Maeve Stone facilitates interviews with artists, thinkers and doers.
Irish artist Maeve Stone has spent nearly a decade exploring a vital question: What is the role of an artist in the climate crisis? What are the best applications of her skills as a storyteller and creative thinker?
Following an Irish Arts Council Participatory Arts Bursary, Maeve created How We Share (2026), a rich and reflective online project. In it, she interviews 10 Ireland-based eco-cultural leaders—Eileen Hutton, Louis Haugh, Catherine Cleary, Anne Cleary, Denis Connolly, Anne Kearns, Vanya Lambrecht-Ward, Sinead Curran, Lisa Fingleton, Abi Ighodaro, and myself—artists, thinkers, and doers from different cultural and educational professions.
In diverse ways, we share how we are part of the immense cultural turn across society responding to the ecological imperative that underlines livable, just and peaceful futures. Using our skills as creatives, facilitators, educators, changemakers, storytellers, land restorers, and thinkers, we foster inclusive invitations to more compassionate, socially resilient, and life-sustaining futures.
Gratitude to Maeve for these inspiring interviews and for highlighting the confident emergent eco-cultural turn taking root here in Ireland. My thanks also to Lisa Fingleton for acknowledging my work with Haumea Ecoversity in her conversation with Maeve.
From the mid-90s, when I brought my creativity to highlight the value of fast-disappearing Irish hedgerows (an ongoing story that needs more storytellers), I’m proud to be part of this growing eco-creative community of practice. Together, we are reimagining creative practice and the immense cultural turn toward holistic education*. As the prescient curator of the 1990s, Suzie Gablik—following the work of seminal cultural historians like Thomas Berry—understood, ‘the ecological imperative’ of our times invites us to create and live well for the community of life.
Please feel free to share widely.
* I was delighted to read recently in the new book Ecological Civilization (2026) by Jeremy Lent, how the global Ecoversities Alliance now lists 400 holistic education endeavours from 40 countries, of which Haumea Ecoversity is a member, has emerged in the last decade to reimagine education for personal, planetary and intergenerational wellbeing.
Hello! Kia Ora! Dia daoibh!
I’m Cathy Fitzgerald, an ecological artist, educator, and founder of Haumea Ecoversity.
Originally from Aotearoa, New Zealand, I’ve lived in rural Ireland, the ancestral home of my family, for over 30 years.
Together with my philosopher colleague Dr Nikos Patedakis (USA), we’ve guided over 400 creative professionals worldwide in transformative ecoliteracy training since 2019.
Haumea Ecoversity Community Membership is a vibrant space for lifelong learning, collective wisdom, and creative transformation for a more beautiful, just, and life-sustaining world.
Dr Cathy Fitzgerald
“In these times of great challenge, I’m passionate about ecoliteracy
to promote a wiser, more compassionate and just ecological worldview:
this means raising awareness of holistic thinking, creativity, language, and
head-heart-body practices
—to reimagine and re-enchant education to benefit ourselves,
the community of life and future generations ”
In 2022, I was honoured to be nominated by Earth Charter International, a UNESCO Chair for ESD,
as the Earth Charter Focal Point Communicator for Ireland
About Cathy
- Ecological Artist: Creator of the ongoing Hollywood Forest Story
with new-to-Ireland Closer-to-Nature continuous cover forestry (begun 2008). - Educator & Advisor: Accredited ESD Earth Charter educator,
Creative Drummin Carlow Bog project ecoliteracy advisor since 2017 - Researcher & Mentor: Specialist in Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) at Haumea Ecoversity.com
Leave a comment