About Gluaiseacht - Gluaiseacht

our vision

Gluaiseacht for Global Justice

Gluaiseacht is a non-hierarchical environmental and social justice movement bringing together grassroots organisations, concerned individuals and groups from all over Ireland to raise awareness and take non-violent direct action on social, environmental and political issues.

We are a diverse group, a loose campaign and skills network who share the same vision of a truly democratic and sustainable society. Gluaiseacht is a member of the Irish Environmental Network. We gratefully acknowledge their support over the years.

Formation

Gluaiseacht was formed in the aftermath of the demonstrations surrounding the COP6 (Conference of the Parties), the UN Climate Change Conference talks at The Hague, The Netherlands in November 2000 . It began as a network of Ecological and One World Societies at universities and colleges throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (similar to People and Planet in the UK).

Evolution

Over the years, Gluaiseacht has evolved into a network of individuals and grassroots organisations across the island of Ireland with ample experience in activism, with an emphasis on supporting non-violent direct action (NVDA) for social and environmental justice at local and community level.

Gluaiseacht has unique veteran activist knowledge, training skills, equipment and experience gained in participation over 20 years in numerous grassroots campaigns. We endeavour to work with and provide support and experience to any grassroots groups and organisations whose values align with our own.

Our Values

Gluaiseacht is a non-profit organisation.

Gluaiseacht is a volunteer-led organisation.

Gluaiseacht endeavours to be open and transparent in all its decisions andcommunications.

Structure

Structure of Gluaiseacht

Gluaiseacht is committed to working on a libertarian basis , i.e. through non-hierarchical organisation, autonomy, and diversity. Individuals who participate in Gluaiseacht projects and events have an equal say in the running of the network.

We have a number of online meetings a year, and we aim to have one annual in-person meeting when possible. At these meetings decisions which affect the network as a whole are decided and campaigns and strategic issues are discussed.

Decision making in Gluaiseacht works on a non-hierarchical basis. This means that we don’t believe in leaders or some individuals having more power than others. In practice those who are more involved in the network and are part of the core administration group make some decisions without consulting the wider network. However, people are able to join the core group who agree with Gluaiseacht’s aims and principles and are willing to do the work.

We believe in participative democracy, so at our general meetings we make decisions by consensus. Consensus decision-making is a creative and dynamic way of reaching agreement between all participants of a group. Instead of simply voting for an item and having the majority of a group getting their way, a consensus group is committed to finding solutions that everyone actively supports – or at least can live with. This makes sure that all opinions, ideas and concerns are taken into account. By listening closely to each other, the group aims to come up with proposals that work for everyone.

For more information on consensus decision-making go to: https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus

OBJECTIVES

Overall Aim:

The main aim for which the organisation is established is the promotion of sustainability, social and environmental justice, the advancement of education for sustainability, and the doing of all such other things as are incremental or conducive to the attainment of the above aim.

Our objectives are:

To support community struggles for social and environmental justice in Ireland.
To foster the development of a strong climate justice movement in Ireland.
To build the capacity of activists living in Ireland to take direct action for social and environmental justice, and to take action for practical sustainability.
To build the capacity of our organisation to facilitate movement building for social and environmental justice.
To promote education for sustainability within the activist community in Ireland and beyond.
To facilitate networking between environmental justice activists in Ireland and the broader European and Global movements.”