As part of National Interfaith Week, Warwick District Faiths Forum have organised a conference ‘Faiths & Sustainability: Taking Responsibility for OUR Planet’. There is great panel of speakers and this will be an excellent opportunity to listen to them and also to ask questions. There will also be stalls and information from key local service providers.
Key aims of the Conference:
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To raise awareness in the community of the current environmental and economic issues
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To provide the community with an outline of services and support available to them.
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To provide an opportunity for members of the Community to raise issues and concerns with key service providers.
Please pass details of this Conference to friends, colleagues, family and networks. The Conference is open to the public and free to attend. To register to attend or for further information, please email: wdfaithsforum@yahoo.com, or telephone: 07958 589464.
Program
09.30 Registration and Refreshments
10.00 Introduction Jatinder S Birdi, Chairperson WDFF
10.05 Welcome Fr John, St Peter’s RC Church
10.10 Faith Reflection Bill Heilbronn
10.15 Opening Reflection and Address – DCC Richard Moore, Warwickshire Police
10.20 Key Note: Beyond Religion to Tackle Environmental Issues – Don de Silva, Former Senior Official, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
Don de Silva is an environmentalist, writer and now a university Buddhist chaplain. He has direct experience of the way in which concern about the environment turned into a global movement. He was involved in organising key world environmental summits. A former senior official of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), he has initiated and managed environment and advocacy projects in many parts of the world. As a chaplain, he now works to promote mental health and well-being – through meditation and mindfulness. He also works to create awareness about what Faith can offer to Ecology, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development.
10.50 Landscape and Reconciliation – Dr Alex Albans, Reconciliation Ministry Coventry Cathedral
Alex Albans has a background in historical and cultural geography, mapping and cartography. After a number of years working for the Land Registry in Coventry he retrained as landscape architect. He has worked at Birmingham City University as a tutor and most recently as Research Fellow on a project to propose a new type of National Park which celebrates the connections between people and place. In tandem with his landscape work, Alex also works in the field of reconciliation as part of Coventry Cathedral’s Reconciliation Ministry.
11.15 Break
11.30 Local Environmental Issues – Ruth Payne, Waste Strategy and Minimisation WCC
12.00 Discussion Groups:
1) Don de Silva
2) Dr Alex Albans
3) Ruth Payne
12.40 Feedback from Workshops
12.50 Plenary and Closing comments – Dr Harriet Crabtree, Executive Director IFN UK
13.00 Vegetarian Lunch & Networking