The slip of paper which we sent out with each tree for planting and care. We are still getting great feedback about our initiative for National Tree week in March 2022. We were thrilled to deliver over 200 birch and oak trees to the three national schools of Scoil Moling (Glynn), St. Michael’s (Newtown) and…
Author: Dr Cathy Fitzgerald
Dr Cathy Fitzgerald practices ecological art as a practitioner, educator, blogger and researcher. She is an Irish-based New Zealander living in rural Ireland, the home of her ancestors. Since the mid-90s, her work with the pioneering Irish forest NGO Crann inspired her long interest in the developing art and ecology field.
Over time, Cathy recognised the enormous cultural shift an ecological worldview represents to education and for the creative sector in particular. An informed ecoliterate creative sector will have a crucial role to inspire communities to live well with others and their environments. Importantly, Creativity has inclusive and imaginative means to explore new expansive values for living sustainably that science and politics are failing to achieve.
Cathy's expertise as an educator and mentor arises from firsthand experiences: having a prior background in science; overcoming the learning and practical challenges in developing an internationally recognised and rewarding ecological art practice (her ongoing creative forest restoration practice Hollywoodforest.com); reviewing ecological art practice research in detail for her practice-led PhD, and her considerable experience in professional development for all art forms as the inaugural ArtLinks Director for the SE County Arts Offices (2007-2010).
In addition, Cathy is an accredited sustainability-systems educator, having completed the UNESCO-recognised ESD (education for sustainable development)-Earth Charter programme in 2021.
Since her PhD, Cathy has developed considerable experience in training over 150 mid-career creatives from Ireland and abroad in all creative fields, in transformative ecological literacy (ecoliteracy) and integrated ecosocial values courses through her unique online Haumea Ecoversity (https://haume.ie). Given the urgency of responding to the ecological emergency (to addressing environmental and social concerns), ecoliteracy training is essential to empower, inform and guide creative workers, curators, and cultural policy writers in becoming fluent in the values, ideas and actions needed to advance broader concepts of personal, collective and planetary wellbeing. Cathy also enjoys one-to-one mentoring.
Creative Drummin news: Arts Council to Collaborate ‘Art in the Landscape’ Offaly and Mayo seminar
As Creative Drummin – Druimín Cruthaitheach, led by the Carlow Arts Office, and involving council staff, creative practitioners Jules Michael, Carole Nelson, cultural researchers and involving training from Cathy Fitzgerald’s Haumea Ecoversity – begins work on a new creative learning and community ecosocial engagement initiative funded by the Arts Council of Ireland Invitation to Collaboration…