We are an environmental non-government organisation (ENGO) working on a whole variety of issues – from farming to economics and from biodiversity to climate change. We work on these things because they are all linked. It is our objective to ensure that policy makers see those links and that strategies take note of the interconnected elements involved in policy decisions.
We started in 2002 as a group working on forestry. Since then we have grown to work in many different sectors; if you work with forestry issues, you have to look at soil, then water, then rivers, then coasts, then biodiversity and on and on. They are all systems and resources that our modern lives, although increasingly removed from nature, are dependent upon for survival.
We believe education is critical in creating change. Our education centre is open all year round and offers both curriculum and non-curriculum linked courses. We welcome pre-schoolers, third level students and everyone in between. We are a Discover Primary Science Centre with summer and Easter camps each year. It’s all about immersing young people in nature, learning by doing and learning through enjoying.
We also do practical projects. We have a philosophy of criticizing something only if we have a detailed understanding of the issues from all points of view and a proposed viable alternative that we are prepared to trial. For information on our different projects click here.
We are funded through a variety of sources including the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, the Irish Environmental Network (IEN), the Forest Service, Local Authorities through Local Authority 21 (LA21) grants, membership fees and donations.
If you’d like to join us on our interesting and sometimes difficult journey to identifying problems and finding solutions, you can become a member of the Green Economy Foundation here.
Directors
Ian Wright
Debra Davies
Janine Murphy
Olive Finn
Gemma Keeling
GOVERNANCE
Governing Document – This handbook sets out the policies and procedures of the Irish Natural Forestry Foundation trading as Green Economy Foundation (GEF) in relation to all aspects of the charity’s governance from the perspective of the Board of Trustees. The handbook documents the legal obligations of the charity trustees as well as the processes that the charity has in place to meet good governance standards, including those set out in the Charities Governance Code.
This handbook will be reviewed every three years, although changes can be proposed at Board meetings and the handbook adapted accordingly. Any change that would affect the constitution of the charity must be ratified at an Annual General Meeting or Emergency General Meeting.