community groups in Ireland and internationally, including with Pavee Point, Galway Rape Crisis Centre, and Shining Life Children’s Trust in Sri Lanka. His work has focused on healthy relationships, consent, power, youth participation, and community-centred, rights-based development. He also spent four years with Link Community Development Ireland, supporting access to quality education through partnerships with communities, schools, and governments in South Africa and Uganda.

WORKSHOPS

Agriculture, Food Systems, and GCE with Gareth Conlon

This workshop will explore how agriculture and our wider industrial food system drive climate change, biodiversity loss, and other local and global issues. But could agriculture be a leading solution to these challenges?. Can we create a food system that sequesters carbon, builds biodiversity, feeds our communities nutrient-rich food, and pays growers and farmers a fair livelihood?

What would/could this look like? These are some of the questions Siolta Chroi explores in our work and on our farm.

He is Co-Founder and Director of Síolta Chroí, an award-winning cooperative and social enterprise advancing regenerative agriculture and sustainable food systems in Ireland. Through its Education and Demonstration Centre, Gareth supports farmers, growers and communities to grow food in ways that restore ecosystems, strengthen communities and create sustainable livelihoods.

Based at Síolta Chroí with his family, Gareth also practises meditation and spends much of his time tending the land, developing syntropic agriculture systems and nurturing food forests. These practices deeply inform his approach to education, community building and creating a more regenerative future.

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Land: From Injustice to Possibility with Davie Philip

This interactive 70 minute workshop proposes to explore land as a question of justice, and stewardship. Using the Three Horizons framework, participants will explore some of the challenges within current land systems, identify emerging possibilities, and consider the policies, practices and forms of action that could support a fairer future. This session provides a focused space for shared reflection, offering participants practical examples and actionable resources to integrate into their own Global Citizenship Education practice.

For more than 25 years, he has designed and facilitated participatory processes that help people navigate complexity, build shared understanding, imagine better futures and identify practical pathways for change. His work focuses on local food systems, regenerative democracy, community resilience, the commons, creative placemaking and the wellbeing economy. Based in Cloughjordan Ecovillage in County Tipperary, he combines facilitation and event planning with practical experience in building resilient, community-led futures.

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Water is Life with Dr. Suzanne Linnane and Dr. Caroline Gilleran Stephens.

Water is Life is an interactive and reflective workshop exploring our relationship with water and its importance to our lives, communities and the natural world. Discover the hidden world beneath the surface of our rivers and streams in this interactive, hands-on workshop. We will also introduce citizen science and show how individuals and communities can get involved in monitoring and protecting their local waterways.

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MUSIC

Since then the choir is a permanent feature in King Street and music echoes through the building on Tuesday afternoons. 

Each and every voice is unique and everyone can sing in their range. We do not look for perfection but to build the courage to sing out, make friends and develop English skills.