In the context of the 10th anniversary of the Earth Charter, a new project was initiated in Bavaria/Germany in January 2010 called “An Earth Charter Way“. In the Amberg-Sulzbach county 26 best practices expressed in Earth Charter projects will be presented in an exhibition starting on 29th June. The District Administrator Richard Reisinger is hosting the event and the local bank, the “Sparkasse Amberg-Sulzbach” is sponsoring it. The projects can also be seen on the “Earth Charter Way Society`s” website www.erdchartaweg-as.de and in a magazine published on line that tells many interesting facts and stories around the local Earth Charter projects. See at http://issuu.com/peter_boehm/docs/vias
The Amberg-Sulzbach county is located near Nuremberg. In this county they have described an “Earth Charter Way” as one of their goals for the future. The plan is to continuously find places, projects, companies, nonprofit organizations that already live one or more principles of the Earth Charter, highlight them and further promote inspiration with that.
This effort has the following purposes:
- that in this project every person and every borough in Amberg- Sulzbach can take part with its individual potential, being the best practical example for a flat civil organization;
- that people are encouraged to live more and more according to these principles and;
- that visitors can come to the county and see these best practice examples.
In the year 2007 this county passed the guiding principles for its future development and it was decided that as one of the key projects an “Earth Charter Way” should be established. On this “Earth Charter Way” all kinds of projects, institutions, places and people, that show how one can implement the 16 principles of the Earth Charter in one’s personal or in public life should be made visible.
In 2009 an “Earth Charter Way Society” was founded, where many people work voluntarily to realize this “Earth Charter Way”. It has also made possible that an “Earth Charter Way Magazine” where all these projects are being described could be printed.
In the coming five years it is planned that many more projects will be found or will be created. All these projects will be the basis for a local “Earth Charter Way Schoolbook” which is planned for 2014.