Gluaiseacht is a non-hierarchical environmental and social justice movement bringing together grassroots organisations, concerned individuals and student groups from all over Ireland to raise awareness and take non-violent direct action on social, environmental and political issues. We’re a diverse group, a loose campaign and skills network who share the same vision of a truly democratic and sustainable society.

Origins
Gluaiseacht was formed in November 2000 in the aftermath of the demonstrations surrounding the COP6, (Conference of the Partners), a Climate Change Conference talks at the Hague , Netherlands. It was originally envisaged as a network of Ecological and One World Societies at universities and colleges throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (similar to People and Planet in the UK). As non student groups and individuals were involved from the beginning, we have outgrown our student-oriented origins and developed into an inclusive network.

Structure of Gluaiseacht
Gluaiseacht is committed to working on a libertarian basis,i.e. through non-hierarchical organisation, autonomy, and diversity. the network is divided up loosely into geographical regions, and the role of the Core Administration Groups is decided at the Gluaiseacht Forum, which takes place every April/May. Parallel to this we also have non-geographical teams working on issues such as The Bet campaign, the Peace Campaign, legal support, and so on.

Every 2-4 months there is a general Gluaiseacht meeting, where decisions which affect the network as a whole are decided and campaigns and strategic issues are discussed. This is hosted by a different group each time (as far as possible), in order to ensure that the isolation of smaller groups is kept to a minimum.