We are delighted to announce the appointment of new committee members and co-chairs to the ESDF Committee, bringing a wealth of experience, expertise, and passion for Education for Sustainable Development and outdoor learning across Northern Ireland.

Co-Chairs

We are pleased to welcome two of our previous committee members Anne Cahill (RSPB) and Mark O’Connor (Field Studies Ireland) as our new Co-Chairs.

Anne Cahill works for RSPB NI and previously served as Vice Chair of the ESDF committee. We are pleased to see her step into this new shared role.

Mark O’Connor is the founder and director of Field Studies Ireland, providing education and training across the island of Ireland. We look forward tow orking with him in his new role.

Together, Anne and Mark bring a strong commitment to advancing Education for Sustainable Development through their work and ESDF.

Committee Members

We are happy to announce two new committee members:

Brian Poots (NIFSA) – Founder and CEO of Northern Ireland Forest School Association.

Steve McCready (KNIB) – Head of Operations at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to our outgoing committee members:

Chair, Charlene McKeown (previously KNIB)

Alexey Janes (previously Ulster Wildlife).

Their contributions to the ESDF over the years have helped shape and strengthen the network, and we are extremely grateful for their dedication and input.

In addition to our committee updates, we continue our commitment to career development and welcome a work experience student, Jessica. Jessica has an interest in research and will be working on a number of work streams for ESDF. Jessica is the author of the paper “Next Steps for Outdoor Learning in Northern Ireland”.

We look forward to the positive impact this team will have in the months and years ahead.

To find out more about the ESDF committee, please visit https://www.esdforum.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/