From June 28th to 30th 2011, the Earth Charter International Secretariat organized a series of online meetings to begin opening dialogues on the Rio+20 conference next year. In total, three meetings were held, one for Latin America, Spain, and Portugal (Iberoamerica), the second one for North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and the third one for Asia and the Pacific. These meetings brought together around 70 Earth Charter affiliates, partners, and youth activists, who are working closely with the ECI Secretariat in different focus areas.
These links contain the recordings of each meeting:
These meetings’ objective was to bring the Earth Charter community in these regions closer together to share views on the ECI’s current plans and strategies, as well as offer participants an overview of the Rio+20 preparatory process.
Mirian Vilela offered a short presentation about the ECI objectives for Rio+20, which are:
“To emphasize the need for a comprehensive ethical framework articulating shared values and principles to inspire and guide different actors in the transition to a sustainable future and to demonstrate the relevance of the Earth Charter to the objectives of Rio+20 Conference and process.”
All participants were given the opportunity to speak and broadcast video of themselves and a chat box was available for ongoing interaction. Overall, these meetings were successful in informing participants and fostering the kind of meaningful dialogue that will help embed the Earth Charter message in Rio+20 discussions in these regions.
The ECI Secretariat plans to hold more meetings of this kind at the end of August, so please be on the lookout for information regarding upcoming opportunities to connect with the ECI and other Earth Charter community members.
You can also read about the ECI’s Rio+20 strategy by clicking here.