About Macroscopia
Macroscopia is a Community Interest Company, or social enterprise, which was set up in 2015. It aims to develop environmental, social, economic and cultural sustainability in an inclusive, just way. It does this through promoting better public policy and social change through evidence-based interventions. We are based in East Antrim, Northern Ireland. The directors of Macroscopia are Jude Stephens, John Eversley and Jeni McAughey. Jude was Deputy Director of the Gibson Institute for Land, Food and Environment and course convenor for the Master’s in Leadership for Sustainable Development at Queen’s University Belfast. She has many years’ experience in education and activism around environmental and rural development issues in Northern Ireland. John has been a tutor on the Leadership course. He has many years’ experience as a policy adviser, public sector manager and community worker, focusing particularly on issues of public health, equality and social justice. His experience is in London, in international projects and Northern Ireland. Jeni is a retired GP who lived in Whitehead for many years and is now living in Scotland. Jeni was one one of the founders of Whitehead Small World Group and Jubilee Farm , Northern Ireland’s first community-owned farm, among many other things. Jeni and Jude are now on the board of Jubilee Farm.
What we do
Jeni and John are trustees of OneWorldNI. OneWorldNI is the new name of Whitehead Small World Group which was the first group to bring a refugee household to Northern Ireland under a Community Sponsorship scheme. The family are well-settled now so the charity decided to take on new work.Its plans include:
- Promoting Community Sponsorship more generally
- Increasing housing supply for refugees and asylum seekers
- Supporting refugee health professionals in getting professional recognition
- Countering anti-immigration sentiment, particularly outside the major urban areas
Macroscopia provides the organisational framework for the work of Larne House Visitor Group The group visits people held in immigration detention in the Short-Term Holding Centre in Larne. We go to show solidarity, and we can offer a limited amount of practical support and signpost people to other services.
Among past projects are
- The history of the suffragette movement in Whitehead (with Whitehead Suffragette Society)
- Development a garden to grow fruit and vegetable dyes for wool and other fibres Beach Road Dye Garden Facebook group
- Advice on developments in health and social care. John is an Associate of the Health and Social Care Leadership Centre in Northern Ireland. He developed work on early intervention with children, particularly focusing on addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences. He undertook an assignment for the Regional Stroke Network in Northern Ireland, planning research on the effectiveness of Virtual Reality headsets for upper limb stroke rehabilitation. This project came to a halt when the Covid 19 pandemic began.
Our interests are in sustainability, justice, peacebuilding, community development. It is not enough to have a good or important idea, the process of putting it into practice is also important. We want to support organisations and movements in not only doing the ‘right thing’ but ‘doing the thing right’. That often involves using innovative methods for exploring issues – policy simulations, Forum Theatre, uncovering hidden histories of social movements and social change. Links to some of the materials we have been involved in producing are here.
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