Ecological Vision and Values at Drummin Bog: Nurturing Conscience, Creativity & Community

The Drummin Bog Project is guided by the ecological vision and values that help us care for people, place and future generations.
These values grow from community experience, local culture and global frameworks such as the Earth Charter.

At a glance —
Values help communities act together,
think long-term, and stay rooted in care.

What we believe:

• Caring for Drummin Bog means caring for the wider community of life.
• Restoration and regeneration are strongest when local people, creativity
  and culture are involved.
• Ecological values help us think long-term and act together.
• Everyone can take part, whatever their background, interests or expertise.

These beliefs guide decisions, partnerships and how we welcome participation.

Why values matter:

Research shows that when values shift towards care, fairness and responsibility, communities are more likely to take meaningful action for nature and for one another.

When values change, behaviour follows.
That is why we name our values clearly.

Our inspiration:

Local knowledge matters. Global frameworks help us stay accountable. We draw on many sources of ecological understanding, including:

The Earth Charter in Practice has helped us think of environmental restoration and community together.

The Earth Charter guides our work through four core pillars:

• Respect and care for the community of life
• Support ecological integrity
• Promote social and economic justice
• Encourage democracy, nonviolence and peace

These principles help keep the restoration and regeneration of Drummin Bog rooted in care, conscience and community.

The Earth Charter, in 100 words: ‘Turning Conscience into Action’

The Earth Charter is a global declaration of shared ecological and ethical values. Proposed at the 1992 UN Earth Summit and launched in 2000 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, it emerged from one of the most inclusive global civil-society consultations ever held. It offers four pillars and sixteen principles to guide how we care for people, nature and future generations. Earth Charter International, based at the UN University for Peace in Costa Rica, supports education and action worldwide through translations, learning programmes and youth leadership.

Read the Earth Charter’s vision and principles

A Brief History and Global Reach:

• Proposed in 1992 and launched in 2000.
• Used worldwide across education, community action, peace-building and sustainability.
• Endorsed by UNESCO and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• Referenced by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, reconfirmed by Pope Leo at the 2025 Raising Hope Conference.

EARTH CHARTER Quick facts

• 4 pillars, 16 principles
• Dozens of translations, including Irish
• Used worldwide for education and action

Visualisation of the Earth Charter guiding thinking and action for the UN 20230 Sustainable Development Goals. The Earth Charter logo of the Dove and the World also underlines that the Earth Charter is a Charter for Peace.

The Irish translation of the Earth Charter

The Irish translation was developed through the Drummin Bog Project Committee. It helps make the Earth Charter relevant for people living in Ireland.

How it began

Phoebe Cope, a Drummin Bog Committee member and Haumea Ecoversity learner, began by translating the Children’s “Little Earth Charter” for her two children in 2022. She later translated the full adult version, encouraged and supported committee member Cathy Fitzgerald.

Shared Publically

In 2023, Phoebe Cope, Cathy Fitzgerald, eco-poet Grace Wells and Prof Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin) contributed to a seminar at IMMA’s Earth Rising Festival, reflecting on Ireland’s ecological wisdom in language and place, and the value of the Earth Charter.

Cathy Fitzgerald and a learner from the Gnathoga Nadurtha programme, Angelina Foster (Co. Kildare), also shared creative uses of the Earth Charter for community eco-engagement at Mary Robinson’s 2025 Courage in Crisis conference.

Presented internationally

In 2025, Cathy Fitzgerald brought the Irish translation of the Earth Charter to present at the Earth Charter’s 25th anniversary gathering, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Community effort, international impact
A local translation can strengthen
ecological culture far beyond one place.

Cathy Fitzgerald was nominated by Dr Lorna Gold of the Irish-global Laudato Si’ movement to attend Pope Leo’s 10-year celebration of Pope Francis ecological policy – encyclicals, Oct 2025, with US Prof Peter Blaze Corcoran. Cathy’s visit was supported by Earth Charter International.

Ongoing learning and reflection

Eco-ethical learning and creative community engagement can strengthen ecological restoration and regeneration. Yet this approach is still emerging in mainstream education and policy in Ireland and elsewhere.

The Earth Charter offers a practical foundation for re-imagining education and supporting community-led restoration projects like Drummin Bog.

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Acknowledgments

Since 2019, Dr Cathy Fitzgerald has helped shape the Drummin Bog Project’s ecological vision and guiding principles. Her work draws on doctoral research and the development of Haumea Ecoversity, an independent online ecoliteracy platform rooted in eco-ethics.

With thanks to:

• The Drummin Bog Project Committee
• Carlow County Council Arts Office & the Arts Council of Ireland -the Gnáthóga Nádúrtha | Natural Habitats creative peatland programme (Carlow, Kildare and Meath, 2022–2024)
• The Creative Ireland Carlow Programme
• ArtLinks Bursaries
• Prof Peter Blaze Corcoran and Prof Sam Crowell, Chair of Earth Charter Council, Michael Bracken and Mirian Vilela, Earth Charter International
• CCEN
• An Gairdin Beo, Carlow

* The spread of eco-ethics awareness across County Carlow, from The Drummin Bog Project and Earth Charter learning at Haumea Ecoversity, has also been supported by community County Carlow-wide events co-hosted by the County Carlow Environmental Network (CCEN)and Carlow town’s An Gairdin Beo Community Garden.