by Niamh Dobbs

An evening full of comedy, jazz, and of course, climate chats.  

The third Sustainable Development Goal Fest kicked off on Thursday, the 18th of September. 

The event was organised by co-founders of the Sustainable Life School, Nathalie Pavone and Dianne O’Connor, an organisation that provides impact-driven programmes in the hope of addressing the climate crisis and providing positive solutions and lifestyle changes in workplaces and communities. 

The event was partnered with and took place at The Tara building, where they have previously held clothing swap events and helped members of the Tara community to live more sustainably.  

The mini festival ran from 7 to 9.30pm and began with three guest speakers: Tom Popple (Climate Cocktail Club), Keith Maggie (Global Action Plan), and Catriona Kenny (Connecting Cabra). They shared heartfelt stories about what they do and how climate change has affected their own lives. 

After this, the guests were asked to split up into smaller groups and have their own chats about how they feel about the climate and what brought them to the event. This included an opportunity to write some inspiring quotes on their ‘Good Vibes Wall’.  

This was the main goal of the evening described by Pavone, creating the type of atmosphere to encourage conversation: “This year we wanted to actually get people to have a chat, because the theme is reconnecting, and we wanted people to hopefully make new friends and new connections.”  

Another important aspect of the event was to make it free. “It’s a free event because it’s part of our social mission, because we really want to make sure that everybody can afford to have a conversation, and we don’t want to leave anybody behind,” explained Pavone.  

Following this was a live jazz performance by Luisa Annibali, where guests were offered to sing and dance alongside Luisa, which added an element of playfulness to the event.  

The evening wrapped up with two comedic performances, firstly by co-founder Dianne O’Connor and secondly by Colm O’Regan, which centred around the climate crisis.  

Taking a step back to where it all started with the Sustainable Life School and where they are at now, co-founder Nathalie Pavone was first motivated through sustainable fashion. “I watched a documentary called ‘The True Cost of Fashion’, which showed me the social and environmental negative effects of the fashion industry,” said Pavone. “And that’s how I became passionate. So, I started with fashion, and then I started to learn about climate and how everything was connected.”  

The business offers a sustainable living programme in some of Ireland’s largest organisations. In which they provide six sessions that cover many areas, including but not limited to fashion, food, digital pollution, and travel, which on average results in 160 changes per programme.  

Through these sessions, Pavone also explained the importance of recognising the struggles that come with living more sustainably. “What we do as well is that we are honest with each other and with how difficult it is to live sustainably, because obviously you’re going against the grain, because we’re not in a system that’s very sustainable. So, it’s really about kind of sometimes going out of your way.”  

One piece of advice Pavone shared to start living a sustainable life is “just start in an area of your life where you know, where you’re passionate about or interested in. Whether it’s clothes, travel, or food, focus on that area and see what you can do to adapt or change in a more climate-conscious fashion.”