Banner photo credit: Graeme Robertson

A World Café-style event on how to shape Ireland's Future within Planetary Boundaries

An Taisce and An Taisce’s Green Campus Programme are hosting this very special event on 3 September in the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

We are excited to welcome global thought-leader Kate Raworth as keynote speaker to this World Café-style afternoon of action. She is the creator of Doughnut Economics, a model that balances human needs with planetary boundaries.

We would also like to sincerely thank Dr Tony Holohan, Director of the Centre for One Health & Adjunct Full Professor of Public Health UCD for hosting this unique gathering. He also works with the WHO at the European level — including in relation to public health leadership, health, the wellbeing economy and One Health.

Kate Raworth has been invited to Ireland by UCD to be awarded an honorary degree at the conferring of its first cohort of graduating BSc Sustainability students, so we are delighted that she is involved in a wider programme of events while in Dublin, including this special one.

This event is a call to action. Can Ireland adopt the principals of Doughnut Economics to shape a future where we can thrive within ecological limits?

How can we ensure that everyone has access to their basic needs — such as food, education, health and housing — while not limiting opportunities for future generations by protecting our shared ecosystem?

This event brings together diverse voices to rethink our economic priorities and place the wellbeing of people and the planet at the heart of decision making.

Those participating are contributing to a movement that seeks to redefine what progress looks like — ensuring that no one is left behind, while protecting the ecological boundaries that sustain everyone.

The Green-Campus Programme champions lasting change. It empowers campuses to become exemplars in sustainable environmental stewardship and strengthen long-term commitments to continuous improvement. In a similar fashion, this event will enable participants to collaborate, creating space for a practical engagement with Raworth’s economic model in an Irish context.

Founded in 1948, An Taisce is Ireland’s oldest environmental charity. It has long been an independent voice committed to preserving and protecting natural and built heritage. Through initiatives like the Green-Campus Programme, it empowers communities to take practical and meaningful action towards sustainability and protect the natural world.

Green Campus has been in operation since 2007, with 52 campuses currently registered and 19 have been awarded the Green Flag — including two teaching hospitals. Green Campus is an evolution of An Taisce’s Green-Schools Programme, developed by the global Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).

Let's create a future where Ireland can flourish within planetary boundaries — where sustainability and social justice can go hand-in-hand.

Two optional events are both happening at 2pm for attendees in advance of the main programme.

• A tour of the new major exhibition Take a Breath courtesy of IMMA

• Unrolling the Doughnut — a session on the concepts of Doughnut Economics.

If you would like to support the work of An Taisce, please consider becoming a member or donate to Ireland's oldest environmental charity.

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Some information about the host of the discussion: Dr Tony Holohan was appointed in July 2022 as an Adjunct Full Professor of Public Health in University College Dublin (UCD) College of Health and Agricultural Sciences. In 2023 he was appointed as Director of a new One Health Centre in the College of Health and Agricultural Sciences in University College Dublin (UCD).

He was awarded an Adjunct Full Professorship in the School of Public Health and Primary Care in Trinity College Dublin in March 2024.

He was appointed as chair of the governance committee of FutureNeuro, a Science Foundation Ireland research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases in early 2024. Tony is also a board member of the Irish Hospice Foundation.

He also works with the WHO at the European level including in relation to public health leadership, health and the wellbeing economy and One Health.

Tony is a member of the recently established Advisory Committee on Public Health Emergencies’ (ACPHE) established to advise the European Commission with the decision-making process regarding the formal recognition of a public health emergency at EU level.