Two weeks earlier, Warburg’s city council unanimously agreed to the city’s adoption of the Earth Charter. “With the endorsement of the Earth Charter, the city of Warburg demonstrates its concern for the future of our planet Earth” said Stickeln during the endorsement ceremony.
The public endorsement was the culmination of a series of Earth Charter related activities in the region. For several months, large parts of Warburg’s civil society actively promoted the Earth Charter and implemented its principles in diverse projects. All seven primary and secondary schools in the region of Warburg included the Earth Charter in their education and engaged the students in extra-curricular programmes on the Earth Charter.
The results of these projects were presented during the public endorsement event. These included drum performances, a gigantic globe that was carried by students, colourful artwork, as well as well-rehearsed pantomime performances to mention just a few examples of the students’ creativity.
From July 3rd to July 30th, 2011, Warburg is hosting a major Earth Charter and Arts Exhibition to which 30 regional artists contributed their works and ideas. The town is celebrating its 975th birthday and has decided to connect some of the festivity events with the Earth Charter as a message of hope for a sustainable future.
Anja Becker and Paulander Hausmann took part in the endorsement ceremony on behalf of the EOWI. After Munich and Heidelberg, which are situated in the southern parts of Germany, Warburg is the third German city to become an Earth Charter city.
“For more than ten years, the Ecumenical One World Initiative has promoted the global ethical vision of the Earth Charter throughout Germany. We are very happy to see this work coming to fruition in our home region as demonstrated in Warburg’s endorsement and these amazingly creative projects that we have just witnessed during the presentations by the students”, said Paulander Hausmann, Chair of EOWI’s board of directors.