Gareth has been sharing his experience of educating people on food systems that benefit everyone.

Ireland currently exports 90% of the food it produces. He added that Ireland also imports 80% of the food we eat, calling this a lose-lose situation.

A big part of the work done at Siolta Croi is exploring alternatives.

Speaking to Ronan Gargan on Northern Sound's show, Gareth explained a big focus of his work.

RTÉ Radio 1 Visits Síolta Chroí to Explore Regenerative Agriculture / Agroecological

LISTEN TO THE RTÉ RADIO 1 AUDIO INTERVIEW

How our Farming the System course is helping farmers build more diverse and resilient farms

In November 2025, Síolta Chroí welcomed RTÉ Radio 1 to explore our work supporting farmers to transition towards more diverse, resilient and regenerative farming systems.

The visit took place as part of our Irish Aid-supported project and during our six-week Farming the System regenerative agriculture course. The course brought together local farmers interested in exploring practical ways to make their farms more resilient, diversified and better equipped to respond to the challenges facing agriculture.

Farming the System: Supporting Farmers to Create Resilient Farms

Farming today comes with many local and global challenges, from rising input costs and changing markets to biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change. For many farmers, diversification and regenerative agriculture can offer practical approaches to building greater resilience while also improving the health of the land.

Our Farming the System course was designed to help farmers look at their farms as whole systems. Over six weeks, participants explored different aspects of regenerative agriculture and considered how changes on the farm can support healthier soils, greater biodiversity, more diverse enterprises and stronger long-term resilience.

The course was aimed specifically at helping local farmers develop more diversified and resilient farms, while creating space for farmers to share experiences, ideas and practical knowledge with one another.

RTÉ Radio 1 Meets the Farmers Behind the Course

During their visit to Síolta Chroí, RTÉ Radio 1 interviewed Síolta Chroí Director Gareth, as well as two participants on the Farming the System course, Trevor and Liz.

Their conversations offered an opportunity to hear directly from those involved about why regenerative agriculture matters, what farmers are exploring through diversification, and how learning together can help support positive change within local farming communities.

Hearing directly from farmers is an important part of the conversation around the future of agriculture. While regenerative farming can mean different things to different people, at its heart is an approach that looks beyond individual interventions and considers the health and resilience of the whole farm system.

Listen to the RTÉ Radio 1 Interview

You can listen to the RTÉ Radio 1 interview featuring Gareth, Trevor and Liz below:

LISTEN TO THE RTÉ RADIO 1 AUDIO INTERVIEW

The interview provides a valuable insight into the Farming the System course and the experiences of the farmers who took part.

Building a More Resilient Future for Irish Agriculture

At Síolta Chroí, we believe that supporting farmers to experiment, learn and share knowledge is an important part of creating a more resilient agricultural future.

Regenerative agriculture or agroecology is not about a single farming method or a one-size-fits-all solution. It is about developing farming systems that work with the natural resources and conditions of each farm, while improving resilience, biodiversity and soil health and creating viable opportunities for farmers.

Through projects such as Farming the System, we aim to support farmers with the knowledge, connections and confidence to explore what this can look like in practice.

We are grateful to Irish Aid for supporting this work and to the farmers who took part in the Farming the System course and shared their experiences with RTÉ Radio 1.

Listen to the full RTÉ Radio 1 interview above to hear Gareth, Trevor and Liz discuss regenerative agriculture, diversification and the Farming the System course.

Listen to the full interview here on RTE

Síolta Chroí were invovled in an Erasmus+ strategic partnership in 2024. As part of this proejct we developed a training course on Ecosystem restoration for community groups and adult learners

The project was between Solta Chroí and Virsoleil. Our goals were cultural and knowledge exchange, and because both partners saw a need for affordable educational opportunities that would engage more people in Europe and the world in the practices of restoring ecosystems. We wanted to increase our engagement in our communities in ecosystem restoration. Our main goal was to produce a quality educational course. Other available courses of the same theme are often priced out of the reach of many underserved communities. We wanted to enhance both our organisations standing as leaders and educators on this topic, both in our own community level but also through our wider networks.
We wanted to increase our capacity to support our communities in the work of mitigating climate change and restoring ecosystems. As well as to explore Erasmus+ opportunities for future projects; both for the us and adult learners in our community. We are also able to bring value to this wider network across Europe.
During the life span of this project the EU parliament passed the Nature restoration law which show we were a head of curb in applying for this project.

Objectives

The 4 main objectives of this project where
1. We wanted to build our organisational capacities
a. To foster exchange of best practice between Síolta Chroí & Virsoleil in our work of supporting adult learners;
b. To enhance the international experience of our organisations;
c. To strengthen the cooperation between both partners.
2.We wanted to develop an educational resources that would supporting adult learners in our community in the field of Ecosystem Restoration. To create a course that we could run going forward in our education and training centres.
3. Both organisations wanted to explore Erasmus+ opportunities. To see what is possible and t work at a European level
4. We are both members of a global movement called Ecosystem restoration communities. We wanted to disseminate the skills and practices of ecosystem restoration work to a wider cohort.
As well as create something useful that would go beyond the participating organisations.

More details can be accessed here https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2023-1-IE01-KA210-ADU-000165356

Introduction: Intro to Síolta Chroí 

Síolta Chroí is a regenerative and educational space based in the townland of Aghacloghan in County Monaghan. The objective of the organisation is to restore Ireland’s ecosystems and communities. We do this through education focused on regenerative cultures; exploring resilient and regenerative food systems; and carrying out ecosystem restoration work.

The education work is underpinned by a community development and global justice approach. Síolta Chroí staff and members have experience in working with community groups both in Ireland and overseas. It is from this intention that this guide has been produced; leaning on what is being tried and tested on the small area of land at Síolta Chroí, and exploring examples of what might be possible for communities interested in restoring ecosystems. 

The organisation was established as a cooperative on land purchased by Gareth Conlon and Karen Jeffares, who also raise their young family in the house situated on the land. However thanks to Leader funding, we were in the position of building a straw bale education centre, Teach Tui (more on this later!), which is the focus point of the education activities alongside the education on the land and beyond.

Síolta Chroí translates as ‘seeds of the heart’. We were set up with the intention of regenerating people and wider nature, doing so through what we have now come to reflect on as ‘Soil, Soul, and Society’. INspired by the work of Satish Kumar

What we mean by this is:

• Soil: practically restoring ecosystems both locally, across the island and linking with wider ecosystem restoration efforts globally through our participation in the Ecosystem Restoration Communities network. Soil is a key part of ecosystem restoration, and while the work we do is not limited to this topic, for us Soil is the foundation for healthy food, healthy ecosystems, agroforestry, strong seeds and the future of this work depends on healthy soil. 
• Soul: everything we do with the land is in partnership with the land, we are guided by relationship with the land, we invite in the wisdom and practices of our ancestors, we acknowledge the need for land, ancestral and societal healing, and we promote restorative approaches to healing soil, healing the human bodies and the other nature beings on this land.
• Society: everything we do is from a social justice approach; interrogating systems that result in oppression both on this island and globally, promoting food and seed sovereignty, showing solidarity with movements that challenge injustice and taking a stand on issues that matter. 

This manual is a tool that can be used to enhance the impact of your work when integrating a stronger connection to the land, the soil and to soul work.

The creation of the manual ‘Soil, Soul, Society: how the healing of the soil can help to heal our inner and outer worlds at this time of chaos, confusion and collapse’ is a result of the project ‘Soil Soul Society: holistic approaches for youth development’.

As part of this project we drew on various approaches: Soul-centric development and ‘inner’ work, Nature-based learning and ‘outer’ landscapes, and a social justice approach enhanced and informed by the soil and the soul.

Let’s put Soul back into the soil, let’s put Soul back into our body, let’s put Soul into our society…’ - Satish Kumar

Inspired by the work of Satish Kumar, the trilogy of Soil-Soul-Society provides a beautiful way in to loving, understanding, learning from and caring for soil on a number of different levels. This trilogy resonates strongly with our approach as Síolta Chroí; our focus on ecosystem restoration through a social and global justice approach and exploring regenerative practices for ecosystems that includes regeneration of the humans within these systems. The lens of Soil, Soul and Society was an intuitive and curious fit for us to explore.

In 2023, as part of an Erasmus+ European project, we at Síolta Chroí had the great fortune and privilege of sitting down for a conversation with one of the world’s leading voices in the movement to transform our food systems towards greater social and ecological justice.

Dr. Vandana Shiva is an author, scholar, environmental activist and passionate advocate for food sovereignty, biodiversity and the rights of farmers and communities. She has spent decades challenging industrial food systems and championing a more just, diverse and sustainable approach to how we grow, share and eat food.

She is, in every sense, an absolute powerhouse — bringing together deep knowledge, lived experience and an unwavering commitment to ecological and social justice.

Our conversation explored food sovereignty, biodiversity, the future of farming and the urgent need to rethink the systems that shape our relationship with food and the Earth.

It was a truly inspiring conversation, and one that we are delighted to share.

This interview is definitely worth listening to.

We hope you enjoy it and come away as inspired and energised as we did.

"The revolution now is growing good food and eating good food". Dr. Vandana Shiva

The purpose of this guide is to support communities all over Europe and the world to take back control of their food system through creating regenerative food hubs.

We want to support the creation of local, resilient food systems, that in turn benefit the web of life as opposed to depleting it - as we see in many cases with our current food systems.

How can we create a food system that is local, sovereign, nutritious, non toxic, and non processed? One that regenerates the ecosystems that we are part of, and that is not a privilege for just a few?

Can we enable an alternative to the food system that currently dominates in the western world?

This is what this guide seeks to provide guidance for so that people, and communities, may be able to solve these critical questions. This guide does not have all the answers, but shares the experiences of different people and communities that have been working on creating and running food hubs for a long time.