How was your week? The warm unseasonal sunshine made everyone in Ireland feel like we had a great week.
Welcome back to my weekly studio notes, if it’s your first time here, great you found me. These notes are written by me and have almost become an anti-version of automated AI prompt writing. They are human, with no assistance from AI, I do use a spell checker. Spell checker is always on.
So what you can expect is a bit of reflection, some insights, photos & stories, a question for you and some resources. It maybe be a twisty or meandering weave or straight forward who knows! Sure is that not the joy of creativity and self expression.
Studio notes are used by people like me to record the texture of the week. I’m also using this blogging platform to keep a digital record of my work. I’ve been told BDT Consultancy does not make our work visible enough. I ended up explaining to two people this week our clients know the value of our work. Confidentiality and integrity are core parts of our business value. We are often working on fractal services at the cutting edges for clients.
Last week I added a next week perspective to my notes I wonder will it make a difference in what I write about this week or in your experience of reading the notes?
Reflection
As I sat in the garden on Sunday morning doing my daily ecology of practices, it was really obvious to me that the social interactions I had this week were significant on several fronts. My sense of frustration in the last while perhaps was also a sense of isolation. As I reflected on this I also decided to draw my week like a cultural map. This is directly influenced by spaces and conversations I was in this week and the kind of creative conversations I have been having.
Loved that Caroline Whyte from Feasta and the WEALL Ireland Hub traveling by train from Dublin to Rosslare, included meeting me in Gorey as part of her journey. We had such a lovely meeting. We also walked and chatted in the ever decreasing forest by the Burrow in Courtown. We did also discuss future work on an EU proposal and engaging with grassroots networks and communities. It was great to hear about Caroline’s economic lecturing and introducing doughnut economics to students.
Monday night I made a presentation on the Courtown Community Council Circular Economy Report to the Courtown Regeneration Partnership Group. Slightly tough audience and lots of councillors in the room. The county council got hammered in the room by locals very angry they had been forgotten about. The person who runs the Towns First initiatives for Wexford County Council gave a good presentation and was asked some tough questions. The conclusion was it’s all about getting the beach back, that’s the focal point for Courtown. I spoke about this a bit last week in T-ing up this week’s work.
I was shocked by his last slide, perhaps he thought it was funny but it was not. I’m sharing the slide here in part for record.
Is this someone showing us who they are or is it a tone deaf attempt at being funny?
It was not funny and the women in the room made it clear. He flicked it of the screen quickly knowing perhaps it was risky or had not landed with the audience. Is that who he thinks Wexford is? Which is worse btw.
On the day Trump had the war criminal Netanyahu in the White House and the stock markets and global economies were crumbing. I wondered what was he thinking. However I specifically asked him to put it back on screen so I could take a photo of it for accountability.
I attended the second NESC Energy Systems Workshop on Tuesday via my connection to Gemma O’Reilly. We meet while preparing for Kate Raworth’s visit last year. She is researching the Irish Energy through a systems approach using a doughnut economics lens. The first workshop was in Q4 last year. Both workshop were with a broad range of stakeholders.
This is a significant development for an Irish public sector advisory group that is funded by the Taoiseach Department, to be using a new economic thinking framework in this way. Exciting to see how it might shift policy, funding, strategy and in effect achieving our 2030, 2050 GHG commitments.
The table I sat at worked on the Heatpumps systems map. In the afternoon we partnered with the group looking at District Heating. Good workshop well structured enabling rather getting stuck in loops of +|-
Obviously when you spend a whole day focused on one sector with different stakeholders you bubble up all sorts of fascinating and interesting perspectives – policy incoherence, energy development parks, co-ordinating planning, density of living patterns, determinants of populations, follow through of policy, implementation and accountability from national to local, business as usually maximising value, partnerships, decision trees and good digital apps for energy and decarbonisation of homes, buildings and businesses. A holistic plan for Ireland across the shared Island for energy and an accountability structure was an emergent theme.
One striking thing was that when it came to the Heatpump specific systems map actions all of us at the table had an action on trusted advisors and communications. Our media and content creators have such an important role to play. We really need to be communicating better – this is an emerging theme for me.
We spoke about SEAI SEC Programme (Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland Sustainable Energy Communities) and how they could be harnessed to become pioneer communicators, activators and they harness their own experiences to enable others.
Curiously this popped up the following day on my socials. It’s almost an exact example of one of the actions we spoke about. The Connecting Cabra crew that Brian is a member of rock, they have done and are doing amazing work. One of Irelands lighthouses for sure.
Brian is also head of sustainability in SETU Dublin, we got connected via Kate Raworth’s visit last year. His team do great work and I’ll link back to this shortly.
I look forward to Gemma’s full report on the Irish Energy Sector and system. I’ve asked for a deep dive on the energy doughnut but not sure that will happen, she’s pretty busy.
Wednesday was a ‘if this thing I quoted for will actually happen’ how will it actually function kind of a day. Looking at task, resources, schedule and financial burn down. That was a bit of an eye opening perspective realising the framework the client requested to be included last minute is not really costed in. Building that into the project is how I’ll aim to deliver it.
I also had a fun session with Orlagh O’Brien supporting some service design research she is doing for her final project of study. Orlagh is a visual scribe and we were exploring the rather curious offering of a 1:1 session. Very cool service. We ended up meeting in Cork Thursday and doing a slightly longer deep dive, where I went full nerd on customer journey mapping. Ah! memories of services design work, artefacts for testing and keeping research on point.
Thursday was a travel day to Cork and some down time. I do love Cork. The weather was warm, sunny and fabulous.
I was in Cork for the Oxfam Ireland Ground Up Climate Social Justice Forum at UCC.
The the opening comments by Corks Lord Major Dan Boyle were feisty and on point. The Oxfam Ireland CEO was very much on point addressing privilege and honour to be in the room and host such an event.
The first session a plenary was chaired by the Cian Walsh and featured a strong line up
- Jennie Stephen’s
- Safa’ Al Jayoussi, dialing in
- Pádraig Fogarty
The session really spoke to a lot of where my attention is – living democracy, fairness and justice, policy, business and communities, femnist global approach, who is climate action for? networks and collective action, systems change not climate change.
Jennie had a very clear call to action – Resistance, Reframing, Restructuring.
I’d have liked to hear more from Safa, I think going to people digitally dialled in first is imporant at events like this and she was really balancing the global context and Oxfams work. But I could have listened to all 3 speakers talk for an hour.
My thanks to Oxfam Ireland for inviting me to do an introduction to doughnut economics. I had tried to support it in a distributed way and pass the invite to our local IDEN network in West Cork but they really wanted us to deliver it together. So Moze Jacobs and I offered that workshop on Friday morning.
It was the most popular workshop with 38 people signed up to do a step into the doughnut. There were 4 other workshops going on I wanted to be in them also and it was the same for the afternoon sessions. A very exciting g program put together by Oxfam bravo to the whole team there.
It was great Aimeé Kielt, an Oxfam Ambassador and part of IDEN’s Young Leaders group came and supported the workshop, we roped her in too. Always great to see her. Funny the 3 of us delivered the UCD step into the doughnut during Kate Raworth visit last year.
It was good to see some familiar faces from my network connect through the doughnut
- Rachel Dempsey, the social and climate justice educator and songbird who gets us all singing, she has also led the Newtown Together community and done powerful work on welcoming new locals, collectivism and place making
- Lynda Sullivan whom I know from the Active Hope Community and her work for the Rights of Nature
- Caroline Crowley who’s work I’ve been getting to know this year, she is an independent researcher and has been working with Carol Power in UCC on Coops
- Katie Mahon who I did Brightclub with in 2021 and works in sustainability locally in Cork
- Conor O’Brien who I first meet at Cong in Mayo at the Congregation Unconference at least 10 years ago, he’s the person who told me about regenerative agriculture and the collective group B.A.S.E.
- Thomas O’Connor from Talamh Beo who I’ve meet and heard speak numerous times but our spheres have become closer in the last year
I love working outside under trees, on grass in the sun. It’s my preferred environment for that workshop. The group was pretty excited we were doing the workshop outdoors too. I’ve been working with this embodied introduction of doughnut economics for over 4 years now. It’s one of my favourite ways to share and invite people to experience new economic thinking.
The remainder of the group was mainly climate and social justice activists who had traveled to Ireland for the event. It went really well the unpack as part of the closing was very rewarding.
I had brought some of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab Zine explaining us ways to think like a 21st Century Economist and shared them. They went down well.
I had really wanted to participate in the Friday for the Future protest and March, I got to listen to some of the speeches. Unfortunately Moze had limited time and we wanted to unpack the session and talk about some future work that incoming in September. Where I want to showcase her doughnut work in a session.
It’s a workshop I deliver at least once a month but recognise others are not as comfortable with it, part of my practice is to support people to deliver it. I realise I have all these tips and tricks from years of delivering workshops that other people do not know. Sharing that knowledge is important, even how I prepare and hold the space are ways of modelling and teaching facilitation and open dialogue. The language I use is not just from the script but my own crafting of decolinisation, social imaginaries and my explorations of how to create a future worth living into. This was commented on by a few of the youth activists who talked to me afterwards and let me know the words and language I used had deep meaning for them.
[We have also got great news that a joint proposal with SETU Dublin & IDEN for a Step into the Doughnut workshop has been accepted for the Mary Robinson Conference.]
I really enjoyed the workshop I got to participate in that afternoon Communities Against the Injustice of Mining. Lynda who I mentioned earlier was co-facilitating the session.
I loved V’cenza Cirefice creative session on counter mapping. Her welcome to the session at the beginning was also so beautiful and encompassing it was a prayer we should speak of welcome everyday, a manifesto for the world. I am going to reach out to her and ask her if she’d share it. It welcomed all of who we are, all of nature, our ancestors past and present. We were welcomed and space was created in our hearts and the room for us as individuals spoken in a way that was abundant and generative creating the container. I don’t experience that everyday in spaces. We need more of that.
I’ve been actively using that kind of language in corporate and community spaces.
I love maps and shall be exploring counter mapping in more detail.
Insights
No wonder I was tired Saturday. but not too tired to celebrate sunrise with our eldest, we both love the sea and a good early sunrise. Soon that adventuring will include a swim but for now it’s just good to watch beauty unfold and celebrate the morning.
You can see his story on about it TikTok at 29.5K views.
I wonder are my doodles, my daily drawing a type of counter mapping?
After all are maps not sense making? Counter mapping is finding and recording different types of values. This drawing in particular from Saturday a week ago, as I reflected on the workshop really came to mind. I had also shared it with Orlagh when we meet Thursday. As part of the drawing I asked myself and recorded it in my notebook – if I could take a year to be in conversation with an island? Part of my thinking and sensing into doing an MA in Art and Environment based in the Islands of West Cork. It also feels like a sense making of living with questions, in that journey I have come across islands of coherence. The idea that in systems change and chaos, bubbling up will be islands of coherence.
“Much of what is considered valuable today will be revealed as valueless as these extremes unwind in a disorderly rebalancing. Islands of Coherence in a sea of incoherence will become valuable.” Charles Hugh Smith
The phrase originated with complexity scientist Ilya Prigogine, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1977 for his work on nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Here is his quote containing the phrase: “When a system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence have the capacity to shift the entire system.”
All of this led me to draw a map of the week, the second image in the post. All the words here, the photos are for you. Perhaps my creative making and studio notes will get to one image per week at some stage over the year… It’s not the aim. Interesting to see the spaciousness on the map of the week.
From communities to policy systems thinking to climate social justice, networks and connection to thinking like a 21st century economist, enjoying nature, seed planting and propagating in the garden it’s been a threaded week. All against the back drop of yo-yo USA tariffs the dismantling of economic stability and global supply chains. This work is so important being resourced to do it feels more critical then ever.
It’s also interesting to see themes and workshop structures from 2016 – 2017 when I worked in speculative design, futurist sights and innovation being so mainstream now.
A question for you?
Are you still with me? What would you like to know more about? Let me know in the comments of feel free to email me via the contact form on this website .
Resources
It felt more natural to embed links this week so you will have seen plenty of breadcrumbs to resources.
One I do want to mention is the ERSI research that got a lot of attention because of a national media interview with Dr Pete Lunn. The research examines Irish people’s perception on climate change and GHG emissions. It’s significant as it includes addresses farmers attitudes.
Complex Systems Frameworks Collection
A different variant of Bioregions on One Earth I’m also going to direct you towards their resources of books and films here. I keep an active resource of films for thrutopia and the kind of future a post-growth society might look like.
A view to next week
Next week is a research one for me, more remote desk based work.
On the ERSI research above, I want to make work around some of those findings. I aim to spend time reading it and make a proposal for creative communication work around this. Let me know if you have resources to fund this work.
I will be finalising reports for 2 clients in the next week one long over due, the other to do with Lough Neagh and Community Wealth building.
I have several proposals to get back to people on so I’ll be actively working on those during the week. There are 2 conversations early in the week that could change the direction or course of my work over the short and medium term.
The sun is back out and I have planting to do in the garden, so I’m out away from the screen to be in nature.
Slán, till next week.
Roisin Markham 
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