In Armenia, an Earth Charter discussion takes place at the International Summer School

An International Summer School of Young Researchers (PhD. and Graduate Students) with the theme of “Political and Social Processes in the Eurasian Space: Looking forward for new Paradigms” took place in Tsaghkadzor (Republic of Armenia) in July 31-August 6, 2009. The event was organized by World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” (http://www.wpfdc.org), Armenian National Center “Dialogue of Civilizations” and Yerevan State Linguistic University after V. Brusov.

About 40 PhD. and graduate students from Russia, Germany, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, France, Check Republic, The Netherlands, Uzbekistan, and Estonia participated in the Summer School. Together with the older generation of researchers, young researchers studied and discussed current social and political processes. The main goal of the school was to stimulate a dialogue with young participants and update knowledge about modern society, and about trends in individual and societal interaction. The main format of the summer school was general lecturing and seminars around four topics: mobility, information technologies, family, and culture.   

Core general lectures of the school were delivered by professors from the Yerevan State Linguistic University, Pyjatigorsk Russian State University, State University of Gal (Armenia), Teheran State University, etc. 

Among the core presenters was Dr. Karine Danielyan, Professor of the Yerevan State University, the Chairperson of the Association for Human Sustainable Development and Earth Charter Affiliate in Armenia.  Her lecture covered the following themes:

• a historic call for a new paradigm of development;
• the world’s development process «Stockholm 1972 – Rio 1992 – Johannesburg 2002»: theory and practice of sustainable development;

• the need for a “greener” mentality and the Earth Charter: document’s history, global consultation “down-up” process, main pillars and principles, and its role in the UN Decade for ESD;

• the present financial crisis as an example of unsustainable development; the Resolution of the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development (New York, June 24-26, 2009)

Dr. Danielyan distributed Earth Charter brochures and the Teachers Guidebook. During the discussion which followed, the participants discussed its content and value and expressed interest in using the Earth Charter in their research projects.