The 20th Gathering- From Colonisation to Community through Rights of Nature

This Gathering brings together people from all over the Island of Ireland and beyond who are interested in our natural world. They include activists, environmentalists, artists, fishers, farmers and more, who are passionate about protecting nature and building community.

'From Colonisation to Community through Rights of Nature' is the theme for this 20th Gathering. Our event will engage the mind, heart, and spirit as we learn ways we can integrate the rights of nature in practice. Human rights and nature’s rights are one, bound together. As usual, the Gathering will also include live music, a light lunch and refreshments, and many opportunities to chat.

Agenda

Come for the whole event or just part of it—it’s up to you.

10am - Registration - open throughout the day at St. Eugene's Hall.

10:30am - At the Pier

• Eamon McCann will speak about decolonising our relationships through the rights of nature.
• The Meeting of the Waters - a water ceremony where we join waters from across the island and name ourselves ambassadors for our water systems.
• A Declaration on the Rights of the Foyle.

12:00pm - St. Eugene’s Hall

• Atrato River Guardians from Colombia will share their journey of asserting rights and guardianship for their home river.

1:00pm - Lunch and refreshments (lunch will be plant-based)

• Inishowen Harp Ensemble

2:00pm - Speakers

• Mary McGuiggan - updates from The Gathering
• Save Inishowen from Mining
• Rivers Trust
• Save our Sperrins
• Local fisher

3:00pm - World Café: How do we get the rights of the Foyle system recognised?

4:30pm - Music with the Henry Girls

5:00pm - Farewell

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About the Meeting of the Waters

This is a water ceremony where attendees are invited to bring water from their local waterbodies, as ambassadors for their local watersheds. Ambassadors will be invited to share a brief message from their waterbody before pouring the water into a shared container. Waters will be shared according to the historic provinces of Ireland, ending with Ulster.

In this ceremony, we offer ourselves as guardians of our waterbodies, and especially the Foyle, who will be our host. The combined waters will be used to make oak gall ink, which will then be gifted to ambassadors and others at the conclusion of the Gathering. This ink can be used to spread messages of love and protection for Irish water bodies.

Learn more here.

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About the Atrato River Guardians

In 2016, the Atrato River in Colombia was granted legal personhood. Atrato River Guardians were appointed to serve as the eyes and ears of Atrato, helping to assure that the rights of the river are upheld. A delegation of guardians will be sharing their story and their challenges. From them we will discover ways in which human rights and rights of nature are braided together.

Bernardino Mosquera: Community leader and guardian of the Atrato River has represented the communities of Río Quito since 2017. He served two consecutive terms as a councillor for the municipality of Río Quito, belongs to the Paimadó Community Council, and is the legal representative of the Nuestra Casa Común Association, which seeks to improve the living conditions of the municipality's residents and the surrounding area.

(For additional information, Bernardino has developed a really interesting reforestation project with women in his local area, building on local and ancestral knowledge – initial results are very positive compared to other interventions).

Alexander Rodríguez Mena: From Campo Alegre, Tangui River, Chocó. Community leader dedicated to working for organizational causes, member of the COCOMACIA Community Council. He is a lawyer by profession and was appointed by his organization as guardian of the Atrato River following the Colombian Constitutional Court Ruling T-622 of 2016.

Learn more about the Atrato River Guardians and Colombia River Stories here.

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Travel Options

Moville is located on the west shore of Lough Foyle on the Inishowen Peninsula.

Moville is serviced by Local Link buses, including direct connections from across Inishowen and Derry.

Timetables are available here.

See the Derry to Greencastle timetable for the direct link to Moville from Derry. The bus stop is on Patrick Street, across from the Omniplex Cinema on Strand Road.

See the Lough Foyle Ferry website for a timetable for the ferry connecting from Magilligan to Greencastle.

Thank you

The Gathering would like to thank Zero Waste North West, Rights of Nature Donegal, Friends of the Earth, and Queens University Belfast School of Law for supporting this event.