The Earth Charter Secretariat actively participated in the 4th IUCN World Conservation Forum, held from 5 to 9 October, 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. This event gathered nearly 8,000 leading decision makers and activists in sustainable development, who organized over 800 events. As the biggest conservation event of 2008, the Secretariat – as well as Earth Charter Initiative members - built upon the IUCN endorsement of the Charter (Res 3.022, 2004) and organized three workshops.

Intergenerational partnership

The workshop on Intergenerational Partnership for Sustainability (IPS) was offered as the third in a series of workshops. These generated a Framework for forming this type of partnership between different generations. The first two workshops were held at the 4th International Conference on Environment Education (ICEE) in November 2007 in Ahmedabad, India and at the 16th meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in May 2008 in New York, USA. Our workshop in Barcelona focused on brainstorming specific mechanisms for the IUCN to engage in IPS, building on ideas like the “Buddy Experiment” carried out in partnership with the IUCN’s Commission on Education and Communication (CEC). The “IUCN Draft” of the Framework, which emerged from the workshop, supports a Motion on intergenerational partnership that was submitted to the Member’s Assembly for adoption as a Resolution (see the next Newsflash for more information).

Reflections on bringing values into education

This workshop helped to continue the discussions on values of sustainability that Earth Charter has held in previous international conferences, such as the World Environmental Education Conference (Durban, 2007) and the 4th ICEE (India). Participants shared their views on this topic and gave interesting insights on different pedagogical approaches and methodologies. Three participants, who are Earth Charter Affiliates, shared in more depth their experiences with the Earth Charter in education. Prue Taylor and Klaus Bosselman, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, talked about how they are incorporating and analyzing the ethical principles of the Earth Charter in relation to environmental law in different courses including for urban planners. Also, Usha Srinivasan, from CLEAN India – Development Alternatives, India, shared her organization’s experience on working with the Delhi Government to incorporate the Earth Charter into the primary school curriculum. In addition, we shared a project idea to create a website that would facilitate the development of a network of schools implementing activities on education for sustainable development, using the Earth Charter.

EC Assess Learning Opportunity

Learning Opportunities were intended to provide a space for the Forum’s participants to share more deeply with each other, and to learn about new tools, projects, etc. Considering their potential, Earth Charter International organized one on EC-Assess, our ethics-based assessment tool. Twenty people from fifteen countries attended this four-hour workshop. After getting acquainted with each other, the Earth Charter, and EC-Assess through interactive games and a presentation, participants were given the opportunity to practice using EC-Assess. The subjects chosen for assessment were the IUCN Commissions, because all participants were expected to have some familiarity with them. Background reading on each Commission was provided to facilitate this assessment. Participants gave positive feedback on the EC-Assess tool, highlighting its systematic approach and the richness of the discussion that was stimulated. Participants readily identified ways in which they could apply EC-Assess in their own countries, including in schools and universities, as well as local governments and youth networks.

In addition to the workshops, the Secretariat organized a small social gathering with Affiliates, Council Members, Partners and various friends that were attending the Conference in Barcelona. The main purpose was to have a space to chat and share about our current activities. Most importantly, many attendees did not know each other, so this was a good opportunity to bring members of Earth Charter Initiative closer together.

The Earth Charter was also present in other instances of the IUCN Forum and Assembly. During a debate among IUCN presidential candidates, a question was raised about the implementation of IUCN Resolution on the Earth Charter. Their responses demonstrated their understanding of the importance of ethics to the cause of sustainability, as well as their willingness to further the integration of the Earth Charter into the IUCN work and programmes.

IUCN Forum was a great opportunity to meet new and old friends of the Earth Charter, strengthen our relationships and, through several meetings and casual conversation, come up with new ways to put the Earth Charter principles into action.