Stories of Change Exhibition
The 2023-2024 STAND Festival has teamed up with the vibrant and refreshing Stories of Change - a project on a mission to flip the narrative from doom and destruction to positivity and hope through sharing the stories of good people doing good things in Ireland and beyond.
We know that the challenges facing us as a global community— from climate change and biodiversity loss to rising inequalities—are immense. We also know that there are countless young people and unsung heroes stepping up to play a role in being part of the solution and creating the change they want to see.
This exhibition showcases highlights from the national Stories of Change collection as well as five fresh, student-crafted stories gathered from campuses across Ireland. The stories harvested for this exhibition are not fantasy. They are relevant and realistic solutions that are mitigating the impacts of climate breakdown and improving the lives of people globally.
We acknowledge that we have limitations as individuals. We know we need strong political leadership and for corporations to compensate for the loss and damage they have caused. But, as the response to the Covid pandemic demonstrated, we are capable of the most extraordinary things when we connect with our community, take comfort in nature, and act with integrity for the collective good.
Our hope is that these stories will put fire in your belly, spark your imagination and inspire you to start your own Stories of Change. We want to continue to add to the collection by sharing more stories. So, if you are someone or if you know of someone or a group of people doing something good for global justice, then let us know. You can make a nomination here.
We’d like to give special thanks to our talented student reporters, Tejaswy Swathi Kovuri, Eoghan Ryder and Clíodhna Malone, for crafting these new stories and to Jacqui Devenney Reed, Lizzie Downes and Alan Plafor their beautiful photography.
“It’s innate for us to feel for each other. We should hold on to the feeling and let it translate into something that we action for the people around us.”
“We are working with the people we want to support, giving them a space to belong and helping them to express their voices.”
“We want to cross communities and create spaces in which we all belong.”
“I want to make a difference, big or small.”
“We are unapologetically centralising marginalised voices.”
“One of the best parts of this project is feeling how strong the community spirit is here, they’re like a family we didn’t know we had.”
“We want to spread hope and help people to see the blessing in life.”
“I create habitats rather than keep bees.”
“A small group of people really can make a difference.”
"We try our best to do what we can, because why wouldn’t we?"
"The Irish are island people and I am passionate about connecting us back to the sea."
“If we all made small changes, we would have a seriously wonderful impact.”
“Blame and shame won’t get us anywhere. We need to crack on and get to work making positive changes.”
“All around us there are signs of increased awareness and inspiring new initiatives.”
“All around us there are signs of increased awareness and inspiring new initiatives.”
“We both just really love where we’re from. We want to put Donegal on the map for being sustainably conscious.”
“We want to empower young people to realise they have a voice, that their voice should be heard and that they have every right to be informing policy!”
“Biodiversity is our wealth, it’s not an add on.”
“We need to invest in our young people to learn the skills to create a sustainable, secure and future-proof food system.”
“The more small, everyday actions that people make, the more it begins to transform the whole system.”
