I wanted to let you know about the highly successful Earth Charter events in Puerto Alegre last week, where seminars featuring the Earth Charter were presented to overflowing audiences in the World Education Forum and the World Social Forum. In both Forums, the presentations were conducted in one of the principal venues. The Earth Charter was also prominent in ‘ForumZINHO’, ‘The Social Forum for Children’ which stressed the importance of the voice of children in defining a sustainable new world.
World Education Forum
The overarching theme of the 2nd World Education Forum was ‘Education and Transformation: Public Education in the Construction of a Possible New World’. The Earth Charter was featured in a session on January 22nd titled: “Living together: understanding and living the Earth Charter”.
The organization coordinating the event, ‘Nucleo dos Amigos da Infancia e da Adolescencia’ (NAIA) organized a colorful music and dance opening, featuring children. Our eminent Brazilian commissioner, Leonardo Boff, was part of the panel, which included members of the Earth Charter Network, the head of the Paulo Freire Institute (IPF) as well as representation from UNESCO Brazil. The crowds filled the massive warehouse on the docks of Porto Alegre, with an estimated audience of 3,000 – 5,000.
The speeches ranged from opening comments on how there is a need for a new eco-pedagogy in the world of education to concrete examples of how the Earth Charter is being used in different educational environments. The point was made that the Earth Charter represents a document uniquely positioned to serve as an educational resource in helping with the construction of a possible new world. Boff closed the session with a highly inspirational oration in which he quoted several times from the copy of the Earth Charter he was holding tightly onto.
Despite the sweltering mid-afternoon Porto Alegre heat, the crowd, who had been there for over four hours, rose to a standing ovation and then tried to see where they could get hold of a copy of the Earth Charter. Needless to say, we are ready for a re-print.
World Social Forum
This year’s World Social Forum, with an anticipated participation of 100,000, was organized under the slogan, “Another World is Possible”.
A seminar titled, ‘The Earth Charter – a minimum consensus for human beings’ kicked off the 1st day of events at the World Social Forum. The event, superbly organized by the Paulo Freire Institute, opened with a moving slide-show depicting powerful images of destruction, while quotes from the Earth Charter were simultaneously read out, calling for an alternate vision. Next, the audience was called upon in an activity where balloons were passed around, representing our fragile planet. Music and Brazilian-style hugs to those in close proximity set the ambience for the seminar.
With most of the speakers from our event in the Education Forum having agreed to participate in this seminar, the audience was treated to a couple of hours of thought-provoking discourse on the Earth Charter, with Jose Romao, Executive Director of the IPF, ending with a tribute to Paulo Freire himself. Boff’s address, once again, was awesome.
A magnificent closing to the seminar was provided by a youth group who had assembled in Porto Alegre. They called upon the audience to close their eyes, think about one concrete action that they plan to carry out, and then shout it out simultaneously. As Moacir Gadotti put it, “With this battle cry, we call for peace”.
The standing ovation at the end was one of hope and empowerment.
ForumZINHO Social Mundial
The ‘Social Forum for Children’, organized by NAIA, was held as a parallel event to the World Social Forum. The group has produced a beautifully illustrated children’s version of the Earth Charter, which was show-cased throughout the forum. A panel on the Earth Charter was organized for the 24th afternoon. After an introduction by the Earth Charter Secretariat on the educational plans and priorities of the organization, there were presentations on how the Earth Charter was being used in schools in Spain (Guillem Ramis’ program) as well as in higher education in Brazil by Mariliese Esteves. The Executive Secretary from the Ministry of Environment of the State of Rio Grande, who has helped finance the program, also spoke. Rick Clugston (co-chair of the Fundraising Committee) offered closing remarks on behalf of the Earth Charter team.
After the panel, there was space for a small group discussion, which continued passionately till people realized that President Lula was about to begin his speech on the other side of the city.
Other Earth Charter Meetings in Porto Alegre
During the course of the week, we had very promising meetings with three of our Brazilian Type II partners – the Paulo Freire Institute, the Secretariat of Education of the city of Cuiaba, and the Union of Municipal Educational Leaders of the State of Mato Grosso.
updated on 09/09/2010
