Latest news with #Ecolution
RTÉ News
25-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Ecolution: The joy of stepping out into nature on a mini school tour
On this episode of Ecolution, RTÉ Kids' climate podcast for young people, we tag along on two mini school tours that bring kids into the great outdoors. Fall in love with nature, as we visit a park with Rang a hAon from Gaelscoil Bhaile Munna with Caitriona Kenny and GAP Ireland. Plus, we join teachers in Herbert Park with Globe Ireland, finding new ways to talk about the environment. Subscribe to the Ecolution Podcast on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify - listen to the latest episode up top now! There are so many teachers who want to get outside with their students, but sometimes, due to where they are or lack of access to an obvious wild space, they don't know how best to start. The great thing is you can get help on your first step outside and into nature. So this week we're continuing our "mini-series within a series" on nature connection in schools. We head to Ballymun to meet Rang a hAon from Gaelscoil Bhaile Munna, who, over a number of weeks in their local park, learned how to be stewards for nature. Caring for the biodiversity already there, reflecting on what was missing and making the space a better place for those wild creatures that make it special. All facilitated by Caitriona Kenny, then Education Officer for Global Action Plan Ireland. Because it's never too young to care about nature. As Caitriona says: "At only 7 years old, they were able to make the connection between a non-diverse ecosystem and what they're missing out on then" Our panel talk about how important it is to have a strong role model in their school to lead the Green Schools initiative and spark environmentalism. And we joined teachers in Herbert Park with Globe Ireland. Aileen Bright and Sabrina Moore lead an in-service for teachers, all keen to find new ways to talk about climate and biodiversity in the classroom. And how best to get their classes out in nature regardless of where they're based.
RTÉ News
11-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Ecolution visits an outdoor classroom in Wicklow where the kids are learning in nature
This week on Ecolution, RTÉ's climate podcast for young people, we head to St Patrick's Primary School in Curtlestown, Co Wicklow to visit their outdoor classroom. A place nestled under trees where students connect to nature and even do maths! Listen and suscribe to Ecolution on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify! The end of year usually means school trips and sunny sports days, a welcome relief from being stuck in stuffy classrooms. Well, imagine if your school had a way of bringing the outside to you all year long. Earlier this Spring Ecolution went to a school in Wicklow that does just that. St Patrick's Primary School in Curtlestown has a purpose built outdoor classroom, set up by staff and parents post lockdown. The idea behind creating an outdoor classroom is to create a beautiful, exciting, inspirational outdoor learning area that's suited to your school. Whatever amount of space you have. Here, just outside Enniskerry, they found the perfect spot. The morning we visited, the field beside the school was filled with bleating lambs, and birdsong filled the air. We approached a wooden gate which swung back easily to let us in to the large outdoor classroom. Two whiteboards under covers sit at either end of the space, nestled under trees at the base of a forested slope. Filled with picnic benches, there is space for two whole classes of children to be taught at the same time. All out in the elements and surrounded by nature. We visited in March and flowers had just begun to bud. But having an outdoor classroom allows the students to chart the passage of nature all throughout the year. Nature connection is vital, and the main reason the teaching space was built. But the outdoor classroom offers a whole lot more, with Maths, English and History regularly taught outside when the weather allows. One teacher even led a shamanic drumming session in the classroom. This school is built on community. The creation of this space was a great example of the positive collective action we spoke about in last week's Ecolution. Not all schools have the space to create an outdoor classroom, but as the students of St Patricks have found, everyone benefits from taking their class outside. We say how much they love what they have, and it's something that will last long after these kids head off after 6th class.
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Stuart Goldsmith: The stand-up comedian standing up to climate change
Climate change is no laughing matter. It's such a big, huge thing to talk about that most people wouldn't think it's good material for their comedy... But, Stuart Goldsmith is one comedian who thought - why not?! He's the host of the internationally renowned Comedian's Comedian Podcast and he is our special guest on the latest episode of Ecolution. Listen to the Ecolution podcast on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify now. Over the years, Stuart has interviewed some superstars of comedy, including Jimmy Carr, Bo Burnham, Kathy Griffin, Sarah Millican and James Acaster to find out the habits and processes that help them to create - and cope. The podcast has had over 25 million downloads. In recent years he has turned his attention to the climate crisis. It is now the main topic of his stand-up and the core of his recent special - Spoilers. Stuart says: "Spoilers is about the climate crisis. It's a frank and funny look at how we can all do more to alleviate our own dread and combat inertia. You'd think it would make you feel worse, but it leaves you feeling impatient and full of energy. It won Best Show 2023 at Leicester Comedy Festival and was one of the best-reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe." We spoke with Stuart about how to communicate your fears, help people be better informed about our environment, and create change from a very different perspective. While we are all in a good mood, this edition of the Ecolution Panel looks at some good news stories. It's very easy to think it's all bad, but there are so many amazing people doing great things to help our planet. Press play above as Evie and four young climate activists from the Irish Schools Sustainability Network (ISSN) tell us more.
RTÉ News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Ecolution talks disinformation, fake news and fact vs opinion
In this episode of Ecolution, RTÉ's climate podcast for young people, we take on the scurge of disinformation. On the show your host Evy speaks to the organisations at the Voices International Festival of Journalism in Zagreb who are fighting fake news on all fronts. Plus, we talk lies and misinformation with our brain trust from 3rd class at Stepaside ETNS. Listen to the Ecolution podcast on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify now. And, watch our panel discuss disinformation and fake news on RTÉ Kids YouTube up top. Once you're online there can be a big divide between what's a fact and what is nothing but opinion. A fact is backed up by research and science. An opinion is nothing but a feeling people have about a subject. And can be informed by other people. Or by only finding your news online. People say no news is good news. But over the past year it seems we've been bombarded with news that seems confusing, scary, hard to decipher and yet impossible to ignore. Information that claims the climate crisis is a hoax. Or that having a more sustainable place to live is a conspiracy built to control people. And lots of people want to listen. Because the bigger and louder the story, the more it spreads. Disinformation is false information. Information that is not true but that is being shared as if it's a fact. And these "alternative facts" are offered to intentionally mislead people. Sometimes by people in positions of real power. The rise of deepfake videos and AI generated images that seem totally real has made the line between fact and fiction even more blurry. Children and adults alike can be caught out. And when big social media companies are removing the people they once employed to check facts, that online space becomes a place where disinformation grows. When we're trying to work out if a statement is true or false we use lots of different senses. It depends on who is saying it. Their tone of voice. How they build their sentences, and then what kind of body language they use to help them explain. And, for all of that, there's still a chance that there is more behind what people say than we can know. And, when we see something online, even more of these signals are either missing, or impossible to read. Increasingly, we get most of our information about climate and news online. The key to making sense of it is to become more Media Literate. Media literacy is all about how we consume content - from TikTok to TV, to news articles online, and how we learn to ask the right questions of ourselves when we see something that doesn't seem right.
RTÉ News
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Ecolution talks fast fashion with Junk Kouture
Sustainability met creativity at the Junk Kouture Dublin City Finals, and Ecolution were at the Helix in Dublin to hear all about the amazing show, the message behind the movement and to meet the young people involved. Listen to the Ecolution podcast on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify now! And, you can see the highlights on RTÉ2 this Monday at 7pm. We spoke to the teams who made it through to this year's showcase finale. And they brought high fashion costumes, all made from materials that would otherwise wind up in the bin. Because they know it's high time we change our attitude to clothing. An EPA study carried out by researchers at MTU in 2019 found that the per capita consumption of new textiles in Ireland is 53 kg per person per year – that's almost 1 kg per week of new textiles purchased by every citizen. On an international scale it's thought that one truckload of textile waste is dumped every second, ending up incinerated or in landfill. And less than 1% of the clothes we wear end up recycled into new products. The rise in fast fashion and low cost retailers online has seen massive growth in single wear clothing. Discarded textiles are often exported, with a huge volume of material arriving through the duty free ports of Chile in South America. So much of it is of such low quality that it is dumped illegally in the Atacama Desert with vast mountains of waste clothing left to rot. It's clear we need to change. And one way to change is to take action. And Junk Kouture lets young people make a very clear statement. Founded in 2010, Junk Kouture is a zero cost sustainable fashion event open to 12-19 year-olds that challenges young people to design, upcycle and create high end Kouture from recycled Junk, before showcasing their design and representing their school on stages across the world. Ecolution got behind the scenes to capture the excitement leading up to the final and met Co Westmeath student Clodagh Ramsey from Wilson's Hospital School. She walked away as the World Designer of the year in 2024 for her design 'Aquacultural'. The dress, made from discarded mussel shells weighed a whopping 32kg and championed sustainable food production and gender equality. We only got to speak to a fraction of the people behind the designs on show. Those we did see had made couture level costumes out of household rubbish. All with repurposing and reuse in mind, some of the central ideas of the circular economy. The outfits might be totally catwalk, but the message it carries let all the participants leave having learned ways to be more sustainable in their everyday lives, as well as strutting their stuff on stage.
