For the 10th anniversary of the Earth Charter, a major and inspiring event took place on 29 June in The Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands. This was exactly 10 years since the launch of the Earth Charter, and was a wonderful occasion to look backwards and forward with regards to the Earth Charter Initiative!

Over 200 participants attended this event, including EC Commissioners, Affiliates, members of the International Council, youth leaders and many partners. The event had the honour of having the participation of Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands and Prime Minister Balkenende. In his address, the Prime Minister said that "the art can change your life and that he would never forget the music he heard here today", and he compared the EC movement with a tree that has been growing, although not as much (and fast) as it should, but he hopes it will continue to grow until its leaves cover the whole world. Click here to see some pictures.

This was a wonderful occasion for participants to learn from each other and get extra portion of inspiration. A special feature was to have Minister of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica, Manuel Obregon, play parts of his concert "Symbiosis" and also to have a "Concert of the plants" led by Macaco Tamerice. The event was convened by Ruud Lubbers and was organized by NCDO in cooperation with the ECI Secretariat.

850 interested individuals who were not able to travel to Holland were also able to follow the discussions on-line, as there was live video coverage for the whole day.

See a short videos of the event in this link. http://www.earthcharter.nl/index.php?id=4&n=50  and see some pictures available in the following link  http://www.earthcharter.nl/




The aims of the Earth Charter event in the Netherlands were :

     1.  To celebrate 10 years of the Earth Charter launch and start identifying elements for the next decade.
     2.  To encourage business and youth actors to be inspired by the Earth Charter
           when taking on the challenges of today and the future.
     3.  To enhance public and media outreach on the relevance of the Earth Charter for
           topical issues and challenges.

The Central theme for all activities in the light of 10 years Earth Charter worldwide is :

Dialogue, Collaboration and Action for a Sustainable Future. This theme is reflected in the programme by providing room for dialogue and interaction among participants coming from different generations, sectors and parts of the world.

Click here to see the flyer with more information on this event.

Click here to see a video from former Dutch Minister Ruud Lubbers inviting all to join this event.