EARTH
CHARTER EVENTS DRAW THE CROWDS IN PORTO ALEGRE
A small team from the Earth Charter Initiative attended the World
Education and World Social Forums last week in Porto Alegre, Brazil,
where seminars featuring the Earth Charter were presented to overflowing
audiences. 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 and which was held in parallel to the Social
Forum.
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.