Jain Spirit 2004 03 No 18

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 13

NEWS 11
Parliament of the World's Religions, Barcelona, 2004
The fourth Parliament of the | activities of the Universal Forum World's Religions will take place of Cultures. in Barcelona, Spain, from 7-13
The Parliament of the World's July 2004. This parliament will also Religions is an international be one of the most significant events gathering where people of various of the Universal Forum of Cultures religious and spiritual backgrounds in Barcelona with the support of gather for inter-religious encounter, UNESCO. The 2004 Parliament dialogue and creative engagement registration badge will also provide with the critical issues facing our access to a wide range of
world. An anticipated 10,000 performances, exhibits and other religious and spiritual leaders, .......
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educators and performers from over 85 countries are expected to attend the 2004 Parliament in Barcelona. The event aims to inspire, challenge and energise people across the world, who are committed to peace, social justice and the international interfaith movement.
For more information on the Parliament
and its themes, visit www.cpwr.org .......
California: Students 'Green' curriculum
Students at five University of California campuses - Berkeley, Davis, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara - are organising their own educational project to promote ecological awareness. They are disillusioned with the short-term thinking that characterises much of modern living, and which they see reflected in the dominant educational culture.
The Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) will bring worldrenowned ecological thinkers, writers and campaigners to the five campuses in spring 2004. Inspired by the integrated holistic thinking taught at Schumacher College in Devon, England, and exemplified by the life work of its programme director, Satish Kumar (pictured left), a former Jain monk, the classes will allow students to engage speakers ranging from scientists Fritjof Capra and Vandana Shiva to social activists Starhawk and Marcela Olivera.
The most committed students will earn full credit by forming project teams to research, write and present reports designed to make sustainable living a reality within their campuses and immediate communities. Others wanting an introduction to the latest thinking of the invited green visionaries may earn partial credit by attending class sessions and writing a personal response.
Michael J. Cox, ESLP student coordinator, helped organise the project after attending symposia presented by Satish Kumar's Santa Barbara-based Institute of Reverential Ecology, designed to help participants connect the spiritual, social and environmental dimensions of human experience. "Most higher education encourage young people to separate these three worlds, and in so doing the possibility of sustainable living is made impossible," said Mr. Cox, aged 21. "We must reverse this trend and inspire the young to see the world holistically, as one piece," he said. Especially important, Cox maintained, is the inculcation of an ethic of self-sacrifice in the interests of helping the planet's poorest people and its most exploited species. He believes that ecological thinking should inspire us to "universalise the notion of 'identity to include all forms of life, present and future."
This comes at a time of renewed interest in green issues throughout California. In December's San Francisco mayoral election, Green candidate Matt Gonzalez fell just short of beating Democrat Gavin Newsom, making the Greens a serious contender for power. ESLP class schedules and syllabi will be posted at http://www.ucssc.org/es/es.htm
Jan Education International 2010_03