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Sustainable practices in 30 Islamic finance institutions

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The Responsible Finance & Investment Summit 2018 concluded with the release by the RFI Foundation of a report about Islamic financial institutions’ perceptions and actions on their environmental and social impacts. «The report includes a detailed survey of over 30 Islamic financial institutions’ sustainable finance practices – says Blake Goud, CEO, RFI Foundation – The survey finds growing awareness that Islamic finance has an ethical mandate to address social and environmental impacts linked to the activities they finance. The results of a survey, coupled with an examination of more than 30 case studies from Islamic finance and within Muslim majority countries finds that key challenges on implementation, building internal and external stakeholder awareness about the financial impact of environmental and social issues, and highlight the need for greater capacity building within the Islamic finance ecosystem».

The survey results are incorporated into some recommendations and conclusions including:
– Development well-structured strategies and enhanced policies for environmental and social issues within Islamic financial institutions including incentive programs tied to social and environmental outcomes;
– Greater consideration of how awqaf (perpetual endowments) can be mobilized in support of sustainable infrastructure, education, healthcare, food security, renewable energy, and water management, among others
– Training employees and management in Islamic financial institutions to enhance their focus on environmental and social issues in their business decision-making process, including a more proactive role for Shari’ah scholars on sustainable business practices.

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Quebec coalition for environmental education and ecocitizenship

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The Coalition Education – Environment – Ecocitizenship is a group of organizations and individuals mobilized to stimulate the institutionalization and the full deployment of an environmental and eco-citizenship education in the Quebec society, both in communities formal education than in non-formal educational contexts.
This strategy is the result of the work of a collective of actors from 57 institutions and organizations of our educational society, aware of the need to vigorously promote the role of environmental education and eco-citizenship in Quebec.
The Coalition was structured within the framework of the work of a partnership platform set up by the research center in education and training related to the environment and eco-citizenship of UQAM. In order to contribute to the vast socio-ecological transformation that is required in our society, the Coalition pursues a twofold mission:
– Promote the advancement of environmental education and eco-citizenship in Quebec by bringing together the actors of the various sectors concerned and by democratically developing a concerted action to this end.
– Promoting the adoption and implementation of a Québec Environmental Education Strategy in the public space and with the various decision-making bodies in the fields of education, the environment and associated fields and eco-citizenship, which is reflected in public policy elements, accompanied by structuring action plans.

Given the collective and political nature of the mission, objectives and actions of the Coalition, the following principles must be respected:
– Adopt a democratic, coherent and concerted mode of operation; in this sense, any initiative taken on behalf of the Coalition should be shared, discussed and validated by the Coordination Committee before being carried out;
– Recognize and respect the right of dissent or reserve for certain actions or speeches that will not result in consensus; each initiative of the Coalition will result in a consultation of members to this effect;
– When speaking publicly on behalf of the Coalition, ensure that the statements in the Strategy are properly expressed, and that the Coalition’s approach is not partisan.

Statuts_Coalition Éducation Environnement Ecocitoyenneté

Stratégie (Détaillée) 2 avril 2018

Stratégie (Sommaire) 2 avril 2018

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Italian National Days of the WEEC Network

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The Italian National Days of the WEEC Network, Environmental education and sustainability held in Naples,  April 20-21 2018,  had as main objective the cultural exchange between diversified realities operating within the EAS.
This goal gave rise to the need for a national meeting in which the fruitful exchange of experiences and the relationships between the participants became elements of growth of the network and its future development.
A second objective is to enhance the initiatives of those who work today in various capacities in the EAS, in schools, in natural and urban contexts, in the business world and in the university, through the presentation of innovative experiences for methodologies, languages or implementation contexts.
The choice of Naples as a symbolic city wants to encourage the participation of all the people of “good will” who, especially in Southern Italy, find themselves reuniting different realities, both social and sensitization to sustainability.

The WEEC Italy Network, launched in 2013 following the WEEC World Congress in Marrakech and consolidated in the successive World Congresses in Gothenburg and Vancouver, at the EAS European Days in Bergamo, thanks to the first National Workshop held at the CNR in Porano in 2016 and the cycle of meetings (also transmitted in streaming) “Tessere Nuove Connessioni” to Oxy.gen of the Parco Nord Milano in 2017, is today an aggregative subject able to enhance the effort of diversified energies in the country, public and private, that beyond geographical affiliations recognize themselves in a common manifesto of values to promote a sustainable society through educational processes.

Read the program here

Videos

Photo: Natural Reserve WWF “Cratere degli Astroni”, near Naples

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Madrid, Reinventing the horizon: science and art in the face of climate change

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Reinventing the horizon, that’s the title of the international symposium organised in Madrid,  April 18-19 by the Fundacion Ramon Areces .

A symposium to connect together science and art in a new interpretation of climate change. In the scenario of environmental destruction and uncertainty, it is essential to reinvent a horizon of hope. Humanity is now entering a new unwanted geological period – the Anthropocene – which is characterized by the fact that human beings are changing the vital cycle of the planet, altering its natural variability. Our species has become a force capable of changing some ecological processes, in an escalation of the primacy of cultural evolution over biological evolution.

Reinventing the horizon supposes co-evolving with nature and cooperating in terms of equity with the rest of the human species. But also recognizing ourselves as beings who dream, who imagine a sustainable future, capable of devising and carrying out the great revolution of change towards sustainability. We need ways of life in which the future is seen as a space of good living for all human species and respect for the rest of the world both living and no living. We need a hope that is not simply empty optimism but a commitment to the enormous creative capacity of the human being. A capacity that, as President Kennedy once said, is able to face every challenge.

The responsibility of scientists and artists is to generate new models of life in line with the Sustainable Development Goals promulgated by the United Nations. Thera are numerous and simultaneous drivers of global change: global warming, transformations in land uses, overexploitation of resources …, which has brought with it the destruction of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity.

It becomes fundamental to seek solutions and creative proposals that allow us to glimpse new ways of organizing personal and collective life, respectful of the ecological integrity, the well-being of humanity as a whole and the dignity of every human being as unique and unrepeatable.

Among these problems, we have focused on human-induced climate change by its status as an epitome that synthesizes and expresses the irreversibility of some of these environmental phenomena of anthropocentric origin.  We have already started non-return processes, such as global warming, the melting of the Arctic, the rise in sea level … Processes that demand decisive action by the governments of the world to tackle the causes that generate them, mitigating its consequences and creating mechanisms of adaptation to the new historical circumstances that, in the present and in the immediate future, humanity must face.

What kind of knowledge is needed to face the enormous challenges we face? How to interpret the complex reality of a challenge that is new in the history of humanity? What role does Science play? And the Art, what clues can it give us?

With this philosophy, the Symposium wants to create a transdisciplinary space in which scientific analysis and artistic considerations converge will be able to articulate information, dialogue, imagination and creativity that are needed for the change, from the confidence in the innovative capacity of the human being. According to the words of the frontrunners, the future is on the way. Our responsibility is enormous. We are the first generation that is aware of this problem and perhaps the last one with capacity and time to solve it.

Mario Salomone, Secretary General of the WEEC Network, speaks on Thursday, 19. the title of his speech is Imagination and creativity in the Anthropocene: the role of education and art

Online inscription

 

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Marseille, Global Responsibility, now

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“Global Responsibility, now ” is organized from 14-18 May 2018, by Kedge Business School in collaboration with the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) and the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles (CGE) in Marseille, France. During this week, networks and initiatives from around the globe – local student organizations, regional interest groups, international partnerships and UN-level initiatives – will convene to move towards accelerating systemic impact.

For many years, the responsibility of higher education & learning institutions for building a sustainable world has been highlighted. All over the world, faculty, administrators, learning facilitators and students have developed initiatives at local, regional and international levels to help transform society, business and education. These initiatives have generated positive energy and goodwill, inspired further actions and innovations and led to undeniable progress. However the collective impact of these initiatives still somehow falls short of the deep transformation required at individual and collective level to make the change sustainable.

Networks and initiatives from around the globe, with representation at various levels – local student organisations, regional interest groups, international partnerships and UN-level initiatives – will convene 14-18 May and move towards accelerating systemic impact. The event will also work to strengthen and accelerate the global partnership for sustainable development with a specific emphasis on SDG 17.

The Sulitest Conference (15th May) is one of the highlights scheduled during the first days of the event. It’s focus is to gather for the first time all major players of the Sulitest community: university full players, partners, companies, regional chapters (RNEC), our advisory board and administrative council.

You can register here

Venues

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Two Post-Doctoral Research Associate Positions

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The Human Dimensions Lab, Department of Forestry and the Natural Resources Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana are looking for  two post-doctoral research associates to join two collaborative, interdisciplinary, international projects. Both projects are part of a large initiative, Arequipa Nexus Institute for Food, Energy, Water, and the Environment (the Nexus Institute) and both positions will involve coordination and collaboration with selected faculty and graduate students at the National University of Saint Augustine (UNSA), our partner institution in Arequipa, Peru.
Project 1: Equitable Co-existence of Agriculture, Mining, and Regional Development in Arequipa: Realities, Barriers, and Opportunities.
Project 2: A Framework for Sustainable Water Management in the Arequipa Region

Specific responsibilities: managing day-to-day communication and relationship between research team and partners in Peru; organizing and coordinating qualitative and quantitative data collection in the field (as soon as summer 2018); analyzing qualitative and quantitative data; co-developing manuscripts and other research and engagement products; participating in other research-related project activities.
Required qualifications: completed a PhD in a relevant field by the start date; high Spanish-language competency, particularly in spoken Spanish; interest and willingness to travel to the Arequipa region for field work during an extended period of time (e.g., one or more months).
Strongly preferred qualifications: experience with interview and survey research; familiarity and/or experience with water governance and smallholder farmer related research; experience with statistical/econometric analyses; field experience in the rural Global South.

Both post-doctoral research associate positions are for two years, given satisfactory progress in the first year. The annual salary is $47,500 plus benefits, and they provide funds to cover relevant travel expenses to research sites and conferences. The selected post-doctoral research associates will also have opportunities for professional development on and off-campus. Preferred start date is April 16, 2018, but may be negotiated upon request. Review of applications will start on March 19, 2018 and will continue until the position is filled. Women and underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

To apply: submit the following in a single PDF file to Dr. Zhao Ma via email (zhaoma@purdue.edu): cover letter describing your relevant experience and scholarly interests with a clear indication of your preference between the two projects; curriculum vitae; two examples of relevant publications or writing samples; and contact information of three references. Please use the following subject for your email “Nexus post-doc application for position X_First Name Last Name.

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9th WEEC, the abstract book is now available for free

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The 9weec_Abstract_ Book presents the contents of the World Environmental Education Congress held in Vancouver (Canada) in September 2017.
A total of 736 abstracts were submitted to the abstract submission system in English, French and Spanish.
Abstracts were submitted in 1 of 14 following strands. Early Childhood Education and EE; Place-based Education and Local Outdoor Learning; Architecture and Green Design; Arts Based Approaches in EE; Agriculture and Garden-Based Learning; Global and Cultural Diversity in EE; Urban Eco-systems;  Environmental Communication (and Uncertainty); Indigenous Knowledge and EE; Ethics Lead Learning and Sustainability; Social Responsibility and Agency/Activism; Nature as Teacher / Nature as Researcher; Global Policy and Environmental Education; Perspectives, Challenges and Innovation in Research.
The congress allowed up to 14 parallel sessions as the Local Organizing Committee envisioned a room/home dedicated for each of the 14 strands. The majority of presentations was allocated to interactive poster sessions and discouraged the traditional PowerPoint presentations.
One of the goals of the congress was to encourage as much interaction and discussion amongst the delegates as possible and move away from the hierarchical oral presentations.
Upon review by the Local Organizing Committee as well as the Socio-Scientific Committee, there were a total of 259 interactive poster presentations, 26 novel format presentations, 43 paper presentations, 152 roundtable presentations, and 2 symposia confirmed for the congress.

64 countries were represented at WEEC 2017.

Download the 9weec_Abstract_ Book

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Campus, casa, cidade: laboratories of change

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The University of Coruña and Alcoa foundation organise the Educating for Sustainability Course, under the title Campus, casa, cidade: laboratorios do cambio.

This project has the objective to advance a community and university formation, share basic concepts of environmental and social sustainability and develop a capacity to act on priority issues.
The program includes lectures, theoretical-practical training sessions, field work and monitored and autonomous field works. It combines individual and group work, in the use of apartment, at the campus or at the campus as places of study and experimentation.
With a calendar distributed from March to June, you can choose the topic, place and time of your participation.

Contamination, waste, climate change, resources, health … activities include the calculation of the ecological footprint, the water footprint, noise maps and water consumption, audits of water and energy consumption in the home, and all through the Use of ICTs as tools for participatory georeferencing and networking

Read the program here

Mario Salomone, Secretery General of the  WEEC (World Environmental Education Congress) will be present with a conference on March 13th, h 17:00, Faculty of Educational Science, with a speech focus on the education for sustainability.

campuscasacidade_triptico

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RESCLIMA international seminar: Education for climate change

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The 4th RESCLIMA international seminar: Education for climate change in the educational system and the 2nd meeting of the Rede internaional de pesquisadores em educação ambiental e justiça climática (REAJA) will take place in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) on October 26 and 27, 2018.

The registration period is open, as well as for the submission of proposals to present communications and posters, whose deadline is the next March 15.

The climate change is the big challenge of the XXI century. Urge to be aware of human vulnerability this threat, as well as accepting the biggest responsibility of the companies that most contributed emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG), which contrasts with the lower capacity of the answer to the effects of an out-of-control climate. Alarms in the scientific community warn that we have little time to react. In a few years there will have to be a major social, economic and energy transformation to avoid the collapse of civilization as we know it.
At this crossroads, the slowness of climate policies are surprising. Climate changes occupy a marginal place in the public area and are far from being a priority issue for decision-makers or the general population.
The fundamental objective of educational and communication programs in the next decade should be to convert the climate changes into a relevant and significant problem.

The RESCLIMA project addresses the relationship between science and popular culture in social representations of climate change: contributions to education and communication on climate risks. It explores the complex logic involved in the construction of popular knowledge and the role that scientific culture plays in popular thinking on climate change. RESCLIMA responds to the need for greater understanding of the ‘social factor’ in climate change, to better inform the design of policies, programmes and educational/communicational resources regarding general and specific socio-environmental issues. This web site is designed to facilitate public interface with the project, to make known its most prominent results from the very earliest phases, and to generate multi-directional information pathways with other researchers and with society in general.

Read the program in Spanish

Read the program in Portuguese

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The Walking Curriculum, a new tool for Environmental Education

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The Walking Curriculum is an innovative interdisciplinary resource for educators K-12 who want to take student learning outside school walls. Walking Curriculum activities can be used in any context to develop students’ Sense of Place and to enrich their understanding of curricular topics. Based on principles of Imaginative Ecological Education, the 60 easy-to-use walking-focused activities in this resource are designed to engage students’ emotions and imaginations with their local natural and cultural communities, to broaden their awareness of the particularities of Place, and to evoke their sense of wonder in learning. Through walking we can enrich our students’ sense-making abilities, we can enhance their very being and, as we go, we can seed with meaning the contexts in which they spend so many hours learning.

In the 60 walks described in this resource you will see a variety of themes, perspectives, and motivations. For example, students may be asked to find different things (such as shapes, spaces or lines, evidence of growth or change, “the best” hiding places), to change perspectives (imagine being a beetle, a detective, or a visitor from outer space), to encounter the world differently (emphasizing one sense over another or moving through space differently), to seek evidence of human-nature relationships, to identify patterns, or to locate natural or human systems in action. In all cases, the intent is to broaden their  awareness of the particularities of Place. The activities are designed to: engage the body, emotions, and imagination in ways that can increase students’ familiarity with the local natural context in which they go to school; increase students’ attention to detail and their attunement with Place; connect Place-based learning activities with cross-curricular goals; and serve as examples for your own, Place-inspired teaching ideas.

Overview: Introductory chapters provide a rationale for the Walking Curriculum and describe the underlying educational philosophy it reflects. Detail is provided so you can prepare to use the resource as well as extend and enrich your students’ learning. The walks themselves are divided into three sets: The 30 walks are paired with guiding questions and an imaginative activity or prompt to engage students’ emotions. These are the easiest walks for you to employ; they require little direct teaching or guidance ahead of time. They are readily adaptable for students of all ages. The second set contains 15 walks requiring some direct instruction and guidance; they will work better if they are properly introduced and contextualized. The final set of 15 walks is specifically designed for High School students and reflects interdisciplinary curricular outcomes.

Where To Get The Walking Curriculum

Get a paperback/ebook HERE in USA or HERE in the UK. Ebooks available in CANADA HERE. (Other markets available, so just search in Amazon) NOTE: All proceeds from sales support imaginED—a blog for imaginative educators by imaginative educators (free for all teachers)

About The Author

Dr. Gillian Judson is a member of the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in B.C., Canada, one of the directors of the Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG), and coordinator of Imaginative Ecological Education initiatives. Her work is primarily concerned with the role of imagination in learning (PreK-Higher Education). As an educational consultant she explores imagination in the context of ecological education, educational program design, higher education, educational change, educational leadership, and Museum Education. She has written two books on Imaginative Ecological Education: Engaging Imagination In Ecological Education: Practical Strategies For Teaching (UBC Press; 2015) and A New Approach To Ecological Education: Engaging Students’ Imaginations In Their World (Peter Lang, 2010). Learn more about the Imaginative Ecological Education, or IEE, approach here.

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secretariat@weecnetwork.org

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