Redefining Good

EventsD! Ireland

On Wednesday March 25th, we celebrated two years of Design Declares! Ireland with Redefining Good, an event held at Hen's Teeth in Dublin.

Thanks to funding from Creative Ireland, the format was simple — two halves, kept conversational. The first focused on the design industry, with speakers from Accenture the Dock, Chart Studio, The Factory, and Context Studio. The second turned to education, with speakers from IADT, NCAD, and the Creative Futures Academy.

It's worth noting that this was our second attempt at running the night. The first had to be called off after serious rain and flooding across Dublin, Wicklow, and the surrounding areas. The irony wasn't lost on us — an organisation dedicated to the climate crisis, undone by the climate crisis. It was a frustrating moment, but it did put things into perspective.

Our very own Brian Byrne opened the night by connecting the event's theme to one of our 8 Acts of Emergency: Redefine Good. The question behind it is one we keep coming back to:

How do we encourage, recognise, and reward sustainable and regenerative design in our industry?

From there, we heard from people doing exactly that.

Stephen Ledwidge from Chart Studio, and one of our steering committee members, talked through the design and production of the Design Declares Ireland playbook. Serena Chillè shared what her team at Accenture the Dock have been doing around sustainable initiatives. Lisa Dooley from The Factory spoke about their work in sustainable design, biodiversity, and self-generated energy. And Áine Power from Context Studio walked us through their initiative From Plan To Do, along with some of their other community-based projects.

The second half brought in voices from education. Louise Allen from Creative Futures Academy spoke about Creative Boardroom: Collaborate4Climate, an all-island initiative. Aoife McInerney shared the Educator's Toolkit she built with Design Declares Ireland for her students at NCAD. And Dr. Hilary Kenna closed things out with The Good Guide — a resource for sustainable, ethical, and inclusive creative practice that was designed, illustrated, and researched by IADT students.

Thanks to everyone who came; it means so much to have your support. And to the team at Hen's Teeth, thank you for having us. It's a beautiful, vibrant venue that was essential to the evening's success.

You can watch the recordings of each of the speakers on our Youtube channel, or by clicking on the links below: