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GPIW & DDMBA gathers thirty emerging youth ecologists from Latin America, Caribbean and North America from January 18 to 23, 2017 in Costa Rica, home of The Earth Charter International and the University for Peace. The gathering was sponsored by the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association (DDMBA), with the Earth Charter International (ECI) joining as a co-partner. This program was the second regional dialogue for the Inner Dimensions of Climate Change retreat series hosted by GPIW & DDMBA.
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The opening day of the program was coordinated by the
Earth Charter International office at the UPEACE campus in Ciudad Colon in San Jose. The ECI Youth Program Coordinator led participants in interactive activities to demonstrate the foundation pillars of the Earth Charter, a global declaration that was created with input from over one million people on the fundamental values and principles for a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. The Earth Charter parallels the values expressed in the Inner Dimensions of Climate Change program, and helped to introduce the five day dialogue focused on the regional and local responses to climate and environmental related problems in the Americas, as well as small island states in the Caribbean.
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While several topics were addressed during the discussion days, many of the young adults quickly identified a “culture of domination” as a central underlying factor in environmental degradation. A representative for a consumer watch group in the USA shared that in North America a complex political and economic system, in which greenwashing or lobbying is prevalent, often over represents a specific interest group. As a result, industries like the American meat and dairy sector are not held accountable for unregulated high yield cattle production techniques with disastrous implications for the environment, animal and human population. To date, the natural water sources in states like Minnesota have been corrupted and contaminated due to factory farming of cattle.
Others spoke to the dominant influence of family oligarchies throughout Latin America, and in some cases monarchies that still have land holdings in nations like Jamaica. It was stated that the ruling elite often invite foreign investors to utilize vast amounts of national lands to boost trade opportunities, valuing profit over ecological integrity. Participants shared that big agriculture and the proliferation of monocultures, like palm trees, are making a stronger appearance in the Latin America region, though they are known to eradicate plant diversity, increase pesticide use, shift the natural landscape and destabilize the local ecology.
Thematic discussions examined more closely personal relationships to the environment and the importance of educating around traditional ecological values. A delegate representing the Northwest Indian College spoke on efforts to revitalize native plant populations in his area of Washington state in the USA, which had been destroyed during a new college development project. Both the youth discussants and program mentors highlighted that these types of environmental mistakes among a local population are often the result of the vestiges of a colonial mindset, where exploitation of land and resources for personal gain is predominant.
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Though the group was diverse in backgrounds, many were in agreement that reviving and strengthening indigenous cultural practices that support a balanced relationship between humanity and the Earth as a living being or force is essential today. Participants from the Mayan and Quechua indigenous communities shared personal stories that highlighted the transformative impact of embodying their spiritual and cultural heritage; both women confidently offered that their traditions serve as a guide to address life’s inner and outer challenges. One delegate spoke about her community efforts to reawaken the use of ancestral wisdom among a new generation of young leaders. Her current work involves rebuilding a mindset of community trust, which had been repressed for a generation due to the country’s civil war. Her organization currently gathers youth in Guatemala to share cultural history and engage in activities that support awareness of heritage.
Further examining the “inner dimensions” of climate change, a special group exercise was offered based on ‘The Work that Reconnects’ by preeminent ecologist, Joanna Macy. The group paired into partner diads for a trust building exercise that allows the environment/nature to mirror your unique qualities. The co-moderator of this session offered that “…effective action/advocacy often begins first with going silent and feeling the place we want to heal.”
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Guided conversations with mentors from the GPIW network were led by Venerable Chang Ji, Jana Long, Dena Merriam, Mirabai Starr, and Hanne Marstrand Strong. Each shared wisdom from their spiritual practices and personal experiences on ways to deepen a connection to nature. The
Earth Charter International described mentors Sraddhalu Ranade from India and Tiokasin Ghosthorse from the Lakota Nation in North America as brining in systemic and biocentric perspectives to deconstruct colonial, oppressive, and anthropocentric paradigms and language to shift, expand, and deepen the conversations. In one example, Tiokasin shared that he considers the famous statement ¨I think, therefore I am¨ is to be lost. He and his tribe instead live by “I thank, therefore I am—We thank, therefore we are.¨ He begins each day giving thanks to water, a word which in his native language of Lakota roughly translates to ¨the life energy that flows between us.”
The young adults in the group comprised environmental leaders and lobbyists, rural and urban farmers, performance artists, academics, UN negotiators, wildlife habitat experts, and administrators at the government level for environmental and education ministries. The nations represented at the gathering: Eastern and Central Canada, all major regions of the USA, the Caribbean (Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago), as well as Latin America (Argentina Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, and Venezuela).
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The formal program included shared experiences in nature, which involved a planting ceremony under a great tree to offer and cultivate gratitude to Mother Nature. Other activities included a learning tour of the Puerta A La Vida organic farm in Puntarenas, sleeping under the stars in eco village tents, a visit to a local river nestled in the forest of San Mateo in Orotina, singing and storytelling by the fire, outdoor morning yoga and self-guided meditation. Surrounded by wildlife, the discussions held outdoors facilitated group bonding and encouraged active sharing and listening from the “mind of the heart” throughout the five days.
The opening and closing was framed by a circle activity on the power of interconnection. Each participant was asked to bring to Costa Rica an item that could symbolize the work s/he is doing. On the opening day, everyone shared the story of their object and then placed it in the center of the conversation circle. While some items were personal, others reflected nature’s unique gifts, like the special larimar mineral found only in Barahona—on the island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Together, the assorted items symbolized the collective presence and intention of the group. At the program closing, a participant and master story teller from Mexico invited everyone to select a new object that they felt connected to and explain why. This experience unfolded in new learnings, auspicious connections and communicated the group’s deep resonance for the protection of the Earth.
For more photos of the Costa Rica program,
click here.
For information and photos on the first gathering for the Africa region,
click here.
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