Farming is a vital part of our economy and society, but in its current form it does not work on many levels. By its nature, farming exists within ecological systems. It is both dependent on ecological services (for example biological pollination, provision of clean water and nutrient cycling) and impacts upon the ecosystems in which it exists.

Sometimes it takes walking along a road to experience a conversion, other times a cycle may be what it takes to lead to an ecological conversion. Last week I was lucky enough to have to opportunity to visit Utrecht on a study cycle tour. I took my time with travelling making my way via sail… Read more »

The earthquake of destruction that the invasion of Ukraine triggered has reverberated with a series of aftershocks for the global economy as grain shortages and threats to energy sources make an impact on our previous stability.

Cycling offers the most cost-effective mode of transport in the neighbourhoods where most people in Ireland live. It has associated benefits for local business, public health, and personal wellbeing.

The language differs, with the IPCC referencing integrated planning, systems thinking, and cross-sectoral perspectives as well as social dimensions, but the fundamental similarities to integral ecology are plainly visible.

We have to develop an integrated and holistic perspective. If we help people to reconnect to nature, to their own body, to their own feelings, then they will see how the quality of relationships is important and has to be promoted at all levels. With this change of perspective, people will understand that the “one health” is linked with environmental, animal, and human health.

The electric car is not a solution to our environmental problems, it is a solution to the motor industry’s problem.

The recent escalation in military activity along the Ukraine border highlights the particular ways in which war particularly interacts with energy. A lot of wars, in one way or another, are related to access to energy, particularly fossil fuels.

My life has been so enriched by cycling as a way of getting things done that I cannot help but encourage others to try it for themselves. But while I was excited to hear that my friend had a new job and also to hear he might join the thousands of people who have discovered the joy of getting to work on a bike, I was also worried. What if he and his little boy were in an accident one day? The reality is that commuting by bike – in Ireland – is taking a risk.

What seemed like common sense in 1960s Dublin would be viewed as madness today. Yet an obsession with the car continues to have a hold on the imagination of certain sections of the Irish electorate and with our city planners.