Large, tough tasks tend to make people pause, stall, procrastinate.
Imagine heeding the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development when, in 1987, it called for a new charter that would set forth fundamental principles for sustainable global development. And when the charter is left unfinished at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, picture Maurice Strong, the chairman of the Earth Council, and Mikhail Gorbachev, president of Green Cross International, launching a new Earth Charter initiative.
Now think of something even bolder happening: thousands of people and hundreds of organizations, representing diverse cultures and sectors of society from every region of the world, shaping the Earth Charter in congress with experts on civil society, business, government, international law, contemporary science, philosophy and religion.
The result is a document outlining principles that establish a sound ethical foundation for our emerging global society.
It's plainly stated, sound and doable. Yet it's the kind of thing that would be so daunting to undertake, it's amazing it got drafted on a grassroots level. And though implementing it will be, in fact, the hard part, the groundwork has been laid, allowing people to easily take part in its initiatives.
To promote the dissemination and endorsement of the Earth Charter locally, Bay area supporters hold their third annual Earth Charter Community Summit in conjunction with those being held in 30 cities across the country.
The event takes place at Hillsborough Community College-Dale Mabry Campus, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 11. Highlights include nine workshops followed by a "wine-down" party featuring live music by Rocksteady@8.
Former Tampa mayoral candidate Frank Sanchez and Mark Anielski, a professor at the University of Alberta School of Business, present the main workshop, Creating an Earth Charter Town, on the indicators (human, social, natural and financial capital) used to measure the well-being of a community.
Elizabeth Ferraro, professor at St. Thomas University in South Florida, draws upon her use of the Earth Charter in her curriculum for the past six years; and Barbara Cloud-Weisman, a curriculum specialist, details lesson plans based on the Earth Charter for middle and high school students.
Graphic artists Tracy Copes and Jo Ellen Shilke, host of WMNF-88.5's Art in Your Ear and owner of the Globe Coffee Lounge in St. Petersburg, discuss bringing the arts together with Earth Charter programs.
And Jo-Ann Sloan, president of Cornerstone Consultants and a creativity trainer, uses her Thinkathon technique to generate 5,000 ideas for using the Earth Charter in personal lives, work and play.
There's also a concurrent Earth Scouts Festival for children and families, featuring storytellers, a puppet show, kids' activities and a 3 p.m. performance by local children's singer-songwriter Shana Banana.
For more info, call 813-254-8454 or visit www.earthchartersummits.org.
This article appears in Oct 9-15, 2003.