Earth Charter Podcast: Turning Conscience Into Action

In this interview, Jeremy Lent starts by offering an overview of some key ideas he articulates in his book “The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe.” He emphasizes the importance of generating an alternative worldview based on the understanding of our deep interconnection, and the notion of flourishing, particularly flourishing as an integrated organism. On Ecological Civilization, he invites us to visualize how the world could look like if we changed the dominant underlying operating system of our current civilization from one of extraction and exploitation to one that seeks to set the conditions for all beings to flourish on a regenerative Earth. This means envisioning not just changing one aspect, but everything. He stresses that in order to get on the path to an ecological civilization, we can look at life itself and ecosystems and apply that learning to our human societies, such as by cooperating and working together for mutual benefit. Lent makes the point that deep transformation starts with the recognition that our own ways of thinking need to be questioned and changed.

Almost thirty years after the end of apartheid, Black South Africans still fight for African liberation from colonial narratives. While previous generations struggled to end apartheid, younger generations now face the task of reimagining themselves, their communities, and the world. Mamphela Ramphele and Nolita Mvunelo discuss the need for intergenerational collaboration to combine the wisdom of older generations with the energy of younger ones. The need for social equity ties into the idea of ecological civilizations as an alternative to our current society. Ramphele and Mvunelo emphasize the need to consider freedom for all life, not just humans and see the Earth Charter as an opportunity to help build a new narrative for ecological civilizations.

Professor Nicholas Robinson first explains the history of environmental law and the role of the IUCN in its development. He then continues to discuss the importance of the Earth Charter, its connection to environmental law, and its current relevance. Dr. Robinson believes that the Earth Charter is unique because of the diversity and number of people involved in its drafting. This resulted in a consensus on shared principles and ethics accepted by people all over the world. Robinson sees the Earth Charter as a beacon amidst the current anxiety about the environment and believes that it provides a framework to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, Dr. Robinson discusses the concept of ecological civilizations and how it could be the answer to capitalism. 

Dr. Vandana Shiva shares key ideas from her book Earth Democracy and discusses the need to establish an Earth Democracy where we acknowledge that we are all part of the Earth, and that everything, including trees and rivers, have a right to exist. She connects this to the idea of Ecological Civilizations, democracies based on ecological oneness. These stand in opposition to today’s western civilizations that separate humans from nature and each other.

Shiva also talks about her work fighting industrial agriculture and promoting seed sovereignty. When companies like Monsanto began patenting seeds and making farmers dependent on them, she began to promote seed sovereignty and native seeds. She believes seeds are the embodiment of life and should not be treated as inventions or commodities, but rather as a commons. Through her work she has found that native seeds promote biodiversity and are more nutritious and outperform industrial seeds. If we work with the Earth and replace what we take, using organic practices, she believes we can meet our food needs, reverse climate change, and regenerate biodiversity.

Tu Weiming, one of the most influential Confucian thinkers of the 20th and 21st centuries, contributed to the drafting process of the Earth Charter bringing Confucian thoughts of the importance of interconnectedness and community into its principles. In this conversation he talks about Confucianism, how it can apply to our current societal and environmental challenges, and how it relates to the Earth Charter. 

He also discusses the importance of self-cultivation or “learning to be human” within Confucianism. He emphasizes that the purpose of this it not to attain inner happiness or develop individualism. Rather, the emphasis is on the communal act and becoming part of a network of relationships in four dimensions, the self, community, Earth, and heaven. 

Dr. Bourn shares some key ideas he addressed in his latest book and discusses education’s role in society and social change, particularly the purpose of higher education. Given that it can be difficult to differentiate between themes like education for sustainable development, global citizenship, and peace education, Bourn advocates for understanding the context and how the people using these terms define them. Dr. Bourn believes that higher education educators and administrators need to take the lead to create a pedagogy of hope to address the anger and anxiety students feel about environmental issues. Rather than viewing key topics like sustainability and decolonization simply as items to check off on a to-do list, Dr. Bourn believes higher education administrators should focus on creating spaces for dialogue about them. While there are no quick fixes or ready-made toolkits to remedy these issues, the Earth Charter can be used as an ethical framework to provide guidance. 

Carol Anne Hilton is the founder of the Indigenomics Institute and the Global Center of Indigenomics and author of Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economics Table. Her work centers on rebuilding and strengthening Indigenous economies to combat Canada’s history of oppression against them. In her work, Hilton addresses the economic impacts of this history by shaping a new space around Indigenous economics using traditional Indigenous ideas of conservation, sustainability, and well-being, concepts that are closely connected to the Earth Charter.

In the episode, author, social scientist, and sustainability practitioner, Thomas Legrand speaks with Mirian Vilela about his new book, The Politics of Being, and his work with the UNDP Conscious Food Systems Alliance. Legrand believes that we must move away from a development model based on economic growth and instead to one that ties directly into the Earth Charter’s idea of “being more, not having more,” an idea he sees as very important but has of yet been mostly ignored. He sees an answer to this in reorganizing our society and politics to focus on helping individuals realize fulfillment through wellbeing, rather than emphasizing competition, status, wealth, and consumption.

Legrand discusses some concrete examples of achieving this shift toward an economy of being in which everyone’s basic needs are met. He proposes policies that emphasize secure attachment between parents and children by supporting childcare and parental leave. He also sees providing a universal basic income and healthcare as a way to allow people more time to achieve wellbeing and fulfillment through means other than work. He also emphasizes the importance of the rights of nature, restorative justice, moving from a global economy to local economies, and the need for all of these ideas to be incorporated into the education system and national policies. 

En esta entrevista Edgar Gutierrez, incluye una reflexión sobre el papel de la Asamblea Ambiental de Naciones Unidas, la UNEA por sus siglas en inglés, creada en 2012, de brindar un sistema más eficaz de gobernanza ambiental internacional. Comenta su experiencia, como presidente de UNEA en dos periodos, en hacer que este ente tuviera un papel político, además de técnico. Y comparte algunas anécdotas vividas, en el proceso de negociación para desarrollar la primera declaración política de la UNEA aprobada en UNEA 3 en 2017. Destaca lo especial de la UNEA en cuanto a brindar la participación de actores no gubernamentales en su proceso. Edgar comenta uno de sus desafíos como ministro en disminuir el algo uso de combustibles fósiles en Costa Rica dado la flota vehicular. Termina resaltando le importancia de asegurar enfoques holísticos y no seguir abordando desafíos de manera fragmentada dando el ejemplo de la problemática de seguridad alimentaria y gestión sostenible de suelos en el país y la necesidad de construir puentes entre la agenda de conservación, de cambio climático, de agua...

In this episode, Dr. Michelle Maloney discusses the need for systems change toward an Earth-centered culture where people re-consider their relationship to the Earth and their place within it. She sees Earth Jurisprudence and Earth Law as effective tools to make this cultural shift and to protect the environment from human destruction. In this conversation she reflects on the shift that needs to take place towards Earth Law and Rights of Nature, and on what it means: giving nature legal rights in the same way that humans have legal rights so that it must be legally protected. She shares the examples of both Ecuador and Bolivia that have recognized the Rights of Nature in their constitution, and on a smaller scale, rights can be given to individual parts of an ecosystem like a river or forest. She comments on the work of The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), a global organization dedicated to the universal adoption and implementation of legal protection for the Rights of Nature, and on how she sees the relationship between law, economics, education, and ethics. Towards the end of this conversation, Dr. Maloney shares that she sees the Earth Charter as an important tool to help people envision an Earth-centered culture.

In this episode, Dr. Amr Abdalla, professor emeritus and former vice-rector at the University for Peace, talks with Mirian Vilela about his 25 years of experience teaching peace and conflict resolution. He discusses the importance of participatory, interactive approaches when teaching peace and conflict resolution, and how the University for Peace created a space to develop this. To him, the connections between education for global citizenship, peace, and sustainable development are clear: giving people the tools for peace promotes development and prevents violent conflict. While there will always be conflict, education is crucial to creating long-term peaceful solutions and to prevent violence. Amr believes that learning critical thinking skills is key to creating lasting peace. This involves a 360-degree approach that helps the learner to deconstruct assumptions and embrace universal values.  He talks about the importance of helping people learn how to deal with conflict to avoid violence. In reflecting about changes in education and cultural differences, he relates an anecdote from his son’s Kindergarten show-and-tell that made him confront the conventional education style that he grew up with and tells an example of when a student made him think differently about violence.

In this episode, Nika Salvetti reflects on the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh and its impact on the garment industry. When the Rana Plaza building collapsed in 2013, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring another 2,500, it served as the tipping point for reforms in the garment industry. The tragedy spawned not only safety reforms but environmental ones as well, as the clothing industry is one of the most polluting. Today, garment factories in Bangladesh are subject to regular safety inspections, and companies are required to treat their wastewater so that chemicals do not pollute the soil and water. Salvetti also discusses the factors that motivate businesses to move towards socially and environmentally responsible practices. Finally, she recommends steps that consumers can take to encourage businesses to be more socially and environmentally responsible.

En este podcast, Laura Chinchilla ofrece un análisis sobre los desafíos y el deterioro de la democracia y la polarización en América Latina.  Nos habla de la importancia de luchar por mantener los derechos civiles, de la transparencia y del liderazgo ético. Nos invita a considerar que hay que mantenerse firme en contra del populismo y la corrupción y trabajar en conjunto por el bien común, así como para mejorar el acceso a la justicia y garantizar la participación inclusiva en las discusiones políticas.

In this podcast, Rolf Winters shares some of his experience and learning from a five years journey with this family seeking to learn from indigenous people’s beliefs and values. This experience, visiting indigenous communities in different regions of the world, led to the development of the Down to Earth film which has the purpose to share the knowledge and worldviews of Indigenous leaders. “The film invites us to see the world through the eyes of the Earth Keepers. It takes us on an inner journey, re-connecting us with the source and the mutual path we are walking.” For Rolf, there is so much we could learn from the Indigenous people’s worldviews and ways of being, he indicates, a true leader is someone who “has the ability to create an energy field so that others can flourish”. Rolf dives deep into his family life, his business background and how his perspectives on life and death greatly changed from these experiences. This is an interesting and thoughtful podcast episode worth listening to!

“We are interconnected with nature, and with each other. What we do to the planet and its living creatures, we do to ourselves.” This is the phrase that opens this thoughtful and interesting podcast episode with Severn Cullis-Suzuki. She talks about intergenerational justice and its relation to climate change, her experience as part of the drafting commission of the Earth Charter, and her new role as Executive Director of the David Suzuki Foundation. She also looks back to the summit in Rio in 1992 and delivers a hopeful message of the hits (and misses) she has seen since then.

Tiokasin Ghosthorse begins this podcast by painting a picture of his childhood and experiences as an indigenous person growing up in the United States and being forced to ignore his own culture. He talks about how western education is very binary and restrictive, whereas non-western education (for lack of a better word) allows one to make choices and actually grow. He also mentions how indigenous cosmovision and spirituality can help us address the current challenges humanity faces, especially in regards to education and climate change. He help us see that Earth is always changing and moving…. but, we, the humans are the ones who need to change with the Earth, and this may only happen if we live with the Earth and on her rhythm and not on Earth. Tiokasin creates an insightful, thought-provoking atmosphere in this extremely interesting podcast interview.

In this episode Daniella Tilbury talks about her expertise and experience working in sustainable development and the importance of Education for Sustainable Development to be implemented in Higher Education. She shares various examples and thoughtful insights into the current state and perception of the role of higher education and the necessity to reframe these perspectives. She finally goes on to make direct connections with how the Earth Charter can be used in higher education and in ESD.

In this episode Bob Jickling begins by painting a portrait of Yukon, Canada, and his experience living there and connecting with nature and his inner self. He then goes on to talk about his views of environmental ethics, and how he has made efforts to bring this topic into education with his students. He also shares some insights from the books he has written, co-authored or co-edited, the more recent one about environmental ethics, and makes connections with his findings and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This conversation with Bob delves into an insightful representation of our humanity, our relationship with nature, and the ethics behind it.

In this episode, Namrata Sharma discusses the existing connections between Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCE). She talks about her work examining the underlying paradigms and perspectives of GCE and ESD, and how she situates her studies within the wide-ranging scholarship that challenges the overall western-view of GCE. She also mentions the books that she has written where she proposes value-creating GCE as a pedagogical approach that she has developed from a study of less widely known perspectives, especially focusing on important contributions that come from eastern thinkers. Sharma illustrates these ideas with the example of Soka University, an institution which she believes successfully fosters global citizens. Finally, she makes connections between GCE and The Earth Charter, and how this document is helpful and complimentary to creating global citizens through ESD.

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Dr. Hopkins shares his experience in drafting Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 towards the 1992 Rio Summit. He shares a unique story, which reveals the significance of education towards a sustainable future. Such significance is renewed and exemplified in SDG4, which constitutes a crucial means of implementing all sixteen other goals. Mr. Hopkins points out that indigenous worldviews should not be neglected. Instead, we should engage them, learn about them, and find appropriate ways to incorporate them for quality education. Since education does not serve a single purpose, various “educations” are needed. Values and ethics that distinguish the human civilization – the core element in the common journey of Mr. Hopkins and the Earth Charter – should be passed on through education and for generations to live by.

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David Orr holds that the challenge for all educators is to bring young people to become aware of and appreciate the natural world so that they can discipline their lives to conform with how the world works as a natural system. We need to see ourselves as having a dual citizenship in our nature as well as our political system. Dr. Orr urges educators to adapt all curricula to sustainability. In turn, he has adapted the architecture of education to the pedagogy or learning of environmental sustainability. He stressed that sustainability is not just to be seen as an abstraction, but needs to be built into the place in which students learn about sustainability. Dr. Orr reviews offers additional advice based on the books he has written and edited. To conclude, Dr. Orr speaks about the Earth Charter, which he considers to be “the seminal document of our times”.

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Dr. Down shares her career development as an educator, and describes her most impactful experience that made her reorient her work towards education for sustainable development (ESD). Dr. Down shares that ESD aims to have the students understand the concept of sustainable development, see the possibility of a sustainable society, be aware of the sustainability issues within and outside their own communities, ask questions, and take action towards sustainability. It does so considering the importance of critical thinking and project-based learning. Dr. Down asserts that ESD should not only be infused to every discipline, but cross-discipline infusion is also necessary, thus breaking the silos. With regards to “Envisioning the Futures of Education,” Dr. Down calls for a stronger link to communities, and more emphasis on faith, hope and values.

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Dr. McKeown-Ice has been one of the pioneers in education for sustainable development (ESD), and her understanding of ESD has evolved with the times. In today’s world, ESD has become part of educating for a more uncertain future; it includes educating for agency, adaptive competence and compassionate systems. The demonstration of ESD producing outcomes that characterise quality education, plus the examples and tools offered by Dr. McKeown-Ice, shall encourage teachers of any discipline to incorporate sustainability to their own teaching. What is also inspiring, and admirable, is how Dr. McKeown-Ice applies the Earth Charter in education on both macro and micro levels. Envisioning the future of education, she calls for attention to contextual variability, technological impact, and compassionate systems thinking.

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Dr. Hathaway believes that the major challenges currently faced by humanity come down to the crisis of relationships, which refers to how individuals are related to other human beings, other species, and the planet. Far too often, we perceive the world as an object for our personal use, whereas our happiness lies in interconnectivity. Dr. Hathaway’s elaboration on ecological perception provides guidance for us to connect with nature through experience. The key factors include gratitude, awe, attention, imagination, and interaction. On ethics, Dr. Hathaway points out that with respect and care at its core, the Earth Charter has, as much as a document can, communicated both the experience of the world and what ethics means in practical terms.

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To Dr. Corcoran, the Earth Charter represents a fountain of thoughtful, informed hope. The idea of “living the Earth Charter” in the university where he works has yielded experimental and experiential programmes including the Colloquium, the Earth Charter Meal, and Blessing with the Food. With regard to the book Intergenerational Learning and Transformative Leadership for Sustainable Futures, Dr. Corcoran recalls how he was inspired by the Earth Charter to lift up young scholars, especially those that are underrepresented in English scholarship and to focus on intergenerational solidarity and collaboration as a living example of intergeneration equity. He shares many stories to illustrate how education, guided by the Earth Charter, is pivotal in the larger cultural shift towards sustainability. Dr. Corcoran delivers a heart-warming Earth Charter benediction to conclude this episode.

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Dr. Crowell shares inspiring stories and projects behind a number of his publications. On systems thinking, he not only stresses on the interconnection reflected in the content of teaching and learning, but also draws attention to the interaction in the classroom, the connection among teachers, and the dynamics in the school. Seeing emergence as part of systems thinking, Dr. Crowell gives a lucid introduction to the process in emergent teaching. As for transformative learning, he sums up the essential aspects as participation, engagement, choice, and sharing. Dr. Crowell believes that sustainability should be the focus of education endeavours, and that the introduction of the Earth Charter to classrooms should go beyond reading and discussion. Educators should guide students to take the Earth Charter to their heart, their community, and ultimately, the world.

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In this episode, Dr. Saraph shares his thought-provoking ideas on systems thinking and the interdependence of all parts in a system. Many decision-makers fail to recognize the interdependence and see the whole, as they focus on the parts or just the symptoms and become addicted to the three key tools, which only cover up the symptoms: technology, markets, and politics. The treatment of such addictions centers on systems literacy, which can be developed even from primary and secondary education. To be an individual systems thinker, Dr. Saraph’s advice is: be humble and work together with other parts of the systems in making the world a beautiful place.

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Dr. Lambooy explains how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter are complementary in three categories, and how these two documents provide the normative, ethical framework for every individual and group to play its part in overcoming the world’s fundamental challenges. Regarding the business sector, the Earth Charter in particular, can help shape the vision of companies large or small, so that they can contribute more towards sustainable development. In addition, the Earth Charter can be used to determine whether a business that claims to be a social enterprise truly serves a social purpose. Professor Lambooy also shares a story about how the Earth Charter was instrumental in addressing a trade conflict between The Netherlands and India, to find common ground and reach a resolution with lasting, positive outcomes.

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Confused by the competition culture in his early years, Mr. Motomura  drew inspiration from a poem and came to realise that the best  entrepreneurs are those who search for the common good. Mr. Motomura  considers opposite of common good to be selfishness and individualism,  and that these qualities have evolved to be collective egotism nowadays,  generating crises. The Earth Charter, in Mr. Motomura’s opinion,  defines what the common good is. He stresses the importance to convey  the essence of the Earth Charter in participatory dialogues and allow  people to adapt the essence to their local contexts rather than focus on  the letter (meaning the detailed of words). On leadership, Mr. Motomura  talks about being conscious about the reality in which society operates  today. Since systemic problems require systemic solutions, leaders are  advised to be courageous, to elicit participation of enlightened  citizens for the collective creativity, and be “three-fold strategic” in  the collective movement towards the common good.

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What amazes Dr. Brown, who has a diverse background in education, law, ethics, science, and engineering, is how ethical issues have been largely ignored by countries, neglected in higher education, and missed by the public and even the environmental community. He believes that climate change, more than any other environmental problem, demands governments to see it and respond to it as an ethical matter. Whereas two critical principles have been agreed upon in international agreements, the precautionary principle and the no-harm principle, scientific uncertainty has been used as an excuse for inaction. Dr. Brown reveals more details on the disinformation campaign and the situation in the United States. He also gives suggestions on the way forward with the Earth Charter.

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Prue Taylor and Dr. Klaus Bosselmann recall how their concerns over the existing laws and systems led to their participation and collaboration in the drafting of the Earth Charter. On the document’s relevance nowadays, Ms. Taylor draws attention to the global citizenship movement and also explains how the Earth Charter is a tool to hold ourselves to account and to continue the needed ongoing dialogues on how to care and protect the Earth. Dr. Bosselmann stresses on the Earth Charter’s ongoing importance, especially to informing and influencing decision making. Additionally, he expresses his opinion on how the Earth Charter is neither a hard law nor a soft law.
Additionally, Ms. Taylor and Dr. Bosselmann share their understandings of ecological integrity and elaborate on key concepts such as “the commons” and “trusteeships,” and relevant arguments in their publications. They conclude with a discussion on humanity’s major challenge, which Dr. Bosselmann believes is fear, and Ms. Taylor identifies as disturbed and fractured human-Earth relationships.

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Dr. Korten recounts how he learned about poverty and awoke to nature  while he was on track to become a businessperson. His own mindset  experienced another sudden shift with an encounter on a plane. Over the  years, Dr. Korten has developed the concepts of earth community,  ecological civilization, phantom wealth and more. It is his strong  belief that human beings are living beings, rather than financial  beings, and we depend on a living earth. Moving past our current crisis  requires a fundamental reframing of our understanding of who we are, and  a deep institutional transformation. Critical of the UN SDGs, Dr.  Korten regards the Earth Charter as the best overview statement that  establishes the common ground towards a viable human future.

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Mr. Speth explains how the bad habits of thought including individualism, materialism, consumerism, and tribalism do not make sense today, and a new consciousness is required. Mr. Speth emphasized that for a sustainable future, we need a stable or smaller world population, the eradication of mass poverty, environmentally benign technologies, environmentally honest prices, sustainable consumption, knowledge and learning, good governance, and the transition of culture and consciousness. Mr. Speth also gives thought to the role of education, religion, social movement, and role models. While recognizing the limitations of lawyers and scientists, he believes that what we need is not more analysis, but a spiritual awakening to a new consciousness, and so we should bring on the preachers, poets, psychologists, writers, artists, and so forth to strike the chords of our shared humanity.