...12 days left

EC+10, Cultural Programme on the 2nd November: Mallika Sarabhai

Are you ready to become impressed? 

You better are, otherwise you have to stop reading right NOW.

Today, we will introduce you to an extraordinary woman – a woman, who also lived an extraordinary life. What other people wouldn’t be able to do in a whole lifetime, she achieved in 57 years: Born on 9^th May 1953 to the classical danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, she peaked out of the crowd at an early age.

Mallika Sarabhai – Is there anyhing she cannot do?

She definitely can’t be reduced to her dancing, for which she is famous all across India and even over the border, won lots and lots of prizes.

She actually started her career as a film actress, but soon it was obvious, that her talent in traditional Indian dance, in the classical forms of Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi, was exceptional. 

Today, she is one of India’s leading choreographers and dancers. But that is not everything she does, no! 

She also is the writer for several newspaper columns dealing with critical issues like human rights, caste, corruption and many more. 

She is the founder of her own dance company Darpana (visit http://www.darpana.com/). 

She is an activist for education issues and women’s empowerment and founded different organisations. For over ten years, she develops her own “contemporary dance vocabulary” and presents her works all across the world.

As if all of this is not enough, she even has a PhD in organisational behaviour.

You want to see more of this amazing woman? Lucky you, she will perform on the 2^nd day of the EC+10-conference!

...13 days left

 This is our second video; a quick introduction of the CEE (Centre for Environment Education) headquarter in Ahmedabad, the host organisation of the Earth Charter+10 Conference

...14 days left

EC+10: Non-Formal Education Workshop

2010. Imagine. Education for the poor. Education for the rich. Education for everybody in between.
One big classroom. Kids sit together on the floor, reading, writing. We start with the first row: one girl named Alena. Her parents are the owners of a big company, they have a lot of money.
Next to her sits David. His parents are working for a factory in the city. They have enough money to eat every day and to pay the rent, but not much more than that. The last girl in the row's name is Sonia. She lives on the streets of the city, after school she sells little braceletts to earn some extra money.
The three of them are best friends. 
This school provides education for everybody. No matter if they are rich or poor, or something in between. In this world, every child, mother, father, grandma and grandpa has the right for free education with no relation to their background.

Is our world like this? Has every child in every country the possibility to go to school? And every young person the opportunity to go to university? Every adult to continue his studies and to learn new things?
Is education free nowadays? Why have students to pay for their studies? Why are there private schools? Why is there a segregation between rich and poor?
These facts are not deniable.

Why is a world with free education for everybody not existing?
Due to that fact, on the EC+10 conference one workshop will be hold which deals with the Non-Formal Education in detail.

What can we change?

...16 days left

Happenings at SAYEN:

Calling Earth: An IYCN and SAYEN initiative

Remember? Two days ago we had a nice announcement for the people in South India, but we don’t only think about the South. Today it’s the North-Indian's turn. Well, ok, North-West. I’m sorry for you guys in the East! You just have to start something by yourself and we will announce it.

Anyway. Your next Sunday, 24th of October, will look like this:
You take the bus or the train, step out of it in Ahmedabad and come to the CEE Campus - the Centre for Environment Education. After your arrival you enjoy the day focusing on everything which is in connection with our planet earth.

The Major Events are the different workshops, out of which you will have to choose one:
-Climate Leadership Training Programme
-"Walk From Plastics" Marathon
-Climate Conclave: Summit
-Clean Creation: Best out of waste
-Green Screen: Movies
-Climate ke liye bajao/ Reverberations: A Rock band competition

Parallel to these workshops, there are a lot of minor events happening, for example a debate competition, recycling activities, poster making competition, designing a cloth bag or visiting the Prakriti-Bus.
The main objective of this day is to create and spread your awareness in environment - and to encourage you to work and engage in environmental issues.
Come over and enjoy the day with us! You will have a lot of fun.

For further information just join the Facebook page:  

Calling Earth: An IYCN and SAYEN initiative

...17 days left

EC+10: Urbanization Workshop

In 1900, 13% of the world’s population lived in cities. The majority was spread all over the countries, living mostly in villages and earning their every day-bread through agriculture.

But industrialisation and subsequent events changed that dramatically:

In 2030 – only 20 years from now - estimated 60% of the world’s population will live in cities.

Shocking numbers and you’ll find them everywhere (since the media is human-made and humans are sensation-seeking). Combined with articles about a continuously increasing number of homeless people in cities, labour market problems, city growth in an absolutely unbelievable speed, especially in so-called developing countries - the drawn picture of our urban life looks pretty depressing.

Urbanization….an often used term, which is mainly used to point out all the uncountable points where our living system lacks.

Most of the people actually DO recognize it and say to themselves: “Oh, there are so many problems, how terrible!”. But afterwards they simply continue in an business-as-usual-mentality. We don’t want to be like that; we want to find out whether there also is another side to it.

Is it possible to change our communities?

Does something like a sustainable community even exist?

How can we influence the process of urbanisation in a way, that the good sides overbalance?

The “Cities, Communities & Urbanisation“-Workshop deals exactly with this kind of questions – and will, hopefully, give you some positive examples of a more sustainable way of living communities.

...18 days left

Happenings at SAYEN:

„We pledge you promise“-Campaign

Where are you guys out there? Are you in India? In south India? Coincidentally in Hyderabad or Bangalore??

Yes? Then you shouldn’t make plans for the next days. No matter what it is, it is not as good as the event we suggest to you!!

The Campaign “We pledge you promise” initiated by SAYEN, CEE and Oxfam India (more information about the organization: follow the links on the right side) started last Sunday, 10th of October and is hold until next Monday, 18th of October  to  mitigate the impacts of climate change - Signatures and support are needed. From everybody!

The claim:

We pledge: Save Energy- Save Water- Use Green Transport- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle- Sow the Seed for a Greener Lifestyle- Plant Tree and Gift Sablings

You promise: invest in agriculture and save lives- sow the seed for a fair, ambitious and blinding deal at COP16, Cancun, Mexico- Help vulnerable communities, especially women farmers to adapt to the changing climate- establish a global climate fund in Cancun which delivers for poor people, particularly women- ensure enough money is made available in Cancun to support vulnerable communities adapt to Climate Change- all states of India to prepare a “State action plan of Climate Change” and ensure food  security of poor people.

Be part of the change and help to ensure that our pledges are done and the promises kept.
For more information check out the SAYEN and Oxfam India Homepages on the right side.

...19 days left

Pre-Conference, Cultural Programme, 31st of October: The Kabir Project

We have some NEW exciting news for you all out there: A new cultural act!

The “Kabir Project” is an initiative which started in 2003 and focuses on the mystic poet Kabir who live in North India in the 15^th century.
His text are adjusted to today’s topics by using music, film, images and conversations. During the time, the project published various LPs, documentaries and got a great circle of supporters all over the country.

Curious?

Then you are lucky. You can get a closer look on this amazing project at the EC+10 pre-conference happening. On the 31th of October!

First of all, one of the documentaries: “ Koi Sunta Hai (Someone is listening): Journeys with Kumar and Kabir” made by Shabnam Virmani will be shown . The movie gives an insight in Kabir’s poetry , underlined by amazing pictures and music.
Afterwards you have the possibility to share your opinion and questions with the film maker.

The evening will completely round with the Sufi music of the folk singer Mooralala Marwada of the Meghval Community in Kutch, western Gujarat. He is musically supported by the movie maker Shabnam Virmani.

To get a little impression about their music check out the videos on the left side. For further information about the project we post their homepage link.
Enjoy listening and hope you are looking forward to it… We become more and more excited every day! And what about you??? :)

...20 days left

EC+10: Biodiversity Workshop

After the week started so nicely with piano music from Costa Rica, we are thinking about something dark, gloomy and even a bit scary for today…..

Let us take you on a little journey, a journey in the FUTURE.

It is the year 2150. The human population all over the world exploded over the past century, consequently the run for resources also did. In their urging need for energy, higher profits and never ending growth, people exploited all the fossil fuels that existed on our planet, polluted the rivers with industrial waste and cutted down all forests. Until not a single tree was left. Today, little children grow up without even knowing how a tree looks like, how it changes through the seasons. Its rich greenness in summer, the colourfulness in autumn, leaving all the leaves in winter, and the recurring wonder of the first new leave in spring. They don't know how it feels to go for a walk through the woods early in the morning, listening to the sounds of the forest, whisteling birds and whispering branches moving slightly in the breeze. Only a few, old people remember the beauty of nature, but nobody believes them when they get carried away in reminiscence.

Because their living space continuously diminished, one animal species after the other disappeared, until human beings were the only species left on earth.

Finally, the whole world is in the hands of humanity. No one disturbs the people in their daily business. No annoying flies, getting in the way of their after-lunch-nap in the afternoon. No mosquitos and rats, which convey diseases. No poisonous snakes, no lizards, no bears and tigers you have to be scared of.

Hang on a second….

…what do the people eat? Meat ran out years ago, vegetable plants and fruit trees died decades back. What else do we have? Chocolate? Made out of cocoa - a plant. Milk? Given by cows - an animal. Bread? Made of wheat - a plant. Hmm what is left? All the essential eatables ran out and became extinct.

That is the moment, at which our dystopia starts to crack down. But do you get the point? Just question yourself for a second:

Would you like to live in a world like that? Would you prefer to live alone on the planet?
We should start thinking about our actions, about environment, animals and the proceeding loss of flora and fauna.

One of the workshops at the Earth Charter+10 Conference will be about “Biodiversity”.

The term Biodiversity combines the huge variety in both, flora and fauna. To preserve this variety, we need stricter laws and enforcement, especially on an international level. Furthermore, education about biodiversity is a good basis to create awareness amongst the society.

...21 days left

EC+10, Cultural Programme on the 1st November: Manuel Obregon

Today is Monday. The beginning of the week. Everybody needs motivation on Mondays. Or am I wrong??

Here is your motivation for this week.
Let me introduce to you: MANUEL OBREGÓN.

He’s the first artist we want you to get to know; at the first day of the conference.

Manuel Obregón is a pianist, composer and producer from Costa Rica. At the young age of 7 he started playing piano teached by his grandmother.
Born in 1961, he grew up in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The music genre he focused on during the time is Jazz and
Flamingo. He studied in Switzerland and Spain as well as in Costa Rica itself. Till today he published more than 20 LPs and won a lot of prices. This year, at the beginning of 2010, he was elected as cultural minister of Costa Rica.

His main objective in his music is to spread the Central-American music and outline its relation to nature and environment.
Did you get the connection? That is why he comes to the EC+10 Conference. Isn’t it amazing? To be honest: we are really looking forward to it.

To get an idea what kind of music he is playing, check out the video bar on the left side.

...24 days left

EC+10: School Education and Teacher Training Workshop

Do you remember your school time?
Do you also remember lessons, during which only one person spoke non-stop, and that was the teacher?
Did you sometimes desperatly tried to find the connection between what you learnt and your daily life?
Do you want your children to experience the same?
We are sure about our answer: NO.

Luckily, humans are able to recognize mistakes. And learn from them. This is why a whole workshop on the conference deals with exactly that:  
School Education and Teacher Training.

Education, especially Environment Education, should not be a matter of concern for teachers and teacher trainers only; Education is a public responsibility and a public good. Since youth are the ones supposed to be educated, they definitely should have there bit to say about it. Everybody needs access to free education and nowadays, while environmental issues become more and more important to every aspect of life, it is essential to make ESD mandatory in schools. ESD is not limited to one subject; its aspects have to be considered from different points of view. Therefore it has to be taught in an interdisciplinary way.

It also is of high importance to interlink Sustainable Development with the every-day life of the pupils. SD is not simply a virtuous philosophy; it reaches even into the most ordinary corners.

What do you expect, when you read about this workshop, which are the questions raised in your head? What would you change about the system, if you were in charge?

...25 days left

Time passes by...

Times passes even quicker when you're looking forward to something. So: Time is running by. Only 25 days left until the conference starts and even just 23 days to the Pre-Conference events which begin at the 30th of October. 

Within the Countdown we will introduce you to all the workshop topics, famous speakers and cultural events. Furthermore we will share our point of view in various topics with you guys and we are curious what YOU have to say. 

So: Don't be shy, let us know what you think!

Namaste!

Do you need a platform where you can discuss your thoughts about all kind of environmental issues? Do you want to discuss your daily observations with various people? Do you want to share your point of view with others? Do you want to get active and change something?

Yes? This is your platform. We want to start a discussion about issues that affect everybody, especially us - the generation of tomorrow. This is our future and our planet.

In addition you will get the latest updates about the Earth Charter +10 Conference held from the 1^st to the 3^rd of November at the CEE (Centre for Environment Education) headquarter in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. 

You can’t participate in the conference? Don’t worry: you will be well-informed about everything what is going on through pictures, reports and videos!

First of all, we think we should introduce ourselves. We are Karin and Gundula. Oh my god, these names don’t sound Indian at all? Right. Good observation. We are Germans. Young Germans.

What are we doing? We're spending a one year internship here at CEE Ahmedabad. So we are young, you are young - and we are the ones who write for you. NAMASTE! Or how we would say in German: Yoyo was geht ab alter Schwede!!!