The Fashion Industry is having an increasingly negative impact environmentally, socially and economically. It is contributing hugely to global greenhouse emissions as well as polluting waterways and destroying biodiversity.

These two fun and informative community workshops with The Rediscovery Centre (Dublin) are open to everyone in Inishowen and will look at the actions we can take individually and as a community to change our relationship with the clothes we buy, the clothes we own and the clothes we no longer want.

From repairs and upcycling projects to hosting swap shop events, this workshop will inspire you to make small changes that can have lasting impacts for you, your community and our planet and help create a more sustainable fashion industry.

Letterkenny

As a follow up to our successful Sustainable Communities LK event, join us and our community partners, Letterkenny Tidy Towns, at the Regional Cultural Centre on Thursday 7 December 2023 at 7pm – 8:30pm. Inspiration guaranteed and a cup of tea promised!

Book tickets for the Letterkenny workshop at this link.

Carndonagh 

To celebrate the recent opening of Síoraí Clothing & Accessories (fashion) & Síoraí Home at Spraoi agus Spórt, the Carndonagh-based social enterprise, let’s gather all upcycling enthusiasts in Inishowen, to talk together about what’s possible in our area. Friday 8 December 2023 at 12 noon to 1:30pm, refreshments provided.

Booking link for Carndonagh event at this link.

Visit this video to get a feeling for what the event will be like. This video was recorded by Poca Productions for ChangeMakers Donegal and the Letterkenny Tidy Towns Committee earlier this year.

What can we do?

With so many groups getting together to sew, what else can be done in Donegal? Come see what’s possible in your own community with the support of the ChangeMakers Donegal Sustainability programme called the Sustainability Passport which is open to everyone interested in being more sustainable.

That’s why we have invited The Rediscovery Centre to Donegal. Arran Murphy Programme Manager of Rediscover Fashion Rediscovery Centre is the National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland facilitating a wide range of sewing, design, repair and upcycling workshops for the general public, universities, secondary schools, community groups, and corporate organisations. She is also the head judge of the Relove Fashion Competition Arran has extensive industry experience as a Designer, Maker, and Educator working in Sustainable Fashion, Costume, Community Arts, and Community Education.

Join us for some inspiration and creativity pre-Christmas.

This Christmas, forget ‘jingle all the way’….think ‘justice all the way’!

Across the world people are being pushed further into poverty due to the climate crisis. But we’ve a chance to change that. If we act by joining our project partner’s Trócaire Climate Justice campaign.

Disappear Here Film Club, which takes place monthly in Clonmany, Co. Donegal, is pleased to announce the lineup for its November Film Club on Saturday 25 November.

The Film Club is funded by Concern Worldwide in partnership with ChangeMakers Donegal at Inishowen Development Partnership and Disappear Here Film Festival to encourage local people to think globally inspired by documentary and feature films.

After the success of a community event earlier this month – where the Film Club hosted the Irish Film Institute to showcase archival footage of Donegal and local people saw themselves on screen – the Film Club is continuing with a similar approach this November. The Disappear Here Film Club will present six short documentary films made by non-professional filmmakers from Donegal, Derry, and North Africa. These films last under one hour in total and will be followed by a short panel discussion.

The films include:

• Derry, the Oak Grove by Molly Phillips and Tom Hannigan; a lyrical essay film about Derry featuring current and archival footage.
• Triang Times by Emer O’Shea, Manus Brennan, and Michael Mc Monagle focuses on the lives of two people; a Unionist and one Nationalist, who have spent a lifetime stepping outside their cultural boundaries to make Pettigo a better place to live.
• Connecting Borders, directed by Derry-born, Gemma Gfeller, features interviews with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and religions, from Ireland, Palestine, Colombia, the United States, and Turkey, and examines what it means to live in a bordered world.
• Crossing Lines, directed by Margaret Gordon, is about a group of young women who formed a football team in 1979. The team was both cross-border and cross-religion. Margaret is involved in Finn Harps Football Club today.

The films were made during a filmmaking programme facilitated in The Nerve Centre, Derry, in collaboration with The Reel Borders Project based in Vrije Universiteit Brussels.

Universality of Border Life

Alongside the Donegal/Derry-based films, we will also show two films from North Africa to highlight the universality of border life and the connection between the local and the global dimension, in keeping with the work of ChangeMakers Donegal and the Film Club funder, Concern Worldwide.

• Frontera (Borderland) (7 minutes) is a short film narrated by Lakbira Ijamai. It tells the story of cross-border workers and what they will do when the border between Spain and Morocco is closed due to COVID-19.
• Quiero/I Want (2.5 minutes) features a voiceover from an undocumented migrant worker in Ceuta, on the border with Morocco. It explores the young mother’s dream for the future.

These short films are the result of a three-month participatory filmmaking workshop by Reel Borders with Moroccan cross-border women who are living and working irregularly in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave bordering Morocco. The workshop was hosted by the local NGO Digmun, the Association for the Dignity of Women and Children of Ceuta, which offers language literacy and legal support.

Event details

REEL BORDERS SHORTS – Short Films from Ireland and North Africa

• Saturday 25 November 2023 at 2 pm – 3:30 pm at Market House Clonmany above the Market House Café run by Clonmany Community Centre
• The six short films will be followed by a brief post-show panel discussion featuring some of the filmmakers and producer, Diana Cheung
• The event is free thanks to the REEL BORDERS Project

To be added to our Film Club mailing list, email changemakers@inishowen.ie with Film Club Mailing List in the Subject.

Disappear Here Film Club, taking place monthly in Clonmany, Co. Donegal is delighted to announce the launch of its inaugural DONEGAL SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILM BURSARY in partnership with ChangeMakers Donegal, Inishowen Development Partnership and Concern Worldwide.

Alongside support from Concern Worldwide, proceeds from the popular Film Club have been going towards this €3,000 Bursary for the last 18 months and the funding will be made available to produce a new documentary to be shot in the county in 2024.

Find out more in this video by Michael Mc Laughlin of Disappear Here Film Festival.

Festival & Film Club Founder Michael McLaughlin says it is important to hear local voices in the local independent film sector and he believes that this new bursary will help foster talent, creativity, and activity in filmmaking in County Donegal.

“This is a great opportunity for a filmmaker with a story to tell, to get their work made and up in front of a live audience on the big screen. There are so many unique characters with stories waiting to be told in the county, many with global resonance, we hope this bursary can help people come forward and have these stories captured forever with a new documentary film.”

Myra McAuliffe, Project Coordinator at ChangeMakers Donegal said: “We are grateful to Concern Worldwide for their support of our monthly Film Club collaboration with Disappear Here Film Festival. This new Bursary will fund a local artist to reflect on an important societal issue through the medium of film. We look forward to receiving applications and to showcasing the new documentary at next year’s Festival.”

The combination of arts and community development to raise awareness of social justice is core to the work of ChangeMakers and Inishowen Development Partnership and why they work closely with the Disappear Film Festival in this work.

Denise McCool, Team Lead with IDP explains “Concern Worldwide have worked with us over the years and saw this collaboration as a great opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of a variety of justice issues and their local and global connections through the medium of ‘film’ and facilitated discussion. The Bursary is a great new element to the work.”

GUIDELINES:

To apply, email bursary@disappearherefilmfest.com by Thursday 30 November 2023 for full details. 

The short documentary film must having a running time no longer than 15 mins.

• Total Cash Value of €2,000, plus €1,000 in kind towards media, festival screening fees and 2 x mentorship sessions with festival team.
• Film must be shot in the county, using local crew where possible, before May 1^st
• Disappear Here Film Festival will screen the world premiere of this new work at its annual event in September 2024
• Disappear Here Media will offer support/consultation, and ensure maximum coverage on social media and via more traditional media outlets.
• You will own the final film, DHFC will retain rights to use the film in our programming.

On Saturday 14 October 2023, ChangeMakers will embrace #WorldMigratoryBirdDay2023 with a Walk & Talk Event with Aengus Kennedy of Nature North West at Inch Island, Inishowen, Co Donegal.

FREE but ticketed: https://shorturl.at/quBY0

All meaningful conversations start with a question. Can you recall the moment when you first became aware of injustice in the world?

If you’re interested in exploring the topic of climate justice, join ChangeMakers Donegal for an intimate group discussion amidst the beautiful surroundings of Fort Dunree.

Book Now: https://shorturl.at/gjsE3

As part of the workshop, we will take in the ‘Comfort Ye My People’ exhibition by Alannah Robins at Artlink Fort Dunree, which reflects on the passage of time and our place in the natural world. No prior knowledge of climate justice is necessary; just a willingness to explore local and global topics with support.

EVENT DETAILS

Wednesday 4 October 2023 at 11am to 1pm

Saldanha Gallery at Artlink Fort Dunree

Fort Dunree, Dunree, Buncrana, Inishowen, County Donegal, F93C424

Lifts/car-pooling is an option so contact Myra at changemakers@inishowen.ie if you need a lift.

ChangeMakers Donegal asks a crucial question for SDG Week 2023: why is it essential to connect local community efforts with global challenges?

In a video interview, Eric Kooma, Agriculture Advisor with PRESERVE Kafue at Self Help Africa, shares his thoughts on this topic.

He encourages Donegal community groups participating in the ChangeMakers Seeds of Change Funding and Mentoring programme to continue their endeavours and praises their compassion and developmental efforts. To listen to the interview and gain more insight and inspiration from Eric, visit our You Tube channel @changemakersdonegal2972.

Find out more about our project partners,  @SelfHelpAfricaTV by visiting their channel.

About the PRESERVE Project

The Irish Aid funded Protecting and Restoring the Environment and Supporting the Emergence of a Resilient and Vibrant Economy (PRESERVE)- Kafue Project implemented by Self Help Africa.

This project is implemented in three districts of Southern Province (Mazabuka, Monze and Namwala), targeting 4,500 households and has the overall objective of contributing towards the restoration, protection, and enhancement of ecosystem services in the Kafue sub-basin in Southern Province of Zambia. Droughts, environmentally destructive actions, and unsustainable farming practices of some communities have continued to threaten the flora and fauna in the region, forcing already poor communities to encroach on the wetland eco-system in search of water, food, and pasture for their livestock.

The project addresses these challenges to the wetland environment and improve the resilience, food, income, and nutrition security of 4,500 households through improved management of natural resources and increased production and returns from smallholder livelihoods.

Find out more about the PRESERVE Project.

Thank you to our project partners, Self Help Africa.

Our Autumn Season Newsletter is out today. This Autumn, you can contribute to positive change in Donegal by participating in our series of events for European Sustainable Development Week, conversations, and funding opportunities.

Read it today: https://shorturl.at/ovzAP

ChangeMakers will launch Sustainability Fortnight with an online workshop featuring Eric Kooma, Agricultural Advisor on the PRESERVE Kafue Project at Self Help Africa in Zambia. Inspired by the words of Dr Rebekah Shirley, Deputy Director of World Institute Africa, when she addressed our Annual Seminar earlier this year (June 2023), we wish to look more closely at the power of local communities to tackle complex global issues. We will hear first-hand from Aggie Chama about the work taking place at the Kafue Flats, the 6,500 square kilometres floodplains that flanks each side of Zambia’s longest river.

Donegal community groups and volunteers will then talk and network with each other to share their reflections on how their change projects in Donegal connect to the Sustainable Development Goals. All Donegal community groups are welcome as this will serve as a great immersion in the Global Goals and also the work of ChangeMakers Donegal.

Register via Eventbrite today so we can pre-assign the breakout rooms.

This is just one event as part of a series of events for Sustainability Fortnight, read more here.

We are grateful to our long-time project partners, Self Help Africa for their collaboration on this workshop.