The Spirituality and Sustainability Conference, held in Rome and Assisi, Italy (25 May to 1 June 2018) was convened by St. Thomas University and Forum 21. Earth Charter International was a cosponsor (as were eight other organizations).
The Earth Charter was a major focus of the conference and the main topic during one of the seven days.
The following is a brief account of the day focused on the Earth Charter (Tuesday, May 29) covering The Earth Charter and Global Ethics.
The day opened with a presentation by Peter Corcoran on “Spiritual Reflections on the Earth Charter and the Ecozoic.” It was followed by a presentation from Hiro Sakurai on “What is the Earth Charter? How has SGI utilized it to promote education for sustainable development and global citizenship (with reference to SDG 4, target 7).”
The morning session counted with a Panel & Discussion on “Implementing Earth Charter ethics and values in China, Germany, the Netherlands: The Earth Charter in the context of religious and secular global ethics.” The panel counted with the participation of Song Li, Anja Becker, Sofia van Winden and Art Kane.
In small groups, participants were invited to look at Earth Charter principles and to engage in a dialogue to share views and learn from one another on the various approaches to this content.
One of focuses of the day discussion was on how well the Earth Charter articulates a blueprint for an ecologically sensitive, sustainable future, ecozoic. Another focus was on how effective the Earth Charter movement has been in making transformative change happen in lifestyles and policy.
From these presentations and discussions the following were identified as important initiatives to advance the Earth Charter’s ethical vision and principles:
- China and South Korea: Linking the Earth Charter and the Ecological Civilization Initiatives of China and the Centre for Process Studies
- Earth Trusteeship guided by the Earth Charter
- Education for Sustainable Development: bringing Earth Charter educational resources into the SDG target 4.7 related activities
- Sustainable Development Policy: bringing the Earth
Charter as a document and a social movement to deepen and implement the new development agenda (agenda 2030)
- Earth Charter 2020: We discussed a meeting in The Hague at the Peace Palace on the 20th anniversary of the Earth Charter’s launch in The Hague, connected to Unity Earth’s series of major events called the “Road to 2020.” (This event could also focus significantly on Earth Trusteeship)
Click here to see full programme.