Friday, the day after Fanny’s birthday. I can’t believe that the first week is already over. And still, there are so many things that are pretty common among los ticos which I haven’t experienced yet. For example, today was the first time I had gallo pinto (rice and beans) for breakfast. And it is delicious! As usual I met Daniel on the way to the bus station – but this time he was accompanied by David, who had just arrived and, therefore, joined our group a couple of days later. In class, Dr. Milton Clarke continued the discussion about forestry that we had the day before. He also talked about different levels of responsibility regarding sustainability, meaning that it concerns not only nations but also groups and individuals. We learned about the Bill of Rights for Minors, the WHO master plan entitled “Health for All by the Year 2000” and the Montreal Protocol.
After a very sunny coffee break, we had an interesting exercise for which we were split into four groups and discussed different aspects and policies of gender and sustainable development. In the afternoon, the advanced Spanish class learned about the real story of Count Dracula and, in addition, how to use the past tenses indefinido and imperfecto. Later I had a funny afternoon at home talking with my host mum before David and Daniel stopped by. With the latter I spent the evening working on our paper for Dr. Clarke’s class. As I was really looking forward to go to volcán Poás the next day I didn’t mind going to bed a little earlier than the day before to get a good night’s rest. іBuenas noches a todos!
Today Alicia Jimenez from the Earth Charter Initative visited us at ULACIT. She led us to an interesting discussion concerning values and ethics. I really appreciated that, instead of giving a frontal-lesson, she really integrated us into her methods. With a lot of interactive activities she managed that we really got involved to the points that she wanted to demonstrate. We did an interesting activity about dilemmas we face every day and had to take individual choices. This way we recognized that our values help to design the society we are living in. Then we had to think about our own values, the values that are the base of our acting, before we had to create ethical principles in groups. It was really interesting and we learned a lot. Reflecting our own motivations that let us act – and discussing them with others – these reflective practice can help you define your own way of thinking and acting. It´s also important to keep in mind that there´s a difference between saying what values you have and acting confirm to them. I think that we really experienced the definition of education that the Earth Charter uses: Values cannot be taught, they are learned through action.
As it was Fanny’s birthday today, after learning a lot and experiencing a little earthquake, we went to a really nice bar in Tibas, listened to life-music and danced like crayz. It was a really a great day.
The 9th Summer University in Costa Rica has again set standards in higher education for sustainable development (and was awarded by the United Nations for doing so).
Together with 4 universities, Austrian ministries and UNESCO we have completed final steps towards the 1st INEX Sustainability Challenge, an interdisciplinary academic course in spring semester 2010.
In spring 2009 INEX and AIESEC have created the SustainAbility Day and brought sustainability education closer to the students of WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business).
INEX initiated and participated in a great number of workshops and conferences (including UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Bonn, European Forum Alpbach, United Nations Climate Summit COP15 in Copenhagen).
In December we have presented the new INEX logo and launched a new web platform (including this blog you are reading right now). This also includes new content (such as a redefined INEX Vision statement), an INEX Facebook page, a Flickr and a Twitter account.
The INEX team has grown to 15 highly valued people working at the INEX office in Vienna, the Advisory Board now consists of 8 outstanding individuals from Europe and the Americas, and there are plans for opening a Latin America office in 2010.
We are happy to say that we have built dozens of new partnerships during 2009. And last (but certainly not least) INEX was able to identify, inspire, educate and empower dozens of young change makers with its initiatives.
A very big THANK YOU to all of you…
Thank you especially to our committed INEXers and partners, students and friends. Without you we would not have come that far. We would like to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR and are very much looking forward to upcoming activities in 2010!
If you have not done so already, please also enjoy our “INEX Season’s Greetings 2009″ video below.
The world is facing serious challenges. Poverty, diseases and the depletion of important resources are just a few out of many. On top of everything else stands one that will probably impact humankind more than anything else we have seen so far: climate change. To tackle the issues of global warming is the target of COP15 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen).
Many call it the most important meeting in history since the ending of World War II. It will have life-changing effects on 6.8 billion people, their way of living and survival. It has the potential of saving the world as we know it… but can the global leaders act? Or will they stick to talk instead of action? Will Barack Obama (USA), Jose Manuel Barroso (EC), Wen Jiabao (China), Angela Merkel (Germany), Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Silvio Berlusconi (Italy), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran), Nikolaus Berlakovich (Austria) and more than 160 other heads of governments commit to a treaty that will help to save millions (or even billions) of people?
Once thing is for sure… this 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the biggest event on this topic that the world has seen so far. One and a half decades after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro people seem to have realized the dramatic impact that climate change already has – and will have even more over the coming years. People therefore call for a fair climate agreement (see the Seal the Deal website) that will commit to cutting greenhouse emissions (especially CO2) considerably until 2020, establish a framework that will bolster the climate resilience of vulnerable countries and protect lives and livelihoods. In hope for justice and a prosper future 20-30.000 people will try to attend the meetings and side events that are taking place from 07 to 18 December. Ten-thousands of people are additionally expected to come for the hundreds of side events an d conferences taking place at same time (for example Klimaforum09, the global civil society counterpart of the official UN conference in the Bella Center).
What is INEX doing there?
We are following our mission of identifying, inspiring, educating & empowering change makers.
“We are committing to find 25 change making organizations to leverage our impact on society and a sustainable common future.”
By identifying these stakeholders and inspiring them to engage themselves in concrete actions (and joint projects, such as study abroad programs and other ESD projects), we will all learn on the way – and empower duplication of our efforts.
Follow us on this blog to find out how this idea evolves, what we find out on the way and how successful we are in accomplishing this plan…
