This article is from page 14 of the 2013-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE world’s most powerful figures in the field of climate change, including special advisor to Barack Obama Professor Daniel Schrag, will gather in Ballyvaughan later this month for a top-level meeting on the future of the worlds climate.
The Climate Gathering is a closed meeting of experts and government advisors and also includes Head of the European Climate Commissioner, Peter Vis, advisor to the French President Francois Hollande, Marie- Hélène Aubert as well as former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson.
The meeting will take place at the Burren College of Art between February 14 and 17 and is part of a new approach being taken to the development of the college, entitled ‘A Burren Call’. The Burren Calls is a new project which hopes to establish Ballyvaughan as a centre for new ideas and creative thinking on complex local and international issues.
The project started last year with the formation of a community thinktank to tackle local issues in North Clare and the Climate Gathering is its most ambitious event to date. The hope is that the unique atmosphere of the Burren coupled with the creative atmosphere of the college itself will help create at atmosphere for creative thinking and invention.
The Climate Gathering is being convened by Green Part leader Eamon Ryan.
“We were told we would never get the right people to furthest West Clare, in the middle of deep midwinter, but they are now coming. They are doing so because they share our conviction that Ireland could be at the cutting edge of thinking on cli- mate change and because it is just the place to advance creative thinking on the issue,” he said.
“They are coming because what we have to offer is different. Rather than seven-star hype and over-thetop security they will receive the sort of genuine Irish hospitality that sets up a safe space for dialogue. The fact that such talks will take place in a beautiful landscape may help us address the key question as to how we can inspire people with the belief that a transformational leap to a cleaner economy is both possible and preferable.”