It’s been a busy end to the year at Green-Schools and the much anticipated Global Goals Conference on November 15th was a huge success. An Taisce’s Green-Schools programme, with support from Irish Aid, premiered the first Global Goals Conference in Dublin’s Croke Park, which gathered 10 schools across Ireland to focus on the Global Goals for sustainable development.

In 2015, UN leaders agreed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a better world by 2030. These goals have the power to end poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change. Guided by these goals, the Green-Schools Global Citizenship programmes enables young people to take action and create real measurable change in Ireland.

During a series of activities and talks throughout the conference Green-Schoolsstudents had the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the SustainableDevelopment Goals. Important global issues were highlighted throughout theevent and students gained a deeper insight into concerns such as food waste,inequalities and responsible production and consumption.

 Secondary school students from Coláiste Bríde, Clondalkin, Dublin delivered a dynamic presentation of their development work on Goal 5: Gender Equality, which was followed by a Freedom for Girls activity. Representing Eco-Schools Northern Ireland, two students from Wallace High School, Lisburn,delivered a talk based on their project, which highlighted the seriousness of food waste and its impacts on people in lesser developed countries.To close the events of the day, Irish Development Education Association Director, Frank Geary, delivered a talk to students on how Ireland is responding to the SDGs and what we can do as a nation to improve achieving our 2030 targets.

Green-Schools Manager Cathy Baxter stated:
“Green-Schools has long promoted the messages of the Global Goals so it’s wonderful to bring together committed students and teachers at this conference to share what they have achieved and plan new activities. We hope they go back to their own schools and homes and tell everyone what they learned. We are so grateful to Irish Aid for their support of the programme.’’

See photos from this exciting conference on our Flickr Page.