All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

It’s Apartheid, Say Israeli Ambassadors to South Africa

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

A article by Ilan Baruch and Alon Liel from Transcend Media Service

 During our careers in the foreign service, we both served as Israel’s ambassador to South Africa. In this position, we learned firsthand about the reality of apartheid and the horrors it inflicted. But more than that – the experience and understanding we gained in South Africa helped us to understand the reality at home.

For over half a century, Israel has ruled over the occupied Palestinian territories with a two-tiered legal system, in which, within the same tract of land in the West Bank, Israeli settlers live under Israeli civil law while Palestinians live under military law. The system is one of inherent inequality. In this context, Israel has worked to change both the geography and the demography of the West Bank through the construction of settlements, which are illegal under international law. Israel has advanced projects to connect these settlements to Israel proper through intensive investment in infrastructure development, and a vast network of highways and water and electricity infrastructure have turned the settlement enterprise into a comfortable version of suburbia. This has happened alongside the expropriation and takeover of massive amounts of Palestinian land, including Palestinian home evictions and demolitions. That is, settlements are built and expanded at the expense of Palestinian communities, which are forced onto smaller and smaller tracts of land.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Israel/Palestine, is the situation like South Africa?

(continued from left column)

This reality reminds us of a story that former Ambassador Avi Primor described in his autobiography about a trip that he took with then-Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon to South Africa in the early 1980s. During the visit, Sharon expressed great interest in South Africa’s bantustan project. Even a cursory look at the map of the West Bank leaves little doubt regarding where Sharon received his inspiration. The West Bank today consists of 165 “enclaves” – that is, Palestinian communities encircled by territory taken over by the settlement enterprise. In 2005, with the removal of settlements from Gaza and the beginning of the siege, Gaza became simply another enclave – a bloc of territory without autonomy, surrounded largely by Israel and thus effectively controlled by Israel as well.

The bantustans of South Africa under the apartheid regime and the map of the occupied Palestinian territories today are predicated on the same idea of concentrating the “undesirable” population in as small an area as possible, in a series of non-contiguous enclaves. By gradually driving these populations from their land and concentrating them into dense and fractured pockets, both South Africa then and Israel today worked to thwart political autonomy and true democracy.

This week [June 8, 2021], we mark the fifty-fifth year since the occupation of the West Bank began. It is clearer than ever that the occupation is not temporary, and there is not the political will in the Israeli government to bring about its end. Human Rights Watch recently concluded that Israel has crossed a threshold and its actions in the occupied territories now meet the legal definition of the crime of apartheid under international law. Israel is the sole sovereign power that operates in this land, and it systematically discriminates on the basis of nationality and ethnicity. Such a reality is, as we saw ourselves, apartheid. It is time for the world to recognize that what we saw in South Africa decades ago is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories too. And just as the world joined the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, it is time for the world to take decisive diplomatic action in our case as well and work towards building a future of equality, dignity, and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike.
_____________________________________________
Ilan Baruch served as Israeli Ambassador to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
Dr. Alon Liel served as Israeli Ambassador to South Africa and as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast

United Nations: Landmark gender equality forum concludes with concrete commitments, plan to advance parity by 2026 

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from the United Nations

With the chief of the UN’s gender empowerment agency declaring that women are still “sitting in the corridors when men are inside at the table negotiating peace”, the historic Generation Equality Forum  in Paris concluded on Friday [July 2] with new commitments designed to address that, and other injustices.


Photo: UN Women

Close to $40 billion was pledged in new investments, as well as ambitious policy and programme commitments from governments, civil society and others, to help fuel a new global five-year action plan to accelerate true gender parity, by 2026.  
“The Generation Equality Forum marks a positive, historic shift in power and perspective”, said  Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. 

The Forum has been held at a critical moment, as the world assesses the disproportionate and damaging impact of the  COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls. 

Gender equality advocates took the opportunity to press for gender-responsive stimulus and recovery plans to ensure that women and girls are not left behind as the world re-builds. 

Timely commitments  

The $40 billion in investments represent a major step-change in resourcing for women’s and girls’ rights, as lack of financing has been a major reason for slow progress in advancing gender equality and in enacting the women’s rights agenda of the milestone 1995 Beijing Conference, according to UN Women.
  
Governments and public sector institutions have committed to $21 billion spending on gender equality investments, the private sector $13 billion and philanthropy $4.5 billion.
  
UN entities, international and regional organizations committed an aggregate of $1.3 billion.  

“The Forum’s ecosystem of partners – and the investments, commitments and energy they are bringing to confront the greatest barriers to gender equality – will ensure faster progress for the world’s women and girls than we have seen before”, said the head of UN Women. 

(continued in right column)

(Click here for the article in French.)

Questions for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

(continued from left column)

Multilateral approach
 
Many organizations have made strong policy and program commitments, including 440 civil society organizations and 94 youth-led organizations.  

Hosting the event, the French Ambassador and Secretary-General of the Forum, Delphine O, said the it had “reversed the priorities on the international agenda and made gender equality, for too long underestimated, a long-term issue for the international community, along with climate, education and health. France will continue to be at the forefront to accelerate gender equality progress”. 

Others speak out 

UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Anne Hathaway, gave her personal commitment to “continue to be a global advocate for the legal and policy changes that will empower both women and men to begin the equal distribution of care responsibilities that will help change our world”. 

Former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who now heads the US international development agency, USAID, offered “a simple message, informed by decades of evidence: if you want peace in this world, trust women to deliver it”. 

African Union Goodwill Ambassador on Ending Child Marriage, Nyaradzayi 
Gumbonzvanda, said: “This week, I relived the experience of 1995, when I was a young women’s rights activist at the Beijing Conference…Now it’s time to invest in girls and young women even more – for resources to reach rural and marginalized communities, for technology for public good and available to all, and for Member States’ greater accountability to human rights of women and girls”. 

Taking the lead 

Over the past three days, the Forum engaged nearly 50,000 people in a mainly virtual format to rapidly advance of gender justice.  
It launched a  Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality  designed by six Action Coalitions, partnerships that have identified the most critical actions required to achieve gender equality, ranging from gender-based violence and technology to economic and climate justice.  

The Forum also launched a Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, and announced new gender equality initiatives focused on health, sports, culture, and education. 

UN Women will maintain a critical role driving the Forum’s 5-year action plan, overseeing the implementation of commitments to ensure accountability and progress. 

“Together we have mobilized across different sectors of society, from south to north, to become a formidable force, ready to open a new chapter in gender equality”, said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka.

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Different religions come together to pray for peace in Peru

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article in El Comercio (translation by CPNN)

The Interreligious Council of Peru has released a video where representatives of various faiths share a prayer for peace in the country. The participants asked for harmony and a favorable future for all Peruvians.



the video – click to play

Raquel Gago, deputy executive secretary of the Interreligious Council of Peru, pointed out that this organization is a space for meeting, dialogue and fraternity among the religious communities of Peru.

(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article).

Question related to this article:
 

How can different faiths work together for understanding and harmony?

“This union of creeds encourages and promotes action for justice, peace, solidarity and care for creation,” she mentions at the beginning of the video.

“May this prayer serve to reflect on the importance of developing a culture of peace, justice and integrity,” she adds.

This prayer was attended by high representatives of the Brahma Kumaris Spiritual Organization, the Soto Zen Peru Buddhist Community, the Islamic Association of Peru, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Orthodox Church of Antioquia, the Interfaith Network of Women of Faith and Spirituality .

Also participating were the Evangelical Presbyteran and Reformed Church in Peru, the Lutheran Church of Peru, the Anglican Church of Peru, the National Union of Evangelical Christian Churches of Peru, the Jewish Association of Peru and the Archbishop of Arequipa, Monsignor Piñeiro, among others.

Latin America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Mediation Forum of the Vice-Government of Ceará promotes discussion for a culture of peace

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Ceará, Governo de Estado (translation by CPNN)

The Vice-Government of Ceará, through its State Forum of Mediation, Restorative Justice and Culture of Peace, promoted a debate this Tuesday morning (June 29) on the use of laboratories, meetings and other peaceful devices to improve the society. The event was held remotely and attended by around 50 people, who were able to participate, ask questions and have a voice in the discussion.


Among those present at the meeting were: Cristiane Holanda, coordinator of the Restorative Justice and Mediation Coordination of the Vice-Government of Ceará; Cida Medeiros, journalist and facilitator and lawyer; and Luis Zubcov, scholar of peace dynamics.

(continued in right column)

(Click here for the article in Portuguese)

Questions for this article:

The culture of peace at a regional level, Does it have advantages compared to a city level?

(continued from left column)

Cristiane Holanda commented on the importance of the Forum and its monthly meetings. “Our forum tries to be democratic, participatory. We want to creat together a new model of living, being, within a society that is ethically just.”

In his speech, Luis Zubcov highlighted the need for more participative listeners in everyday interaction. “The active role of the listener is very important. Someone who is not just a passive observer, but an active one who can make a difference within the content they receive. The word is 50% of those who speak and 50% of those who listen.”

State Mediation Forum

The State Forum of Mediation acts as a partner of the Pact for a Ceará Pacific and is composed of 35 bodies and institutions, among which are: Public Ministry (MPCE), General Public Defender of Ceará, OAB, Court of Justice (TJCE), in addition of the Vice-Governor’s Office. Meetings take place every month.

Institutions wishing to participate in the Forum should contact the Vice-Governor’s Mediation Coordination at (85) 3459.6116.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Experts identify 3 pillars for the «reunification» of Bolivians

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article by Nancy Castro in eju! (translation by CPNN)

The deactivation of “polarizing discourses” and the creation of an effective space for peace through the media is one of the three conclusions of the “International Seminar of Experiences for the Encounter”, organized by the Vice-Presidency of the State, United Nations and International Cooperation. The event, which took place on June 22 and 29, set out the objective of generating spaces for dialogue to strengthen peaceful coexistence in diversity.

The Vice President of the State, David Choquehuanca, in the closing speech, referred to the crucial role played by the media. “The role that the media has to play is very important, some perceptions have been gathered that the media, in some cases, like to feed the confrontation, they are looking for contradictions,” said Choquehuanca.

The other two pillars are “political will” and an “inclusive and participatory” agenda.

Regarding the first pillar, it was highlighted that the role of the government and civil society organizations is fundamental to promote a dialogue beyond differences. “Political will is essential for the construction of spaces for dialogue. We must become aware that the reunification is not just an event, but a sustained process over time, which requires the decided commitment of the leaders, “concluded one of the working groups.

The second pillar aims to open participatory meetings with an agenda that reflects the diversity of the country focused on common challenges, such as the fight against discrimination, inequalities and the eradication of violence. “The challenge is to avoid the monopolization of the debate in political spaces.”

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from left column)

Regarding the third pillar, the experts emphasized finding a favorable context for dialogue, “deactivating polarizing discourses”, and giving more space to voices that seek to build and achieve a peaceful equilibrium, a task for which the media is partly responsible.

“It is important to understand that our problems are deep and that working on these issues requires first, deactivating the feeling of threat to enable our voices,” concluded another of the work sessions.

Background.

On Tuesday, June 22, the first was held with international participants including Rigoberta Menchú Tum, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who explained that peace is not built only in meetings, but that it is necessary to build a culture of peace.

For her part, Vera Grabe, politician, ex-guerrilla commander and member of the Observatory for Peace in Colombia, stressed that peace is more than a speech, a policy, a matter for politicians, since what is really required is to dismantle violence in our practices.

There was also the participation of Carlos Borth, who spoke about the political agreements for the institutional reform of 1993, Griselda Torrico who spoke about the conflict of boundaries between the communities of Coroma and Quillacas and Carlos Romero, who related his experience around of the constituent agreements that made a new Political Constitution viable in 2009.

The participants presented their conclusions based on the experiences of national and international experts, which were received by Choquehuanca and Susana Sottoli, resident coordinator of the United Nations System in Bolivia, to build a proposal for a “National Process for the Reunification”.

Choquehuanca in his intervention made it clear that the representatives of international organizations and ambassadors of the countries are not there to please the Government and the Bolivian people. Neither is the central level of the State there to please these foreign representations and legations.

“We have become aware that we can contribute, from our embassies, as people, as professionals, as representatives or as authorities to build unity, to build brotherhood, to contribute to the construction of peace.”

During the post-electoral conflicts of 2019, members of the citizen platforms that denounced electoral fraud decided to peacefully take over state radio and television. At that time people accused these media of lying, misinforming and fueling the confrontation.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Women from several African countries trained in the culture of peace

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Abidjan News (translation by CPNN)

Delegations of women from several African countries have been participating, since Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Yamoussoukro, in a training workshop in peace education and socioeconomic empowerment. The workshop is organized by the Houphouët-Boigny foundation for the search for peace, the conference of ministers of youth and sports of the Francophonie (CONFEJES) and the organization of the Islamic world for education, science and culture (ICESCO).


Dr Diénéba Doumbia at the microphone

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original in French)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

The Houghouët-Boigny Foundation of Yamoussoukro: what is its contribution to the culture of peace?

(Article continued from left column)

“This workshop is an opportunity for training, and also a space for sharing experiences and actions carried out in our countries”, noted the secretary general of the Houphouët-Boigny Foundation, Prof. Jean-Noël Loucou. He affirmed the determination of his institution to follow it up “to increase efficiency on the ground.”

The training is provided by the regional center for education and the culture of peace (CRECP), a structure housed at the Houphouët-Boigny foundation with the vocation of strengthening the capacities of educational executives and others in the political, administrative and economic spheres of French-speaking African states that are members of ICESCO.

CRECP has thus already trained educational executives, communication professionals, human rights advocates and youth associations, it was recalled.

“Women cannot remain on the sidelines of our priorities. For this, we need to take into account the issue of gender and education for a culture of peace as a new and promising theme allowing everyone to truly play the role of mediators, educators, actors. of peace and reconcilers,” underlined the director of CRECP, Dr Diénéba Doumbia.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Mentoring: around fifty women at the WANEP-GUINEA school

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Abdoulaye Barry in RTG Koloma (translation by CPNN)

In order to allow women to further develop the culture of peace, the Wanep-Guinea network through its project called “Mentoring of Young Women” under funding from USAID, opened a training workshop on Tuesday, June 29, 2021with the participation of about fifty women. The training enables a sharing of experiences between women with strong experience in their professional career and young women at the start of their careers.

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wanep-Guinea, Joseph Togna Doré, “the development of a mentoring process for the promotion of young women in our country through meetings for exchange and sharing of experience is at the heart of the major concerns of the Wanep-Guinea network and its member organizations. It is for this reason that we initiated this project which was funded by USAID with our partners the CRS in order to allow the communities of Conakry and those of Upper Guinea to develop the culture of peace. The goal is to develop greater prosperity and coherent development for these young women, ”said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wanep-Guinea network.

(Article continued in right column)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column)

While inviting the participants to redouble their efforts for a Guinea of ​​peace and prosperity, the President of the Board of Directors of WANEP-GUINEE “hopes that this day of training” will lead to the commitment of each of the participants for the achievement of the expected results of this project ”.

Coming to share her experiences with these young women, Madame Fatou Souaré ANN Executive Director of the NGO Wafrica-Guinée (Femmes Afriques) finds this training very important. ”It will allow us the elders to make available to young women our experiences and knowledge. It’s a sharing of experience, because there are girls among you who have knowledge that our elders do not know being of the digital generation. This workshop will allow you to go through paths where you will not be faced with great difficulties like us. We are here to tell you to take advantage of this training. And you invite each of you to find a mentor who is a guide. People to whom you must go and who will guide you on the right path. We who share our experiences with you today are always looking for mentors to guide us and assist us in our various actions.”

For Batouly Kaba Deputy National Director of the Ministry of Women’s Rights and Empowerment, “The question of the protection and promotion of the rights of young women, in the management, prevention and consolidation of peace in professional bodies is one of the government’s priorities ”.

This is why, she adds. “It is undeniable that our country will continue to be sick if we do not change the paradigm of excluding women who make up 52% ​​of the population. The objectives of the project are noble and perfectly match those of the department of women’s rights issues.”

(Click here for the original in French)

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Nigeria: Osun, Kaduna First Ladies emerge leaders of governors’ wives forum

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti in The Sun


The First Ladies of Osun and Kaduna States, Mrs Kafayat Oyetola and Mrs Hadiza El-Rufai have been elected chairpersons of the Southern Governors’ Wives Forum and Northern Governors’ Wives Forum respectively.

Their election was contained in a Statement signed by the Wife of the Governor of Ekiti State and Chairperson of the Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum (NGWF), Erelu Bisi Fayemi and made available to journalists on Thursday.

Erelu Fayemi congratulated the duo, stressing that she was optimistic that their emergence as new leaders will further help the Forum to work together “in solidarity across boundaries” in addressing issues of mutual concerns.

Mrs Fayemi who noted that the Wives of Governors have always played discreet but active roles in providing support for their husbands, stated that members of the Forum can contribute in their little ways towards the development needs of the country.

(Article continued in right column)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column)

She noted that the Forum had succeeded in ensuring increased participation of women in governance, building a culture of peace in communities across the country and advocating access to education for girls.

The Ekiti State First Lady identified other efforts of the Forum to include provision of women healthcare needs, economic empowerment, advocating against drug abuse and responding to curb sexual and gender-based violence.

She commended the First Lady, Dr Aisha Buhari for all her encouragement and support for the works handled by the Governors’ Wives.

“On behalf of the Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum, I hereby congratulate Mrs Kafayat Oyetola, First Lady of Osun State, the newly elected Chair of the Southern Governors’ Wives Forum and Mrs Hadiza El-Rufai, First Lady of Kaduna State and new Chair of the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum. Wives of Nigerian Governors have always played a discreet, yet active role to support the efforts of their husbands. By working together in solidarity across boundaries, we can address issues of mutual concern to us.”

“Through our collective work in responding to sexual and gender-based violence, access to education for girls, women’s healthcare needs, economic empowerment of women, advocacy against drug abuse, increased numbers of women in public life and building a culture of peace in our communities, we can contribute in our own small way towards the development needs of our country. I also thank HE (Dr) Aisha Buhari, First Lady Federal Republic of Nigeria, for all her encouragement and support for the work that we do as Governors’ Wives”, she said.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

African women propose a 10-year plan for gender equality in Africa at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

A press release from APO reprinted by Africa Newsroom

The proposed Kinshasa Declaration, launched today at the Generation Equality Forum [Paris, July 2], outlines concrete actions for African Union member countries to advance gender equality in Africa by 2030; The proposed Kinshasa Declaration calls for doubling the number of women’s organizations that can access funds from national economic stimulus programs and external funding.

A delegation of African women led by Her Excellency Madame Gisèle Ndaya, Minister of Gender, Family and Children of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madame Julienne Lusenge, gender expert on the Panel of Experts in charge of accompanying President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo during his presidency of the African Union for 2021/2022 shared the proposed Kinshasa Declaration on the sidelines of the Generation Equality Forum (bit.ly/3wdRHDZ)  being held in Paris from June 30 to July 2.

The proposed Kinshasa Declaration, drafted during the Conference on Gender Equality held in Kinshasa on June 10, is the result of a large mobilization of pan-African groups including youth, civil society, researchers, government officials, activists and international organizations. One of the main objectives of the conference was to show the collective capacity of the participants and organizers  to foster a more just world, where gender equality is no longer a struggle but a reality for future generations.

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for a version in French)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column)

The proposed Kinshasa Declaration builds on existing texts on gender equality in Africa and a series of new recommendations. Its goal is to encourage the member states of the African Union to expand their actions in favor of gender equality and to put in place strong systems to evaluate progress.

For the Minister of Gender, Family and Children of the DRC, Ms. Gisèle Ndaya, this declaration offers concrete proposals for the member countries of the African Union. She highlighted that “one of the key recommendations of the declaration is to campaign for a quota system of at least 40% of women, including 10% of young women under 35 years of age in national government bodies, and in elective and nominative positions, by 2030, in order to increase the rate of women’s participation in decision-making bodies on the African continent. ”

Julienne Lusenge, member of the Panel of Experts in charge of accompanying the DRC during its chairmanship of the African Union for the year 2021/2022 said: “This proposed declaration makes a crucial contribution to the AU Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment by proposing concrete actions and tools for measuring success towards gender equality in Africa by 2030. Through this proposed Declaration, we call for, among other measures, the development and strengthening of human rights and culture of peace curricula in at least 50% of primary and secondary schools, including the integration of age-appropriate information on existing laws, conventions, and action plans with a focus on gender equality and positive masculinity by 2030. ”

According to the delegation, the proposed Kinshasa Declaration will be shared with African Union stakeholders, member states, civil society, international organizations and relevant bodies within African governments after the Generation Equality Forum. The objective is to the adoption of this Declaration at the next meeting of the African Union in 2022.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Argentina: Teachers lead national strategy for Comprehensive Environmental Education

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Graciela Mandolini from Education International

We live in a historical time in which all kinds of emergencies are constantly being played out: environmental, climate, energy, health, economic … All of these converge in what many authors define as the crisis of civilization. The environmental agenda has been setting the pace and environmental conflicts have burst into school settings, appearing with unprecedented speed and persistence.

If we understand education as a process that is permanently under construction, we could say that teachers in Argentina are carrying out some important actions in terms of comprehensive environmental education. These include interventions in curricular designs, as well as in projects and programs aimed at incorporating the environmental dimension for sustainable development as part of teaching-learning proposals.

Teacher and Union Training School

For 25 years, the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA) [Educational Workers Confederation of the Argentine Republic] has generated teacher training processes in Environmental Education: postgraduate courses and specializations in environmental education for sustainable development, in cooperation with public universities, face-to-face meetings with in-service teachers, projects, programs and actions on environmental education for secondary school students and teachers… practical, recreational and learning activities have also been organized, such as planting trees, composting activities, etc.

The union has worked with dedication on a project aimed at creating spaces for building knowledge in order to promote a dialogue of knowledge and skills development, consolidating teacher training at all levels and modalities of the formal educational system, so as to promote environmental education for sustainable development.

This issue has been one of the fundamental pillars of the training activities promoted by our organization’s “Marina Vilte” Teacher and Union Training School.

Initially, in the late 1990s, CTERA produced a training proposal for an Advanced Specialization Course in Environmental Education for sustainable development, in cooperation with a public university that offered lectures nationally through its grassroots entities. In the training space, more than 4,000 teachers specialized in Environmental Education.

Pandemic and environmental education

During 2020, as we moved through the stages of isolation and later of social distancing, whilst tackling the pandemic, a pedagogical proposal was drawn up based on training itineraries and paths, to consider different theories and concepts on the issue affecting us.

Firstly, through mechanisms designed for this purpose, the CTERA Education Secretariat and various grassroots entities offered training opportunities using the co-self-assisted methodology, so that teachers felt this was an invitation to study and an occasion for lifelong learning, without feeling pressured to meet requirements that could create an overload of teaching work. These training formats made it possible to reflect on educational practice, based on personal interests and motivations and in a self-regulated manner.

(article continued in right column)

(Click here for the article in French or here for the article in Spanish

Question for this article:

What are good examples of environmental education?

(Article continued from the left column)

Secondly, and in coordination with the INFoD (National Teacher Training Institute), CTERA further developed the proposal, moving towards creating a tutored course.

In both situations, it was felt necessary to consider the particular conditions that lead to problematizing the Teacher Training curriculum, based on the situations it addresses and analyzes, the complexity of associated trends and the practices of meaning, intervention, research, outreach and transcendence, which allow it to interact in and with the communities of origin.

Pino Solanas Law

The National Congress of Argentina recently approved the National Law of Comprehensive Environmental Education. This law, named after the Argentine filmmaker, Pino Solanas, proposes a “permanent, crosscutting and comprehensive” national public policy for all educational establishments in the country. It covers the interdependence of all the elements that make up and interact in the environment; respecting and valuing biodiversity; equity; recognizing cultural diversity; caring for our natural and cultural heritage and exercising the right to a healthy environment.

The law proposes the establishment of a National Strategy for Comprehensive Environmental Education. It promotes the creation and development of Jurisdictional Strategies and raises the issue of an Intergenerational Environmental Commitment. It also provides for the implementation, on the educational agenda, of actions to improve institutions. It affirms that any educational proposal must be based on educating young people and children. This project clearly establishes a public policy that reinforces the paradigm of citizen participation for sustainability.

Environmental education, education for life

We believe that any environmental education proposal, project or program for sustainable development that we carry out must, without question, interact with history, trajectories, institutional projects, stakeholders, local and regional projections, that will give it meaning and make it unique.

Environmental Education, based on the paradigm of Latin American Environmental Thought, makes it possible for the community’s knowledge to be discussed, thus recovering its voices, trajectories, expectations, experiences, demands, concerns and proposals, in order to highlight environmental conflicts in the territory, dismantling naturalized practices on a daily basis, generating dialogue and linking different disciplinary knowledge so as to reimagine and alter our practices.

CTERA sees Environmental Education for sustainable development as the establishment of environmental criteria, as raising awareness about environmental conflicts, understanding environmental complexity, as creativity, wonder, empathy; it means thinking in an inter-connected manner; learning as you live and learning from life.

It is a conceptual proposal that is interwoven and integrated with methodological work. That is why how we make the content available, the way we present work dynamics and proposals, and encourage participation is very important. This includes:

* Recreational activities that allow us to express our sensations, emotions, and feelings, our mind-body thoughts

* Actions that make it possible to develop proposals where identity is expressed in an artistic and creative way.

* Ancestral ceremonies that occur, highlighting the need to re-connect with nature, recognizing ourselves as children of Mother Earth.
Taking part in tree planting, composting, recycling, materials recovery, camping activities, etc.

The didactic strategies that we can use as environmental education workers to address the issues, problems and conflicts that affect and challenge us, are under continuous construction. In this process, much searching is done to ensure culture and nature, teachers, students, schools and the community support each other, generating creative processes committed to reality, promoting the construction of teaching – learning processes aimed at creating a society based on environmental, social and, of course, curricular justice.

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT