UNIPAZ, Brasilia, Brazil, (The International University for Peace Distrito Federal), ECI affiliated organization, launched on 22 September, the project Earth Gardeners (“Jardineiros da Terra”). This virtual space and informal free course, has the objective of offering an experience to address the four pillars of the Earth Charter under the perspective of Eco psychology and Deep Ecology. With this, UNIPAZ seeks to sensitize people about the importance of taking care of planet Earth and to stimulate individual responsibility in the generation of a new collective consciousness.
This project, conceived by Regina Fittipaldi, Environment Dean at UNIPAZ, is carried out by UNIPAZ DF in partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Ecopsychology and with the support of the Earth Charter International. The initiative will be facilitated by the UNIPAZ dean; the director of IBE, Marco Aurélio Bilibio; and educator Maria Beatriz Maury, PhD in Sustainable Development, with the participation of guests aligned with the purposes of UNIPAZ and the Earth Charter.
According to the director of IBE, “The approach of Ecopsychology and Deep Ecology allows reflections on the disconnection of human beings with the natural world, the consequent environmental crisis and the contemporary challenges that throw us into a civilizational impasse. It also allows us to rediscover our deep connection to the living world and to experience another degree of presence and sensitivity in co-existence with this beautiful living planet”.
This first cycle of the project, undertaken in Portuguese, will have six meetings:
- 22 September (Launch)
- 20 October (Respect and Care for the Community)
- 24 November (Ecological Integrity)
- 15 December (Social and Economic Justice)
- 26 January (Democracy, Non-Violence and Peace)
- 23 February (New Way Forward, New Times).
The first meeting, involving about 200 participants, counted with the presentation of Daniela Carvalho Piaggio, facilitator of the Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development in Costa Rica, who shared a reflection on the Earth Charter: Values and principles for a sustainable and harmonious world. The recording is available on the UNIPAZ DF channel on YouTube:
Registration for the next meeting: Respect and Care for the Community of Life will open on 5 October. The guests speakers are Daniel Iberê Alves da Silva, of the M’Byá Guarani people (PhD student in Social Anthropology – Arandu – Original Knowledge) and also the indigenous representative Jaciele Nyg Kuita Fidelis, Nyg (Nã), as she likes to be called, of ethnicity Kaingang.
To learn more about this initiative visit the Unipaz DF website or see their social media channels at Instagram and Facebook.