The Global Ecological Integrity Group (GEIG), a group of academics and researchers, held its annual meeting in Costa Rica from 27 June to 2 July 2013 at the Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development. GEIG, which has been meeting for 20 years, frequently discusses topics related to the Earth Charter, and many members are great admirers and users of the Earth Charter in their academic disciplines. This year’s meeting was entitled “Ecological Integrity, Globalization and Radical Social Change: From the UN, to the Earth Charter; from the World Social Forum to the Rights of Mother Earth and Beyond“.
The conference was a great success, with lively discussions, a flow of exciting ideas, and many opportunities to advance the discourse on ecological integrity and the Earth Charter in relation to global governance and social change. More than 30 participants attended and shared papers and ideas among others Laura Westra, Ron Engel, Prue Taylor, Klaus Bosselmann and Don Brown.
The meeting also coincides with the publication of “Confronting Ecological and Economic Collapse: Ecological Integrity for Law, Policy and Human Rights”, edited by Laura Westra (the lead GEIG conference organizer), Prue Taylor, and Agnès Michelot.
“From the first appearance of the term in law in the Clean Water Act of 1972 (US), ecological integrity has been debated by a wide range of researchers whose joint interest was the study and understanding of ecological/biological integrity from various standpoints and disciplines. This volume discusses the need for ecological integrity as a major guiding principle in a variety of policy areas, to counter the present ecological and economic crises with their multiple effects on human rights.”
Find out more about the above mentioned book which was launched at this occasion here.
