On Wednesday 20th September, Cabra was buzzing with ideas, as the Dominican Sisters Cabra welcomed guests to a 1-day workshop on Doughnut Economics, called ‘Bring the Doughnut Local’. With facilitators Dee Murphy and Róisín Markham from the Irish Doughnut Economics Network (IDEN), over 40 attendees ‘stepped into the Doughnut’ to explore what we need to do to make sure that both planet and people can thrive, and how the sustainable economic model of Doughnut Economics can guide us.

Guests included owners of businesses in Dublin 7, Dominican Sisters from around Dublin 7, Wicklow and Galway, Senator Marie Sherlock, Neasa Hourigan TD and Green Party councillors, lecturers from Technical University Dublin, teachers and students from St. Dominic’s College, the CEO of Focus Ireland, RTE Junior Radio climate justice podcasters, representatives from Dublin 7 sustainability groups, Bohemians football club, the Young Mother’s Network, Le Chéile Schools Trust, Misean Cara, AMRI and other individuals and organisations working on environmental and social justice issues.

There was a real sense of energy and appetite for working together, with attendees dividing into working groups and leaving the workshop with action plans for various projects, including making a prototype planter harvesting rainwater from downpipes, campaigning for gender equality across the curriculum and in subject choices in secondary schools, making sustainable and affordable food available to everyone in Dublin 7, and creating a community hub in Dublin 7 for the whole community to use. Strong connections were made on the day between the Dominican Sisters and other activists and interested groups in Dublin 7, with lots of potential for future work.