Finding Freedom
July 2011
Banner photo: Finding Freedom [© Dariush M./Shutterstock]
SGI Participates in Rio+20 Preparatory Process
Mr. Asai (second from left) introduces SGI's approach to ESD
[SGI-OPI]
A preparatory meeting for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, or Rio+20, was convened at the UN Headquarters in New York on March 7-8. Rio+20 is a follow-up to the UN Conference on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Earth Summit, which took place in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
SGI delegates participated in the preparatory meeting, and on the first day, SGI representative Nobuyuki Asai made a presentation in a related event organized by the Education Caucus of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development entitled "Strategy, Opportunities, Challenges: Greening the Economy," held at Uganda House near the United Nations.
Mr. Asai introduced the SGI's grassroots awareness-raising activities as an example of nonformal education and outlined the "Learn, Reflect and Empower" formula proposed by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda in his 2002 proposal on education for sustainable development (ESD). He also stressed the need to develop a concrete strategy that will follow on from the UN Decade of ESD, which will end in 2014.
Presentations were also made by Anne Carlsen, UNDP Climate Change Adviser, on UNDP's ESD activities, Sascha Gabizon of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance on the perspective of women, and Ted Schulman of Transformative Communities (TransComs) stressing the role of the mass media.
