This moment is one of profound change. Climate change, environmental degradation and a biodiversity crisis, marked increases in inequality, economic crises, the rise of populism, and rising geo-political tensions have been providing clear evidence that current social institutions, including economics, democracy, religion, technology, gender and higher education, are not optimal, either for human flourishing or for addressing the urgent global challenges we face. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought this dangerous reality into even starker relief.

The Deep Institutional Innovation for Sustainability and Human Development (DIIS) project at MaREI, University College Cork, Ireland aims to lay the foundations for a critique and reimagining of the major social institutions in society, and the development of principles, visions and imaginaries for guiding their urgently needed transformations.

On the 6^th July, DIIS were delighted to host former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, along with a panel of experts drawn from politics, technology, humanities, management and government policy, to explore how the Covid-19 pandemic is fundamentally reconfiguring our societies.

You can listen back to the recording of all 3 webinar sessions here. Beginning with a wide ranging conversation between former President Mary McAleese with Ian Hughes DIIS on how “These Days Will Change Our Days”.

Session 1

This was then be followed by 2 panel discussions:

Re-Imagining Political Economy

• William Hynes, New Approaches to Economic Challenges Unit (NAEC), OECD
• Clodagh Harris, Department of Government and Politics, ERI, UCC
• Kieran Keohane, Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC
• Ernst von Kimakowitz, Humanistic Management Network , Switzerland

Session 2 

And Re-Imagining Sustainability

• John Barry, School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, QUB
• Ed Byrne, Department of Process & Chemical Engineering, ERI, UCC
• Áine Ryall, Co-Director, Centre for Law & the Environment, ERI, UCC
• Fionn Rogan, MaREI, ERI ,UCC
• Niall Dunphy, CPPU, School of Engineering, ERI, UCC

Session 3