"Consider the world of created beings, how varied and
diverse they are in species yet with one sole origin. All the
differences that appear are those of outward form...
Briefly, it is not only their fellow human beings that the
beloved of God must treat with mercy and compassion, rather
they must show forth the utmost loving-kindness to every
living creature...
The feelings are one and the same whether ye inflict pain on
man or beast"
-'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of
'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 158-159
FROM THE EDITOR
Dear readers,
This is a mini version of the newsletter just to get out the
announcement for three upcoming IEF related events, primarily our
8th Annual Conference in Greece 15-17 October. The invitation is
very late but the Board still hopes that members from Europe will
be able to join us, and bring their friends and colleagues. The
other two events will take part in North America, see article by
Peter Adriance below. Two important things that have happened in
the last months in the IEF, but which have not been written up in
reports yet, are the submission of our application to become
accredited with the United Nations Economic and Social Council,
and the participation of four member strong delegation in the 12th
session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in April.
Hopefully we will have several reports on the latter in the next
newsletter.
Please feel more than welcome to submit material, news and
articles for our newsletter.
- Sylvia Karlsson (for the LEAVES team)
The 8th Conference of the
International Environment Forum
Cultivating Sustainable Lifestyles
A conference in anticipation of the UN Decade for Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014)
at a university in central Thessaloniki, Greece, 15-17 October
2004
The 1992 Earth Summit marked the beginning of an unprecedented
effort to understand and work toward achieving 'sustainable
development' -- addressing human needs holistically by integrating
environmental, economic and social goals. The World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD, held in Johannesburg in 2002)
re-emphasized the vital role of education -- not only in building
awareness of the need for sustainable development, but in
fostering the necessary changes to bring it about at all levels.
Toward that end, beginning in 2005, the UN will launch the UN
Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). The UN
has appointed UNESCO as its Lead Agency for planning the Decade.
Their goal is to build a broad sense of ownership at all levels,
global, regional, national and local/community, for the goals of
the Decade and to engage all possible partners (including
governments, NGOs, civil society, private sector) in the effort.
This conference explores how education, particularly within the
framework of the DESD can encourage the cultivation of sustainable
lifestyles, the concept which embodies so many of the behavioural
changes which individuals and communities need to embrace to
realise sustainable development. Some of the themes that will be
explored are:
Defining and measuring
sustainable lifestyles
Indicators of
sustainable lifestyles (How do we know and measure we are living
sustainably).
The dimensions of sustainable lifestyles:
Environmental
sustainability,criteria for lifestyle changes (WEHAB: water,
energy/transport,health/sport, agriculture/food, biodiversity,
housing/urbanization);sustainable production and consumption
patterns
Social
sustainability (family,community, nation, cultural diversity,
security);
Economical
sustainability (poverty and overdevelopment: reducing extremes;
beyond the business case;competitive edge in social/environmental
responsibility);
The role of values, knowledge and education for sustainable
living
moral
leadership, the role of ethics, values and religion
the role of
scientists
the role of
education by NGOs, schools and universities
The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
Background and
plans
Regional and
national initiatives within the DESD framework
Conference Registration:
To obtain a registration form, please contact the conference
organising team c/o Ms. Yasmina Mata, email: yasmi19 @ yahoo.es
The deadline for registrations is 1 October.
A registration fee of 10 EUR (European Euros) will be charged
upon arrival to cover materials. A good quality hotel with very
reasonable prices has been identified, within 20 minutes walk from
the venue. The price for a single room is 33 EUR per person and
night. Participants have to make their own hotel reservations at
Hotel Olympic. Information of how to make the hotel reservations
will be given upon registration.
UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014) Holds Great Promise
Submitted by Peter Adriance
There is a growing sense of anticipation and excitement in many
sectors with the approach of the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The Decade has the potential
to help the world turn the corner toward a more sustainable
future.
For many IEF members, interest in the Decade actually began last
year at the 7th Annual Conference in Orlando, where the focus was
on fostering a Bahá'í approach to education for sustainable
development. The Decade helped set the global context and provide
a sense of urgency. The program was designed to support efforts by
the National Spiritual Assemblies of the U.S. and Canada to
encourage learning for sustainable development, and it was
inspired to a large extent by the coming Decade.
The Decade is an opportunity to leverage efforts already underway
and inspire new ones. By providing opportunities to link with
others, it can help shorten the learning curve for many and
enhance the impact of planned initiatives. Note that the Decade's
title emphasizes education 'for' sustainable development, not just
'about' it. The aim is not only to raise awareness, but to change
behavior and help bring about sustainable development through
education at all levels.
UNESCO, the lead UN agency for the Decade, has encouraged a
partnership approach. With that in mind, a number of
organizations, including the U.S. NSA, recently joined together to
found the U.S. Partnership for the Decade. The Partnership is
acting as a community-builder, convener, catalyst and communicator
to promote the Decade in the U.S. It is facilitating the
collective involvement of specific interest groups - like higher
education and K-12 professionals, faith communities, government
agencies, businesses, and "living institutions" (such as zoos,
acquariums and nature centers); it has established a website www.uspartnership.organd
is
developing other tools to make resources available and to link
potential partners for the Decade. Similar efforts are now (or
soon will be) underway in other countries.
In April, during the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
meetings in New York, the IEF and the U.S. Partnership were among
25 co-sponsors of a reception and networking session for the
Decade, hosted by the Bahá'í International Community and four
other organizations. The reception attracted close to 100
participants eager to meet and exchange ideas with others
preparing for the Decade. During a brief program, Malika Ladjali
of UNESCO spoke of the planning underway, but emphasized that the
success of the Decade will depend upon groups, like those in
attendance, taking initiatives to promote education for
sustainable development around the world.
IEF members are invited to take part in two events later this
year in advance of the official launch of the Decade in addition
to the IEF Annual conference in Greece (see above). First, at the
Association for Bahá'í Studies conference, in Calgary, Alberta on
September 3rd, the Ecology and Agriculture Special Interest Group
will hold an afternoon workshop on Education for Sustainable
Development, facilitated by Peter Adriance and John Steere. Then
in Orlando, Florida, December 15-16, during the pre-conference
seminar of the Bahá'í Conference on Social and Economic
Development for the Americas, IEF is teaming up with EDSED, a
group of Bahá'í educators from around the world, to co-sponsor a
special seminar building on last year's IEF conference, but with a
focus on educators. See the IEF website (www.bcca.org/ief) for
more details on both events.
All this before the Decade even gets started! Such efforts,
multiplied during the Decade, hold promise to help bring about
sustainable development initiatives in all sectors. If the Decade
lives up to expectations, education should prove to be a key means
for fostering sustainable development worldwide.
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