Leaves 6(2) August 2004

"Consider the world of created beings, how varied and diverse they are in species yet with one sole origin. All the differences that appear are those of outward form...
Briefly, it is not only their fellow human beings that the beloved of God must treat with mercy and compassion, rather they must show forth the utmost loving-kindness to every living creature...
The feelings are one and the same whether ye inflict pain on man or beast"

-'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 158-159

Dear readers,

This is a mini version of the newsletter just to get out the announcement for three upcoming IEF related events, primarily our 8th Annual Conference in Greece 15-17 October. The invitation is very late but the Board still hopes that members from Europe will be able to join us, and bring their friends and colleagues. The other two events will take part in North America, see article by Peter Adriance below. Two important things that have happened in the last months in the IEF, but which have not been written up in reports yet, are the submission of our application to become accredited with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and the participation of four member strong delegation in the 12th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in April. Hopefully we will have several reports on the latter in the next newsletter.

Please feel more than welcome to submit material, news and articles for our newsletter.

- Sylvia Karlsson (for the LEAVES team)

The 1992 Earth Summit marked the beginning of an unprecedented effort to understand and work toward achieving 'sustainable development' -- addressing human needs holistically by integrating environmental, economic and social goals. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, held in Johannesburg in 2002) re-emphasized the vital role of education -- not only in building awareness of the need for sustainable development, but in fostering the necessary changes to bring it about at all levels. Toward that end, beginning in 2005, the UN will launch the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). The UN has appointed UNESCO as its Lead Agency for planning the Decade. Their goal is to build a broad sense of ownership at all levels, global, regional, national and local/community, for the goals of the Decade and to engage all possible partners (including governments, NGOs, civil society, private sector) in the effort.

This conference explores how education, particularly within the framework of the DESD can encourage the cultivation of sustainable lifestyles, the concept which embodies so many of the behavioural changes which individuals and communities need to embrace to realise sustainable development. Some of the themes that will be explored are:

Defining and measuring sustainable lifestyles

Indicators of sustainable lifestyles (How do we know and measure we are living sustainably).

The dimensions of sustainable lifestyles:

Environmental sustainability,criteria for lifestyle changes (WEHAB: water, energy/transport,health/sport, agriculture/food, biodiversity, housing/urbanization);sustainable production and consumption patterns

Social sustainability (family,community, nation, cultural diversity, security);

Economical sustainability (poverty and overdevelopment: reducing extremes; beyond the business case;competitive edge in social/environmental responsibility);

The role of values, knowledge and education for sustainable living

moral leadership, the role of ethics, values and religion
the role of scientists
the role of education by NGOs, schools and universities

The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

Background and plans
Regional and national initiatives within the DESD framework

To obtain a registration form, please contact the conference organising team c/o Ms. Yasmina Mata, email: yasmi19 @ yahoo.es

A registration fee of 10 EUR (European Euros) will be charged upon arrival to cover materials. A good quality hotel with very reasonable prices has been identified, within 20 minutes walk from the venue. The price for a single room is 33 EUR per person and night. Participants have to make their own hotel reservations at Hotel Olympic. Information of how to make the hotel reservations will be given upon registration.

There is a growing sense of anticipation and excitement in many sectors with the approach of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The Decade has the potential to help the world turn the corner toward a more sustainable future.

For many IEF members, interest in the Decade actually began last year at the 7th Annual Conference in Orlando, where the focus was on fostering a Bahá'í approach to education for sustainable development. The Decade helped set the global context and provide a sense of urgency. The program was designed to support efforts by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the U.S. and Canada to encourage learning for sustainable development, and it was inspired to a large extent by the coming Decade.

The Decade is an opportunity to leverage efforts already underway and inspire new ones. By providing opportunities to link with others, it can help shorten the learning curve for many and enhance the impact of planned initiatives. Note that the Decade's title emphasizes education 'for' sustainable development, not just 'about' it. The aim is not only to raise awareness, but to change behavior and help bring about sustainable development through education at all levels.

UNESCO, the lead UN agency for the Decade, has encouraged a partnership approach. With that in mind, a number of organizations, including the U.S. NSA, recently joined together to found the U.S. Partnership for the Decade. The Partnership is acting as a community-builder, convener, catalyst and communicator to promote the Decade in the U.S. It is facilitating the collective involvement of specific interest groups - like higher education and K-12 professionals, faith communities, government agencies, businesses, and "living institutions" (such as zoos, acquariums and nature centers); it has established a website www.uspartnership.organd is developing other tools to make resources available and to link potential partners for the Decade. Similar efforts are now (or soon will be) underway in other countries.

In April, during the UN Commission on Sustainable Development meetings in New York, the IEF and the U.S. Partnership were among 25 co-sponsors of a reception and networking session for the Decade, hosted by the Bahá'í International Community and four other organizations. The reception attracted close to 100 participants eager to meet and exchange ideas with others preparing for the Decade. During a brief program, Malika Ladjali of UNESCO spoke of the planning underway, but emphasized that the success of the Decade will depend upon groups, like those in attendance, taking initiatives to promote education for sustainable development around the world.

IEF members are invited to take part in two events later this year in advance of the official launch of the Decade in addition to the IEF Annual conference in Greece (see above). First, at the Association for Bahá'í Studies conference, in Calgary, Alberta on September 3rd, the Ecology and Agriculture Special Interest Group will hold an afternoon workshop on Education for Sustainable Development, facilitated by Peter Adriance and John Steere. Then in Orlando, Florida, December 15-16, during the pre-conference seminar of the Bahá'í Conference on Social and Economic Development for the Americas, IEF is teaming up with EDSED, a group of Bahá'í educators from around the world, to co-sponsor a special seminar building on last year's IEF conference, but with a focus on educators. See the IEF website (www.bcca.org/ief) for more details on both events.

All this before the Decade even gets started! Such efforts, multiplied during the Decade, hold promise to help bring about sustainable development initiatives in all sectors. If the Decade lives up to expectations, education should prove to be a key means for fostering sustainable development worldwide.