Surfer, scientist, and explorer Easkey Britton on environmental challenges and hope

The three-day Ardnaculla Summer School, hosted by Hometree in County Clare, takes place from July 7-9

Mon, 26 Jun, 2023 - 08:17

The Ardnaculla Summer School returns to the west coast of Ireland for the second year in a row this July, bringing together some of Ireland’s most interesting and innovative thinkers and practitioners working in woodland conservation and biodiversity restoration.

Children attending a Forest School at the 2022 Ardnaculla Summer School hosted by Hometree. Picture: Jasmine Patel

Surfer, scientist and explorer Easkey Britton is one of the speakers at the three-day event hosted by Hometree in County Clare which takes place from Friday, July 7 to Sunday, July 9.

The Donegal native is part of the Hometree Board of Trustees and hopes to bring a fresh perspective on climate change. She will be co-hosting a Deep Adaptation Workshop with Hometree CEO Matt Smith for the opening event of the summer school.

Easkey says: “The first event is about creating a space to explore the concept of deep adaptation in the context of climate change. Deep adaptation is unlike more traditional resilience or sustainability approaches. Instead, it confronts the impending environmental change head on and is about how we can adapt our lives to accommodate this new reality.”

Easkey explains what people can expect from the workshop: “We’ll be looking at the Three R’s of Deep Adaptation — Resilience, Relinquishment, and Restoration. Building our resilience can help with our capacity to respond to shocks and continue to function. We’ll engage with the concept of relinquishment, a process of letting go. It could be letting go of the belief that we’re separate from nature, what would that be like for us as individuals and society? The final part is exploring restoration which is at the heart of Hometree, looking at restoring what we love most.”

She adds: “The workshop will be a space to have deep meaningful conversation in a safe way. It’s about fostering an understanding of the environmental challenges we have ahead, inspiring a sense of collective responsibility and how to take practical steps towards adapting more deeply. For me it offers a fresh perspective on climate change, on the dominant narrative which often makes us feel overwhelmed and helpless. Although this is about facing the inevitability of a lot of the crisis and challenge we're in, it also offers hope and inspires action.”

Ebb & Flow: Connect with the patterns and power of water, by Easkey Britton

Later on Friday July 7, Easkey will participate in a second event, telling her own personal approach and story in the areas of biodiversity, conservation and climate change. She will be speaking about her new book Ebb & Flow which explores our human relationship with water. In writing the book, it also brought up the power and importance of our connection with land, trees and water.

She says the summer school covers a diverse spectrum of expertise and knowledge, “There is a meadow restoration workshop on Saturday that I’m really excited about. Manchán Magan will be talking about the connection between land, trees and the importance of our mythology and heritage. What I love about the summer school is that it’s really inclusive, it’s intergenerational, there are sessions that will appeal across age groups and it’s very family orientated with great activities for kids. It’s really immersive, you’re going to be outdoors, there are different walks and you’ll be able to see woodlands and wonderful examples of what is being put into practice.”

Additional speakers at the Ardnaculla Summer School include:

sustainability researcher and lecturer Dr Niall Ó Brolcháin
wildlife rangers Tim and Barry O’Donoghue
farmers Joe Hope and John Duffy
Marina Conway, CEO, Western Forestry Co-op
and Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcolm Noonan TD.