Bearing Witness to Ecological Signs of the Times – The Art of the Wellbeing Economy

As we anticipate new ecological, social and economic transitions, driven by the climate emergency and wider socio-ecological challenges for our island and planet, the Wellbeing Economy Ireland (Weall Ireland Hub) convened a webinar on 26 February 2025. We examined and bore witness to the work across the island of a new generation of diverse writers, poets, musicians and all who are bringing forth new ‘imaginaries’ and possibilities for lives and livelihoods that meet the ecological and justice demands of our times, in a spirit of inclusivity.

Introductions from Caroline Whyte, Peter Doran and Kevin Murphy (WEAll Ireland Hub), spoken word by Mel White, Invocation by P.J. Mathews (UCD), 6 short inputs from cultural creatives introducing their art, and a reflection from Tania Banotti (Creative Ireland)

Matthew Noone is an Australian-Irish composer, improviser, and performer of the 25-stringed Indian sarode. Matthew performs globally and composes across genres, from Irish traditional music to electroacoustic soundscapes. He has collaborated with artists such as Martin Hayes, Liam Ó Maonlaí, and Steve Cooney and has released albums blending Indian and Irish traditions. He is a PhD researcher and Course Director of the BA in World Music at the Irish World Academy, University of Limerick.

P.J. Mathews is a Professor of Irish Literature, Drama and Culture at UCD. He is co-editor (with Declan Kiberd) of Handbook of the Irish Revival (Abbey Theatre Press, 2015); editor of The Cambridge Companion to J. M. Synge (CUP, 2009); and author of Revival: The Abbey Theatre, Sinn Féin, the Gaelic League, and the Cooperative Movement (Field Day, 2003). Recent film/tv projects include, Executive Producer, In Time: Donal Lunny (South Wind Blows, 2025); Creator, The Flourishing (Tyrone Productions, 2021).

Tania Banotti is the Director of the Creative Ireland Programme where she leads efforts to embed creativity in public policy across government departments. A proven leader in driving change at both organisational and industry levels, she has founded two key organizations—one for Ireland’s independent film and TV industry and another for theatre and the performing arts. She also played a pivotal role in shaping public policy as a co-founder of the National Campaign for the Arts.

Dr Peter Doran is a core member of the WEALL Ireland Hub and Cultural Creatives Project and is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast. He has led work on wellbeing in Northern Ireland, including the introduction of wellbeing outcomes to the NI Executive Programme for Government, and is currently working closely with Field Day on their new strand of activity around culture, coloniality and ecology in Ireland. He is the author of A Political Economy of Attention, Mindfulness and Consumerism: Reclaiming the Mindful Commons.

Caroline Whyte is a core member of the WEAll Ireland Hub and is an ecological economist, doing research and advocacy for Feasta, the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability. Her areas of interest include the Irish Wellbeing Framework, the Cap and Share initiative for a fair global fossil fuel phase-out, and financial system reforms to support a post-growth economy. She is a member of the National Economic and Social Council and has authored numerous submissions and papers. Along with other core Hub members and a group of academics she organised the Rethinking Growth conference at TCD in June 2024.

Kevin Murphy is a core member of the Wellbeing Economy Ireland Hub and is CEO of The Playhouse in Derry~Londonderry. He is a cultural leader who seeks to build things he believes in with others that help make positive change. He engages with the locality and people of the North West of the island of Ireland and important global narratives around art making, empowering people and making peaceful change. He works with a highly creative team to provide a space for people to make meaning together creatively, peacefully and with hope.

Mel White is a core member of the WEAll Ireland Hub and Cultural Creatives Project, and a resident of Cloughjordan EcoVillage. She is also an award-winning spoken word poet, a visual artist, and an activist/artivist, who uses her art to advocate for a Wellbeing Economy.

Cultural Creatives input

Dónal Ó Célleachair is a multiple-award winning filmmaker with 30 years of experience in cinema, broadcast television and the arts. His work explores the connections between culture, spirituality and ecology that are so central to the major challenges facing us in the pivotal times we live in. www.anupictures.com

Aaron Bailey is an activist and DJ. His Accepting Change and Changing Acceptance project weaves together the voices of activists and contemplatives in Cloughjordan and beyond, blending interviews with changemakers and wellbeing practitioners into a musical soundscape designed to inspire reflection, empathy, and collaboration across communities.

Lisa Fingelton is an artist, writer and grower who cultivates deep-rooted interconnections between art, food, nature and peace. She is the embedded artist with the Creative Climate Action Project Brilliant Ballybunion and is the Kerry Visual Artist in Residence. Her studio is based at The Barna Way, an organic farm, woodland and wildlife sanctuary near Ballybunion. Her current exhibition The Square Tomato runs until 22nd March at Siamsa Tire.

Niamh McNally is a Belfast-based poet. Niamh facilitates workshops in The Seamus Heaney Homeplace and has been published in: The Tulsa Review, Tír na nÓg, and HOWL: New Irish Writing. Her poetry has featured in two climate crisis films, and she performed at the One Young World Summit. Recently, Niamh was commissioned by the Playhouse to write for, and perform in, the Field Day Honorary Seamus Deane Lecture at the Guildhall in Derry given by award-winning Indian writer/academic Amitav Ghosh.,co-produced by the Playhouse. Niamh is the current Poet-in-Residence for Herstory, Ireland and Translink, and she is the co-ordinator of the Look North! North Belfast Festival 2025.

Sally Walmsley is a visVting Scholar at QUB and creative musician/composer. Sally collaborated with UCC, Derry City & Strabane District Council, and Mayo County Council on a project with flood-affected communities. As part of the Creative Ireland BluePrint project, she led a Soundwalk along the Strule River in Newtownstewart, fostering All-Island connections and exploring creativity’s role in building climate resilience.

The KinShip art project is led by artist collaboration LennonTaylor (Marilyn Lennon and Sean Taylor) in partnership with Cork City Council. Local partners have formed a working group that includes Cork Healthy Cities, Cork Nature Network, Green Spaces for Health, MTU Clean Technology Centre, UCC Environmental Research Institute. Tramore Valley Park, a reclaimed former landfill site is home to the KinShip public art project that includes a programme of citizen-led skills and knowledge based public exchanges, artist’s placements, the construction of a KinShip EcoLab based on sustainable construction methods, and a focused series of interventions in the park.

You can register here.