In Mexico, an interesting process to organize the actions and stakeholders doing Earth Charter activities began in November 2013.
The Earth Charter was formally introduced in Mexico in 2002, with the official support that the President offered to the Earth Charter during Johannesburg Summit. Since then, the Earth Charter movement and actions in this country have been growing, especially those focused on offering workshops and conferences to share and reflect on values and ethical principles for sustainability.
There are so many institutions and individuals doing Earth Charter activities that it became important to find a way to organize all these efforts. Towards this end, the Social Participation and Transparency Unit of SEMARNAT (Ministry of Environment), with the support of the Aguascalientes Municipality and in coordination with Mateo Castillo, Earth Charter International Council member, brought together a number of individuals and organization who have found the Earth Charter to be an inspiration to their work, to be part of the Earth Charter Mexican Network, an initiative that SEMARNAT finds important to strengthen the collaboration between civil society and the government to promote sustainable lifestyles.
This network was launched during a meeting that took place from November 4th to 6th , 2013 in Aguascalientes.
The objective was to share and better understand the national Earth Charter movement, its vision, mission, and formalize the national network of focal points for the Earth Charter
Forty people from twenty-nine States participated in this meeting, representing the Federal Government, the Municipality of Aguascalientes, individuals who are or were members of the Advisory Committees for Sustainable Development, or individuals who have been working hard in promoting the principles of the Earth Charter in their region or communities.
As a result of this meeting, participants were able to define:
- The vision, mission, and philosophy for this network as strategic elements
- The organizational structure and coordination of the network
- The profile of the focal points of this network
- The guidelines for using the Earth Charter logo
- The criteria and guidelines to print Earth Charter brochures
Earth Charter International wishes the Earth Charter Mexico Network the best of luck in its first steps towards the promotion of values and principles for a more just, sustainable, and peaceful society.