Group Challenges to Learning Peace via Sustainability

POP TV session facilitated by Nora Mahmoud, Youth Coordinator of the Earth Charter Initiative, Youth Network in 2012.

POP Challenge:

Read the Earth Charter, and then identify a challenge, i.e. excess amount of garbage, lack of creative youth projects, etc. in your community and see which of the four main principles from the EC it relates to — I. Respect and Care for the Community of Life, II. Ecological Integrity, III. Social and Economic Justice, or IV. Democracy, Nonviolence. After having a discussion about this, organize a day or a program to try and implement these activities!

RESPECT AND CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY OF LIFE

Foundation of the Earth Charter; the key principle helps inspire us for a better future.

1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
2. Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
3. Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual, artistic, ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.
4. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
5. Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.
6. Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.
7. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
8. Ensure that communities at all levels guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms and provide everyone an opportunity to realize his or her full potential.
9. Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.
10. Secure Earth’s bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
11. Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.
12. Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth’s human and ecological communities.

Poll Question:

If you had the power to improve one aspect of the society in which you live would it be:

1. Freedom of speech
2. Children’s rights
3. Hunger eradication
4. Wealth distribution
5. Other (aspects your would like to change in your society)

We need to try and advocate and build awareness by building dialogue about these issues, it is the only way to help create a more peaceful world and to help bring about a change.

Once everyone has had a chance to respond and reflect on their answers, they will all be able to understand that everything is interconnected, and that we cannot only tackle one global problem in an isolated manner, but at all levels of society.

Additional Challenges:

#1- EC Spider Web

#2- It Starts With One + Video