Céad míle fáilte to CEI 2021!

Cead Mile Failte from Ireland, your host for the 35th CEI conference.

The concept of bringing young students, teachers and educators of the world together to learn and share about the environment has existed since the Hague in 1987.

In 1998 when I was first conference co-chair, technology was only in it’s infancy. Phones barely existed, internet was slow, communication took ages. Today it is technological advances that make it possible to host a full conference without using all those air miles travelling to another part of the planet.

We look forward to meeting first time participants and long time friends equally.

Warm greetings,

Andrew Cox

Welcome everyone (virtually) to Ireland for the 35th CEI conference.

Never would I have thought when I was at my first conference (Ireland 1998), aged 6, that I would end up co-hosting a conference with my father 23 years later. I have grown up with the conference essentially, being a kid in 1998, a student (2006-2009), a junior alumni (2012-2014), a mentor to students (2015-2016), a member of the Senior Alumni Committee (since 2020) and now the co-host of the conference.

When we realised that that international travel would still be unlikely for 2021, myself and the Senior Alumni Committee thought about how we would run another virtual conference, what would we change, improve, etc. We talked with my father and talked about whether he would assist us if we were to propose another virtual conference. His experience as a past host and past president of CEI is invaluable.

So we have made a few changes for 2021, including shortening the conference to 5 days and providing multiple timeslots to allow for timezones (as much as possible). We are also going to not just have workshop sessions, but also cultural workshops to showcase the culture of Ireland and get participants using their creativeness! What else is to come? Well you’ll just have to wait and see!

For now, keep an eye on the website and the alumni social media for all news! Get started on your projects and brainstorming for your cultural performance - we can’t wait to see what you have in store! As we say in Ireland, Tús maith leath na hoibre (a good start is half the work)!

Warm wishes,

Laura Kelly