Blog.
The Story of Change: why citizens (not shoppers) hold the key to a better world
Can shopping save the world? The Story of Change is a new short movie that urges viewers to put down their credit cards and start exercising their citizen muscles to build a more sustainable, just and fulfilling world.
When aid is ‘debated’
Image: Plantu (France). See our cartoon library for more Mention ‘Africa’, the ‘Developing World’ or ‘Poverty’ and sure enough, it’s yet another debate on ‘aid’, whether it has ‘worked’, ‘failed’, ‘created dependency’ etc. and whether it addresses ‘overpopulation’, ‘corruption’ and ‘our’ current financial crisis. And, so it was on RTE
Rings (of inequality) around the world
The honour bestowed in carrying the flame, kindled by eleven women using the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror in Olympia, Greece. The call to peace through the releasing of a flock of doves in the main stadium. The Queen parachuting into the opening ceremony
How to teach … slavery
Today’s blog was originally posted in the Guardian’s Education section, in their series ‘How to Teach…’ – which covers everything from teaching about tax, tennis and the referendum on Scottish Independence. This week’s post covers the issue of slavery, written by Valerie Hannah, in preparation for the international day for the
The True Size of Africa
Are you prone to ‘immappancy? Do you get easily confused by the actual size of countries and how they relate to each other by how much space they take up? Take a look at this: If you’ve come across the concepts of illiteracy and innumeracy, then computer graphic enthusiast Kai
The Games have begun, an opportunity missed
It was an amazing opening ceremony. Danny Boyle and his team had the opportunity at the outset, to challenge some of the more dominant, ugly trends that have taken over the Olympics. Acknowledgement of the injustice of colonisation would have gone a long way to set the right tone for
School Immersion: Vacation or Education?
“I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.” – Confucius, Chinese philosopher and political theorist, 551-479 BC Immersion programmes are growing in popularity, with many Irish schools engaging and as the word spreads of successful trips many more are expressing interest. There are many questions surrounding
Arms, ‘consensus’ and human development
Source: IMG_5419 by controlarms, Flickr I don’t know about yours but my dictionary suggests that the word consensus means ‘general agreement’ or ‘majority opinion’. The reason I raise the issue is that over the past month, negotiators from some 170 countries have been discussing a UN arms treaty, which needed
Who we’re watching for London 2012
Everyone has their favourites they tune in for during the Olympics, whether it’s the Olympic giants such as the infamous Usain Bolt, the immense Michael Phelps or their own national hero. However, as Ros Wynne-Jones of The Guardian puts it: ‘All competitors are, by definition, Olympian, but there are those
A ‘V sign’ for the world’s poor
Image: Cayman Islands 2005 084 (2006) by Salvatore.Fren, Flickr. A useful dictum to remember when trying to understand and analyse global inequality is ‘study the rich and powerful, not the poor and powerless’. We have become used to forensic studies focused on whether the poor are slightly less or more