On Wednesday, 24 June, 80:20’s Education Projects Officer, Mairead Redmond, attended the Irish Development Education Association’s – IDEA Conference 2026 at the Grand Hotel, Malahide. This year’s theme, Education for Liberation: GCE in an Age of Crisis, invited educators, activists and organisations from across Ireland and beyond to return to the radical roots of Global Citizenship Education.
Across the day, participants heard a wide range of insights, perspectives and lived experiences connected to global citizenship, development education, justice and solidarity. The conversations brought into focus the realities faced by communities affected by injustice, colonisation, conflict and human rights violations, with Palestine and Gaza strongly present throughout the day’s reflections.
Education for Liberation: The IDEA Annual Conference reminder
For all the participants, the conference was a powerful reminder of why education matters: not as something neutral or detached from the world, but as a practice that can help people question, connect and act.
One quote from the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, stayed with Mairead throughout the day:
“There’s no such thing as neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom.”
This idea sits at the heart of 80:20’s work. Development education is not only about information. It is about asking better questions, understanding power, listening to lived experience, and building the confidence to respond to injustice with solidarity and action.
We were also excited to showcase news about the 8th Edition of 80-20 Development in an Unequal World to the resources table for conference participants on the day.
When learning has rhythm, memory and voice
A highlight of the day was the workshop led by African Queens, which explored African musical traditions rooted in resistance, community and storytelling.
Through song, movement and dialogue, the workshop showed how music can become a tool for education for liberation; carrying memory, protest, grief, hope and collective strength.
Participants, including Mairead, later performed Senzeni Na, an anti-apartheid song from South Africa meaning “What have we done?”, in front of the wider conference group.
It was a moving reminder that learning does not only happen through discussion or written resources. It can also happen through voice, rhythm, presence and shared emotion.
Carrying the questions forward
The conference offered space to reflect, reconnect and return to the core question of our work: what kind of education do we need in a world marked by crisis, conflict and inequality?
At 80:20, we believe education should help us see the world more clearly and act within it more courageously.
Congratulations to IDEA on another thoughtful and energising Annual Conference, and thank you for creating a supportive space where educators, practitioners and communities could come together to listen, question, learn and imagine more liberating forms of education.
*Opening photo: Panel conversation on “Voices for Liberation – Perspectives on Education in an Age of Crisis” between Fahmeda Naheed, John Magee, Macarena Montero, and Talha AlAli, hosted by IDEA’s Capacity Development Manager, Lizzy Noone / Credit: Irish Development Education Association – IDEA (Facebook Page)