Club of Rome and ARC ValuesQuest

Club of Rome and ARC ValuesQuest

The Club of Rome and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) organised a project on "ValuesQuest: the search for values which will make a world of difference" (see http://www.arcworld.org/downloads/ValuesQuest-Discussion-Paper.pdf). After addressing the root causes of world problems for over 40 years at a broad systemic, holistic and long-term level, the Club of Rome has recognized that values are the main drivers behind societal instruments like economy, education and governance, and that present values are guiding the course of society in the wrong direction. ValuesQuest aimed to explore the values needed for a more humane and just society, attuned to the needs of others and to the needs of the planet. It addressed the origins of values, and the role of narrative and of stories in transmitting values, providing a philosophical and historical underpinning to the current debate on values. It opened to the creative arts world and the worlds of spirituality and faith, and created a partnership with the World Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation.

ARC

The Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC http://www.arcworld.org/), with which the Bahá'í International Community has collaborated since its founding, has also just been requested by the United Nations to take the lead in developing a values and cultural dimension to the post-2015 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN hopes that such partnerships will ensure some continuity in action regardless of the decisions that governments may (or may not) take at the UN in 2015.