soil

Science, Spirituality, Solidarity: Weaving Interconnections for Change

On Oct. 20, you are invited to join the Temple of Understanding – in collaboration with Marble Collegiate Church – for FORUM2022!

FORUM2022 is a call to action on the global crisis facing humanity and all life on planet Earth. Connecting the variable causes of the climate crisis, our speakers bring together ancient wisdom and modern science to address this time of severe destruction with positive and effective solutions.

Program

Distinguished 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, will open FORUM2022 with traditional Native American Sioux prayers.

“Earth Democracy: Sustainability and Justice” Keynote dialogue between Bill McKibben and Dr. Vandana Shiva will expound upon the era of unrestricted capitalism and inspire us to embrace a moral and spiritual perspective for restoring our bio-system.

Prayers will be offered for the global ecological crisis by several world religious leaders:

  • The Rev. Sally Bingham, Canon for the Environment for the Diocese of California, or you can use founder and President Emerita, Interfaith Power and Light. (Christian)
  • Imam Saffet Catovic, Director, Interfaith, Community Alliances, and Government Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Washington, D.C.(Muslim)
  • Rabbi David Rosen, KSG CBE, International Director of Interreligious Affairs, American Jewish Committee (Jewish)
  • Pandit Shukla Ji, Hindu Priest, Hindu Samaj Mandir Mahwah, New Jersey (Hindu)

“Sacred Soil & Sacred Forests” panelists examine the relationship between ancient knowledge and current scientific thinking and present practical solutions for the climate crisis. Ray Archuleta, an American soil scientist, is joined by Irish botanist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger and Patricia Kombo, passionate environmentalist, founder of the PaTree Initiative, and she is a United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Land Hero, to discuss the crucial importance of healthy soil and vibrant forests for life on our planet, balancing the climate, harnessing water and sustaining food supplies.

A short video will introduce Jerusalem artist Beverly Barkat’s “Earth Poetica,” a phenomenal sculpture constructed from plastic waste collected from around the world, which will be exhibited at New York City’s World Trade Center complex next year.

Panelists on “Caring for our Endangered Oceans and Waterways” analyze the many ways to address the trashing of our oceans, create an international water policy, and tackle ocean warming. Dave Ford, founder of the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network, USA, an activist to industry organization, is joined by David Helvarg, executive director of Blue Frontier, and Dr. Kelsey Leonard, a citizen of the Shinnecock Nation, who is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and assistant professor, University of Waterloo, Canada.

Co-sponsors 

Interfaith Center of New York, Interfaith Power and Light, Islamic Society of North America, Parliament of the World’s Religions, World Interfaith Network

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. 

Preserving Life on Land: Plans, Projects, Pitfalls and Partnerships for Rainforest Preservation

Dear UN partners and participants at the HLPF,

On behalf of co-sponsors The Episcopal Church, Interfaith Rainforest Initiative Colombia, World Council of Churches, and the Parliament of the World’s Religions, you are warmly invited to a virtual parallel event on the occasion of the HLPF review of Goal 15 – Life on Land:

“Preserving Life on Land: Plans, Projects, Pitfalls and Partnerships for Rainforest Preservation”

Monday, July 11th, 1 – 2:30 pm EDT

Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItfu6tpz4vG9Q-XsUmPdh2r5SPPQ4H8CRv

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

[monthly mtg] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Agenda for June 16, 2022

Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/85797881478

1. Moment of Silence in Honor of the Land we are on and the Native Peoples of this Land

2. Welcome and Review of Agenda

3. Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2022

4. Report of the Executive Committee

5. Guest Speaker: Dan Baron Cohen is a community performance educator and eco-cultural activist of Welsh-Quebecois origin and has lived in Brazil since 1998 and in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Marabá since 2009. He has developed numerous programs with indigenous peoples of the Amazon/Brazil and worked with UNESCO and UNICEF. See below for more.

6. Update on Indigenous Health Subcommittee [Rashmi]

7. Update on the Education Subcommittee [Rick]

8. Other Items and Announcements

Guest speaker bio for Dan Baron Cohen, community educator and eco-cultural activist:

Dan works with Afro-Indigenous Youth in Amazonian region of Para, Brazil. The Rivers of Meeting education project, began by awakening sleeping cultural roots and human rights through Afro-Contemporary percussion, dance and lyrics workshops. Over 12 years, excluded youth were nurtured to become community workshop leaders and coordinators of medicinal plants, street library/cinema projects, dance and audiovisual companies, annual festival and workshop courses in their Community University of the Rivers, to defend the River Tocantins and nurture an eco-village based on eco-pedagogies for sustainable community.

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. 

Racism, Land, and Food

Warm greetings from Geneva!

On behalf of our colleague, Dr. Manoj Kurian, Coordinator of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) of the World Council of Churches, we are happy to share with you an invitation to attend an upcoming webinar on Racism, Land, and Food.

New York, Bogota 09:00-11:00; London 14:00- 16:00; Geneva 15:00-17:00, Johannesburg 16:00-18:00, Nairobi 17:00-19:00, New Delhi 19:30-21:30, Bangkok 21:00-23:00

Objectives for the Webinar:

• Explore the intersections of food, land and racial injustice.

• Discern key lessons from initiatives and good practices that work to overcome the impact of racial injustice and inequity on food sovereignty.

• Reflect on how the Holy Scripture can assist and guide in bringing justice, dignity and rights to marginalised communities with regard to food and land

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvduGspj4iHtceXhhER9aLh9wJeRPv1hB1

Background documents: https://seafile.ecucenter.org/d/d35a42625eaf40b29c9b/

Languages: English and Spanish

Brief description:

Worldwide, communities are increasingly experiencing poverty due to severe climate changes and lack of access to fertile farmlands and the deploying of fertile farmlands for cash crop farming at the expense of food production. In fact, in many countries, especially, former colonies, the most productive farmlands are shared by the very rich, normally descendants of the colonisers/ other privileged classes and castes and some indigenous elites, while the masses continue to try to eke out a living from their inherited but tired lands that have been farmed without rest over decades if not centuries. In some instances, the rich have used their access to financial and material resources to coerce poor farmers to plant and grow cash crops for the export market at the expense of growing staple crops, however, the rewards from cash crops are great for the merchants and exporters while starving the poor farmers who are left without any significant returns from their cash crops and without food.

This webinar seeks to explore the intersection of these two injustices across the globe. It helps to consolidate the analytical, advocacy and practical resources, to explore, understand and expose the effects of the combined force of food, climate and racial injustice.

Resource persons

· Rev. Chebon Kernell, Indigenous Perspectives  Executive Director, Native American Comprehensive Plan, United Methodist Church, USA 

· Dr. Fransina Yoteni, Gereja Kristen Injili Di Tanah Papua (GKITP)- Evangelical Christian Church in Tanah Papua, Member of the Central Committee of the WCC, West Papua, Indonesia

· Dr. Betty Ruth Lozano Lerma, Director of Research, Fundación Universitaria Bautista (Unibautista), Colombia

· Dr. Mervyn Abrahams, Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, Republic of South Africa

· Mr. Angelious Michael, Coordinator, Partnership and Youth Desk at Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church, Orissa, India

· Rev. Elton Williams, Pentecostal Minister championing Food sovereignty, Antigua and Barbuda

· Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith, Senior Associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church Engagement, Bread for the World. Member of the Central Committee of the WCC, USA

Moderators:  Ms. Katlego Mohuba (South Africa) & Mr. Tsiry Nantenaina (Madagascar)

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. 

NGO CSW/NY monthly meeting

Join the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY for our December Monthly Meeting! This month, we’ll be exploring the intersection of human rights and climate change.At the beginning of the meeting, we will provide updates on NGO CSW/NY and the NGO CSW66 Forum.Date: Thursday, 16 December 2021Time: 1 – 3 pm EST Find your timezone here.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpdeitpjwrGt2kwX-PL-O5LEnMa8n3XUH9?mc_cid=b7da83fba2&mc_eid=918abc9424

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch.

The Climate Emergency: Does Religion Matter?

You are invited to “The Climate Emergency: Does Religion Matter?”, the latest installment of the Temple of Understanding’s ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL Dialogues. These are special intimate discussions about the climate emergency with international ChangeMakers.

ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL interviews and dialogues are ongoing programs presented by the Temple of Understanding, incorporating our outreach in the area of environmental awareness and advocacy. We present a diverse range of perspectives, from scientific to spiritual views, on the climate emergency and offer a variety of solutions that we can all do easily and effectively in our everyday lives. World religious and spiritual visionaries, Indigenous leaders, scientists and social scientists, environmental activists, artists, musicians and writers, youth and elders, local and global people, all come together to address the urgency of the climate crisis through these ongoing interviews and dialogues.

Register here!

Speakers:

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein is an eco-theologian, spiritual leader, writer and creative. She founded Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization in 1988. Her books include Let the Earth Teach You Torah, Ecology and the Jewish Spirit, and The Splendor of Creation. Ellen also created the first ecologically-centered Tu B’Sh’vat (Jewish New Year of theTrees) seder in 1988 and popularized Tu B’Sh’vat as a community-wide inter-spiritual ecological arts celebration for all peoples. Her most recent book, The Promise of the Land, A Passover Haggadah is the first comprehensive, ecological haggadah (guidebook) for Passover (Behrman House, 2020). In 2020 during the pandemic, Ellen launched the Earth Seder movement, helping to organize several dozen world-wide Earth Seders on Zoom. Ellen continues to write and teach on the ecology of the Hebrew Bible, and serves on the advisory board of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. To learn more please visit ellenbernstein.org and thepromiseoftheland.com.

Theodore Hiebert writes about biblical perspectives on the environment and about biblical views of identity and difference. His book The Yahwist’s Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel challenges claims that the Bible privileges humans and separates them from nature, and it shows how biblical religion is grounded in the natural world. He has made contributions about biblical perspectives on nature to such works as The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, The Oxford Companion to the Bible, Earth and Word: Classic Sermons on Saving the Planet, and Interpretation. He is the author of the article on Genesis for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Ecology. Ted was the lead translator of the Book of Genesis and one of the editors for the recent English translation, the Common English Bible (CEB). He wrote the notes to Genesis for the CEB Study Bible and for the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, based on the New Revised Standard Version. He is the Old Testament editor for Abingdon Press’s Covenant Bible Study. Ted also writes about biblical views of identity and difference. His book The Beginning of Difference: Discovering Identity in God’s Diverse World challenges exclusivist cultural interpretations of the book of Genesis and reveals a text that embraces and celebrates ethnic identities and differences. It contains a reinterpretation of the story of Babel as positive account of the origin of the world’s cultures. God’s Big Plan, which he co-authored with Elizabeth Caldwell, is a children’s story of Babel based on this new interpretation. Ted is currently at work on a study of the book of Genesis as migration literature. Ted is a member of the Mennonite Church and has served as pastor of the Boston Mennonite Congregation. He is a frequent lecturer and teacher in adult education programs in churches in the Chicago area. He is Francis A. McGaw Professor of Old Testament and Dean of the Faculty Emeritus at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and lives in Homewood, IL.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

32nd World Peace Festival

Namaste Dear Friends,
Please join and celebrate with us at the 32nd Annual “World Peace Festival” & Intl. Day of Peace celebration.
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Time: 10 AM – 1 PM EDT New York (7:30 PM India)
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Livestream link on Facebook from the World Yoga Community – HQ: facebook.com/groups/235426709956668

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CoNGO Notes: The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations is one of the Substantive Committees of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. 

FORUM2021 Sacred Food ~ Blessed Earth

In solidarity with other NGO’s offering a strong critique of the fall UN Food Summit, FORUM2021 explores the potential of local regenerative agriculture, highlights the growing organic farming movement and offers an interfaith moral call to redressing the harm caused by agribusiness, the industrialization of the world’s food production system.
FORUM2021 explores the ancient, respectful and regenerative ways of farming practices and our spiritual relationship to food by focusing on the Earth as an interconnected web of life. A moral and spiritual voice is essential in the transition away from the industrialized, fossil fuel and chemical intensive, global agriculture system which is degrading our Earth, contributing to the climate crisis and to the extinction of species, as well as creating severe health issues for all living beings. FORUM2021 is a call to all spiritual and religious leaders and activists for a return to local, biodiverse organic food systems which regenerate soil, water and biodiversity while providing healthy sustenance for all. Learn more & register here!

Opening Prayer & Welcome

  • Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle for the Great Sioux Nation

Welcome from the Temple of Understanding

  • Chris Wang, Temple of Understanding Board Member

Chief Oren Lyons Keynote Address

  • Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Peoples

Dr. Vandana Shiva Keynote Address: Reclaiming Ancient Wisdom to Protect Our Future

  • Dr. Vandana Shiva, Founder, Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International, world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, feminist, philosopher of science, writer and science policy advocate

International Activists on Regenerative Farming Panel

  • Darcy Neill, (Moderator), Temple of Understanding Board Member
  • Kathryn Manga, Project Coordinator, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines, Philippines
  • Adelita San Vicente Tello, Director of Primary Sector & Renewable Natural Resources, Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources, Mexico
  • Daniel Wanjama, Coordinator, Seed Saver Network, Kenya

Scientists on the Impact of Industrialized Agriculture Dialogue

  • Tyrone Hayes, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Faith-Based Farming in the United States Panel

  • Rev. Susan Hendershot, (Moderator), Interfaith Power & Light, USA
  • Edgar Hayes & Anne Rader, Freedom Farm Community NY
  • Clayton Harvey, Ndée Bikíyaa (Peoples’ Farm), AZ
  • Shani Mink, Jewish Farmer Network, NC
  • Leah Penniman, Soul Fire Farm, NY

Sacred Food from an Interfaith Perspective

  • Rev. Jim Antal, denominational leader, climate activist, author and public theologian, special advisor on Climate Justice to the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ
  • Mary Evelyn Tucker, Senior Lecturer & Research Scholar, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Divinity School, Department of Religious Studies

Global Interfaith Prayer Service + Prayers and Offerings

  • Rev. Dr. Michael Bos
  • Imam Saffet Catovic
  • Samir Chatterjee & Steve Gorn
  • Rabbi Ephraim Isaac
  • Chief Arvol Looking Horse
  • Grandmother Mona Polacca
  • Rev. John Vaughn and more to be announced!

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

Environmental factors as an important trigger for migration

Join this virtual side event at the occasion of the 30th Session of the Conference on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,

organized by ZONTA and co-organizers

Tuesday May 18th, 1:10-2:00 pm CET.

Reconsidering the definition of smuggling migrants in the context of (transnational) environmental disasters and hazardous legacies

Environmental factors influence migration in important ways, shaped by local economic, sociopolitical and cultural conditions. The root causes of environmental migration are often deeply intertwined and closely connected to sustainable development issues. Experts will present actual research data and share experience at the grass roots level, followed by a discussion on understanding the links between environmental change and migration, which disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, in particular women and girls.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81148641691?pwd=SWh2Q3NLS05IRTBWNnVTeWw2L2gxZz09

Meeting-ID: 811 4864 169

Kenncode: 478023

Panelists:

  • Roman Hoffmann is a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis with affiliations at the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Vienna and degrees in sociology and economics from the University of Munich. In his applied research, he studies the impacts of climate change on populations and resilience to environmental stress with a focus on climate adaptation and migration. He has served as a consultant for UNIDO, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), and several non-governmental organizations.
  • Farai Maguwu is devoted to improving the governance of natural resources in Zimbabwe. Human Rights Watch honoured him with the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. He was also honoured by Rapaport, a clean diamond campaigner, for protecting artisanal diamond miners in Zimbabwe‘s Marange region. In 2012 he founded the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (cnrgzim.org), which researches and documents human rights abuse and illicit trade in minerals. Farai is a PhD candidate at the Wits School of Governance. He holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European University Center for Peace Studies, and a Master in Peace and Governance from Africa University.

Moderator:  Sharon Fisher, President, Soroptimist International

The NGO Committee on Sustainable Development–Vienna: The focus of the committee is on the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. It provides a forum for NGOs interested in discussing and analyzing the work of the UN intergovernmental bodies in the field of sustainable development, as well as the related activities of the Vienna-based UN organizations. It encourages new initiatives and seeks inputs into civil society’s contribution to the 2030 agenda of the United Nations.

Contact point: Ingeborg Geyer, e-mail: ingeb.geyer@gmail.com

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. 

[Monthly Meeting] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Interested parties and NGO partners are welcome to join the regular monthly meeting of the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on March 18 at 1:00pm EST.

Register here: https://forms.gle/fsgqGi9eRq35kDeu7

Meeting Agenda:

  • Welcome & Moment of Silence in Honor of the Land we are on and the Native Peoples of this land
  • Introductions & Review of Agenda
  • Meeting minutes of Feb. 18, 2021
  • Report of the Executive Committee
  • Speakers: Indigenous Secretariat, Melissa Martin, Arturo Requesens, and Udy Bell
  • Update about Indigenous Forum 2021 (virtual): Format, Statements, Interventions, and Side Events
  • Other Items and Announcements

The next regular committee meeting will be convened on April 15 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm EST. Contact us at indigenous.committee@gmail.com.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information about the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

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