The Leaf 5th edition

Issue 5

Greed Index Monitoring by Lucas Andrianos

The “Blue” Economyby Pauline Rosselin

Climate Action Day

EYCE’s Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice

Enda Reilly Interview

Editorial ContentsSometimes I don’t want to be on the green side. I don’t want to sacrifice taste, comfort or time: taste because, being a vegetarian, I still imagine that a tender steak carries your taste buds way further then couscous; comfort because carrying and cleaning a lunch box around instead of just throwing away the wrapping can be quite a bur-den; time because going the extra mile means going the extra mile. But why are we on the green side? Because we expect a thank you? Far be it from us to expect such! We do it because we know that this is the right thing to do; it needs to be done. Not only by some but by all – because we are the salt of the earth. And if the salt loses its salti-ness, how can it be made salty again?

This issue of the Leaf you’re holding in your hands should give you few more arguments, but more important-ly, more energy to stay “on the green side”. As Sustainability was chosen as the central topic for this year, you can read about a bit on new approaches to that in the article by Lucas Andrianos on the concept of Greed Line or in the contribution “The Blue Economy” written by Pauline Rosselin. Moreo-ver, among other contributions, this issue broadens our European perspec-tive and motivates us by two reports on youth activities on mitigation of climate change in different corners of the world.

We hope that this issue of the Leaf can spice up your life a bit and that you can enjoy it!

Editors:Philipp Ruess a student of Protestant Theology and

Benjamin Mlýnek, a fresh graduate of Politi-cal Science.

EYCE’s Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice 3

The “Blue” Economy 4

Youth Action Day for Climate Justice 6One day – many actions worldwide

Greed index Monitoring 8A sine qua non tool for a sustainable

lifestyle and eco-justice

Enda Reilly 12An interview with singer and songwriter

from Ireland

Thoughts on Creation 15

Eco Justice work of youth from WSCF-LAC 17

Green Politics Events 20

Are YOU sustainable? 20

EYCE Upcoming Events 21

Imprint 21

EYCE’s Campaign to Promote Ecological JusticeBackgroundThe environment is one of the most, if not THE most, challenging concern for con-temporary society. It includes not only the obvious “green thinking”, but also issues concerning land use, water, food, pollu-tion and waste, migration and a lot more. Very few young people are aware of the links between environment and issues like social justice, lack of education, poverty and armed conflicts.

Therefore, the Campaign to Promote Ecological Jus-tice is based on a broad approach and seeks to explore those links. During the three years, the campaign will focus on the different political and theological per-spectives, the promotion of an ecologically respon-sible way of thinking and living, the links between ecological justice and wealth and poverty, as well as the question of how the lack of natural resources trig-ger armed conflicts and violence.

FocusEYCE’s Campaign to Promote Ecological Jus-tice was launched in March 2011 and aims at rais-ing awareness on ecological issues from global and diverse perspectives among young Europeans, as well as at implementing practical changes and eco-logically responsible solutions within the work of youth organisations and lives of young people. With the outcomes of the campaign we plan to contrib-ute to the work of other actors in Europe and be-yond, who work in the field of ecological justice. ¨

Throughout the three years, the campaign has been focused on three different aspects linked to ecological justice:• 2011: approaching the issue from theological

and political perspectives; • 2012: tackling the theme of ecology and justice

and exploring the relation between ecology, economy and politics and

• 2013: sustainability.

ElementsThe Campaign Coordination Team - a group of young volunteers coming from different social, cultural, denominational and geographical backgrounds - are responsible for planning and implementing the ac-tivities of the campaign. In order to provide a vari-ety of thematic input and human resources a Pool of Interested People has been created for the campaign, where people from EYCE’s network, its member and partner organisations belong to.

Among many other activities in the framework of the campaign (such as training courses, dissemination visits, social media campaign, production of promo-tion materials, project on making EYCE more sus-tainable Be Eco Heroes! etc.), this on-line magazine – The Leaf – which you are holding in your hands, has been published biannually.

Are you interested in the campaign? See EYCE’s homepage: www.eyce.org or visit and like us on Fa-cebook: www.facebook.com/EYCEecoJustice.

Are you interested in joining the Pool of Interest-ed People? Would you like to write articles for the magazine? Do you have any other idea or project you think we should know about? Or you simply have a question? Write to [email protected] or [email protected].

The “Blue” EconomyBy Pauline RosselinThe globalisation of the world economy has been responsible for the deterioration of our environ-ment, reduction of natural resourc-es, and social inequality. As a result of this, sustainability awareness is rising among human conscious-ness. More and more frequently, social and environmental issues are being highlighted. Some solu-tions include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy and water, recycling our wastes, or changing consumer habits. Thanks to modern research, ambi-tious technologies aim to offer new alternatives in those issues by re-ducing human impact on environ-ment: more efficient car engines, new materials to build our houses, recyclable food packaging, are just a few of the many recent advances which have been made in this area. Some companies are involved in

those innovations, which has led to job creation. These innovations and jobs are usually referred to as a part of the «green» economy. However, another way to go even further is arising: the “blue” econ-omy.

The “blue” economy concept came from the “Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives” foundation (ZERI), initiated by Gunter Pauli, a Bel-gian businessman. Established on 6th of April 1994, with the support of the United Nations University (UNU), it is, since 2001, a network which gathers professionals from a wide range of backgrounds. The main objective is to develop sus-tainable business models, from a small community’s point of view to a larger, government scale. The “blue” economy concept is deeply inspired by the mechanisms of na-

The Author

Pauline Rosselin is a vol-unteer at EYCE office in Brussels since June 2013. She has a Master›s degree in Biotechnology and Food industry Management from the University of La Ro-chelle (France). She likes to travel and discovering for-eign cuisine and new meals.

Chido Govero, photo by Christian Payne

ture, both biological and physical. It differs from the “green” econo-my in its main focus, which is to provide basic needs to the popula-tion such as water, food, accom-modation, education, and energy, by using only locally available and renewable resources. In the prac-tice, it consists in evaluating an issue in its specific context; by tak-ing environmental, economic, and social factors into account.

In 2009, Gunter Pauli released his book The Blue Economy. 10 Years 100 Innovations 100 Million Jobs1. This work was published worldwide and translated into 35 different languages. In it, he high-lights hundreds of innovations us-ing the “blue” economy concept. They are either currently in prac-tice and profitable, or at a early prototype/idea stage, but have been proved scientifically feasible. Those innovations are regularly updated in Gunter Pauli’s website: www.theblueeconomy.org/blue/Innovations.html.

One way of putting in practice the “blue” economy is to use wastes from one production process as a raw material for a different pro-duction. This practice is some-what similar to food chain process. This way, there is a full elimina-tion of waste, generation of added value, and then economic stimula-tion followed by social improve-ments. This method is particularly possible with food production by-products.

One relevant example is about cof-fee. With regular coffee produc-tion, only 0.2% of the total harvest-ed biomass ends in our cups. The 1 Paradigm Publications

rest is wasted due to the production processes. A Chinese mushroom expert, Shuting Chang, has proven that coffee wastes are an ideal and affordable substrate to mushroom growth, especially tropical ones as Shiitake. By putting together those elements, the ZERI foundation and Gunter Pauli encouraged the es-tablishment of mushroom growth from coffee wastes, producing di-rect added value and healthy food at the same time.

A Zimbabwean woman, Chido Govero, has created her own mushroom farm using this system. Chido Govero became an orphan very young and she couldn›t pro-vide to her basic needs by herself. She suffered from food insecurity and abuse. But, at 12 years old,

she received a scholarship to study mushroom growth from coffee wastes, financed by ZERI foun-dation. Thanks to this experience and her own inherent growing skills, she was able to create her own business. Currently, her busi-ness generates food security and economic and social stimulation at a local scale in her home coun-try. She spreads her knowledge to the young generation, through the ZERI program: “Orphan Teaches Orphans”. This way, she intends to help girls learn how to make themselves food self-sufficient and escape from abuse. In 2009, she published her story in a book The Future of Hope: Message from an African Orphan to a World in Cri-sis2, to bring her testimony to light. 2 ZERI Foundation

Gunter Pauli, photo by Andrew Smith Levis

Following this example, many other initiatives all around the world were built with this system of mushroom growth from coffee wastes.

The “blue” economy concept not only provides a technological so-lution to an environmental issue but is also included in a long term, global, and sustainable context. “Blue” economy is in direct op-position to globalisation, which is focused on direct profit. This way, it offers a change into the business model, by including social and en-vironmental issues. Today “green” and “blue” economies are becom-ing serious alternatives to strict globalisation. They no longer ap-pear as fantasies and may become our environmental, social, and economic reference in the future.

Sources:Gunter Pauli Websiteswww.theblueeconomy.orgwww.zeri.orgwww.gunterpauli.comwww.chidos.org

Gunter Pauli interviewsLiberation. Interview by Coralie Schaub. http://www.liberation.fr/econo-mie/2012/12/16/gunter-pau-li-suivre-la-sagesse-de-la-na-ture_868007 (posted online the 16/12/2012 and updated the 20/12/2012)L’atlas du monde de demain, Hors-série Le Monde La Vie, Edition 2013, Interview by Daniel Hoff-man.

Youth action day for climate jus-tice: one day – many actions – worldwide

Climate change has severe impacts on people and nature in many parts of the world. Droughts and floods destroy fields and harvests, dis-eases are spreading. We need to take strong action on climate pro-tection to minimise the impacts of a changing climate and to save God‘s creation.

With the campaign “Mission: Save the climate! Powered by heaven” of the Evangelical Church of West-phalia (EKvW) and the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) we want to strengthen each other mu-tually in the commitment for integ-rity of creation and climate justice as well as supporting and motivat-ing young people to work for pro-tection of climate and environment – in their personal setting, parish, local community and in society.More information: www.powered-byheaven.de

Within the campaign, together with the youth-campaign “Hot Times”, the first international Youth Ac-tion Day for climate justice was set up on December 8th, 2012. Its primary aim is to raise awareness among young people for climate protection as a common challenge and task (for which mainly the in-dustrialised countries bear respon-sibility) and to make them experi-

ence differentiated responsibility, solidarity, but as well to sensitize people for integrity of creation and climate justice.

The idea of this Youth Action Day for Climate Justice is to activate young people in UEM member churches to organise and carry out at the same time activities on climate and environmental protec-tion. Via media – like Facebook, Skype e.g. – these actions are com-municated to the other participat-ing groups in order to get a com-mon feeling of being a member of a worldwide movement.

Overview of the previous activities at the first Youth Action Day, 8th of December 2012At the first action day on Decem-ber 8th, 2012, young people from different UEM member churches, from Asia, Africa and Europe, showed that they care for protec-tion of climate and environment. They started activities and projects like promoting renewable energy, saving energy, planting trees, cli-mate concerts, radio broadcasting, theatre performance. They present-ed their activities on Facebook, chatted via Skype and thereby met like-minded young people from other UEM-member churches.

“Climate protection is too im-portant to be left to politicians, climate negotiators, diplomats, forest guards and academics. Cli-

Youth Action Day for Climate JusticeOne day – many actions worldwide

mate change is a challenge which must be responded to also by youth groups, people from rural areas, indigenous communities, religious organisations and faith groups.”Saurlin Siagian, UEM climate consultant for Asia

“It is great to see youth groups in Cameroon, DR Congo, Rwanda and Botswana actively participat-ing in the Youth Action Day for Climate Justice. The youth in Af-rica has been particularlyencouraged by the young people from Germany, Indonesia and oth-er countries, who are also very ac-tive in protecting the environment. I will continue to strengthen them to

be active and towork together with people from other continents!”Richard Madete, UEM climate consultant for Africa.

Join in the second Action Day at the 7th of December 2012The success of the first Action Day made clear that the Climate Action Day could not be a singular event. That is why on December 7th, 2013 the second Action Day will take place – for environmental and climate protection.

What can youth groups do?There are a huge range of actions youth groups can take at the Action Day for Climate Justice, depend-ing on your aim and the resources available to you. In the action kit for the day you will find more ide-as and a detailed description:www.climateactionday.org.

“It will be a great sign, if many youth groups join in the second Ac-tion Day. We can show that young

people advocate climate justice and that we as Christian people act credibly.”Katja Breyer, consultant for cli-mate justice, Evangelical Church of Westphalia

Be an advocate: take any of these actions on behalf of someone else or another group who cannot get their voice heard.The second Youth Action Day for Climate Jus-tice will take place at the 7th of December 2013. We look forward to hearing about your activities!

Contact and more information:www.facebook.com/climateac-tiondaywww.climateactionday.orginfo@climateactionday.org

Picture by UEM, Die.Projektoren

Greed index MonitoringA sine qua non tool for a sustainable lifestyle and eco-justiceBy Lucas AndrianosWhy do we need greed measure-ment?Is there any worst enemy of life and justice than greed? Jesus Christ, the God of Life, warned us to “take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of pos-sessions” (Luke 12:15). Greed is the great-est of all plagues against justice, peace and sus-tainability. To promote sustain-able lifestyle and eco-justice we should find a way to give answers to critical questions such as “what is greedy?”and the most important of all, “how can we measure and con-trol greed?” or “how greedy is an economy or an individual given his/her lifestyle?”

The society of 21st century relies on unrestricted structural greed and promotes it through unlimited growth, overconsumption and in-dividualistic competitive behav-ior. In today’s complex economy people often fail to recognize the structural connections between their desire to improve their living standards (status) and the poverty suffered by others (Raiser, 2011).

Christian churches and ecumeni-cal organizations have the task of making visible – and lifting up the voices of – those people who are in the socio-economic margins. The systematic approach of greed fo-cusing on the holistic interconnec-tions between its potential causes and its effects on the global soci-

ety or its mani-festation of the Trinitarian nature of human beings is attributed to greed measure-ment. It is neces-sary to control human behavior and policy mak-ing in a systemic and structural way with respect to sustainability and eco-justice.

How did our pre-decessors deal with greed?In Ancient Greek philosophi-cal terms, there are many lessons which refer to greed and the neces-sity of its measurement to preserve human happiness and to avoid mass destruction. According to one of the seven sages of ancient Hellas, happiness could be reached if all needs are satisfied in moderation, avoiding extremes , “everything is best in moderation or average” [*ΜΕΤΡΟΝ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΝ*]). Plato, (427-347 B.C.), also stressed the

The Author

Lucas Andrianos (Luc Aurelien Andriantiatsa-holiniaina) was born in Antananarivo, Madagas-car, and currently lives in Kolympari Crete, Greece. He holds a PhD in Envi-ronmental Sciences and Sustainable Development and since 2006, he has been the Head of the Insti-tute of Theology and Ecol-ogy at the Orthodox Acad-emy of Crete (OAC). Since 2011, he has been col-laborating with the World Council of Churches as Sustainability Consultant for the Greed Line study within the framework of the “Greed measurement” for the “Poverty, Wealth and Ecology” diakonia.

email: [email protected]//greedline.webs.com http:ithe.webs.com

The cup of justice

need for de-termining the greed line and said: “The form of law which I propose would be as fol-lows: In a state which is desir-ous of being saved from the greatest of all plagues (GREED) — not faction, but rather distraction — there should exist among the citizens neither extreme poverty nor, again, excessive wealth, for both are pro-ductive of great evil . . .”

The “cup of justice” which was invented centuries ago by the wise Pythagoras, is also called greedy cup. The message it conveys is as crystal clear as the water that we can drink from it: “You may drink little or more, even a little more, if you like. You may share with oth-ers and satisfy your needs. But do not wish to fill the cup to the rim (greed line), in order to drink more than the others. Because then you will lose it all!”

Respect for the “greed line” should be the rule in all dimensions and on all levels of systemic decision-making; otherwise the conse-quence is catastrophic for human beings and for the Earth.

How can we define greed?Greed could be defined as the de-sire to have more than one’s legiti-mate share of material goods and power (Raiser, 2011). In contrast to poverty which deals with needs that can be objectively defined and even quantified, greed is about de-sires which are “difficult to con-tain” and involve an “emotional

energy that seeks to transgress or disregard limitations” and which are consequently difficult to cir-cumscribe and measure.

The development of multidimen-sional greed indicators (MGI) as a counterpart to the multidimen-sional poverty indicators first de-veloped by Oxford University was proposed by Michael (Taylor, 2011). The indicators could focus on categories of health, education, empowerment, relationships, envi-ronment and security and, in each case, would refer to the potential greed (status) of an individual and its consequences for others (de-sire/trends). The MGI basically would address the questions: Am I greedy? How am I greedy?

The concept of Greed linesIf greed is “having too much” money, resources and power (in contrast to describing poverty as ”having too little”), when does one “have too much”? (Peralta, 2011) It was proposed that the point or level when individuals or socie-ties “have too much” is described as a situation (status), first of all, when other individuals and socie-ties have too little resources to live by and, second of all, and when the accumulation of wealth and power undermines the common good or threatens (desire/trends) the global commons.

Greed lines are the levels of resource con-sumption, mon-ey accumula-tion or power seizure through which societal or individual behaviors may harm human well-being and

the Creation integrity. These nega-tive behavioral effects could be expressed in terms of relative pov-erty or socio-economic injustice or sentimental offenses and environ-mental destruction.

How do we measure greed with Fuzzy logic approach?During my sustainability consul-tancy with the WCC Greed Line study group, I developed a new model called GLIMS which stands for Greed Lines and Indexes Meas-urement System. It uses fuzzy logic reasoning and inputs from statistical indicators of natural re-source consumption, financial re-alities, economic performances, social welfare, ethical and politi-cal facts. The outputs are concrete measures of three primary indexes of ecological, economic and socio-political greed (ENV-GI, MON-GI, POW-GI) and one overall multidimensional structural greed index (MSGI) as shown in Fig 2. Greed index scores are expressed in a scale of zero to one hundred.

Are we all greedy without know-ing it?To evaluate individual greed in-dexes, we apply our model to five individuals (two men, two women and one adolescent), which could be representative of individual behaviors trends. The results are

Fig. 1: The cup of justice and the notion of greed line

F i r s t o r d e r k n o w l e d g e b a s e s ( C o l l e c t i o n a n d n o r m a l i z a t i o n o f s t a t i s t i c a l d a t a )

S e c o n d o r d e r k n o w l e d g e b a s e s ( f u z z y r u l e s a n d d e f u z z i f i c a t i o n )

F o u r t h o r d e r k n o w l e d g e b a s e ( f u z z y r u l e s a n d d e f u z z i f i c a t i o n )

M S G I M U L T I -

D I M E N S I O N AL S T R U C T U R ALG R E E D I N D E X

P O W - G I P o w e r ( s o c i o -

p o l i t i c a l ) g r e e d i n d e x

E N V - G I E n v i r o n m e n t a l

g r e e d i n d e x

P O L I - G I P o l i t i c a l

g r e e d i n d e x

E C O N - G I E c o n o m i c

g r e e d i n d e x

E S U S - G I E c o l o g i c a l

s u s t a i n a b i l i t y

S O C I - G I S o c i a l g r e e d

i n d e x

F u z z y r u l e s

F I N A- G I F i n a n c i a l

g r e e d i n d e x

F u z z y r u l e s

GREED LINES (ETHICAL RANGE) (Natura l l im i ts , n o r m s , h u m a n r i g h t s , m o r a l v a l u e s , h u m a n p e r f o r m a n c e s ,

p r i n c i p l e s o f s u s t a i n a b i l i t y a n d j u s t i c e )

NORMALIZED VALUES OF GREED

INDICATORS

T h i r d o r d e r k n o w l e d g e b a s e s ( f u z z y r u l e s a n d d e f u z z f i c a t i o n )

M O N - G I M o n e t a r y

( e c o n o m i c -f i n a n c i a l )

g r e e d i n d e x

F u z z y r u l e s

National EF/ Individual Ecological footprint

F u z z y r u l e s

F u z z y r u l e s

Country real interest rate /

Financial interest rate

F u z z y r u l e s

Bank assets ratio /

Financial assets

Governmental

debts / Personal debts

F u z z y r u l e s

PPP GNI / Annual

revenue

Mortality rate / Life

expectancy standard

Schooling years /

Education level

Top 10% national income /

Social class F u z z y r u l e s

Poverty ratio / Living

standard

Civil liberties /

Personal freedom

F u z z y r u l e s

Corruption index /

Personal morality

S e t o f e l e v e n ( 1 1 ) G r e e d i n d i c a t o r s

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

START

OU

TPUT

STATISTICAL VALUES OF GREED

INDICATORS

Fig. 2: Greed Lines and Indexes Measurement System

Table 1: Values of greed indexes measurements for selected individuals (2012 survey)

INDIVIDUAL GREED INDEXES

Person1 N (Male)

Person 2 L (Male)

Person 3A (Female)

Person 4 G (Female)

Person 5 S (Adolescent)

ESUS-GI 40.26 41.28 55.29 50.41 44.28ENV-GI 40.37 (E) 41.53 (E) 54.90 (G) 50.36 (G) 44.77 (E)

FINA-GI 20.37 22.80 56.91 20.37 20.37

ECON-GI 46.20 50.41 41.69 36.93 26.05MON-GI 38.31 (F) 40.53 (E) 49.79 (E) 35.48 (F) 32.19 (F)

SOCI-GI 43.17 53.74 55.82 44.31 43.40

POLI-GI 37.29 32.08 59.21 37.28 28.63POW-GI 44.33 (E) 45.43 (E) 51.88 (G) 44.69 (E) 41.04 (E)Overall MSGI score 45.50 (E) 46.23 (E) 50.37 (G) 46.73 (E) 44.94 (E)

In a scale of 0 to 100, the discrete values corresponding to linguistic scores for “Greed indexes” are as follows: L = Low [0-20]; F = Fair [20-40]; E = Enough [40-50]; G = Greedy [50-60]; VG = Very Greedy [60-80]; EG = Excessively greedy [80-100]

compiled in the Table 1.

It is shown that all five tested indi-viduals have passed the “red light” [MSGI=40] of greedy behavior without knowing it. The individual 3 has the highest level of greed and his/her environmental, economic and social behavior needs the most correction and close monitoring. Data for the whole set of greed

indicators for individuals are ob-tained via surveys that are based on questions such as follows (Box 1: Personal Greed Index Sample Questions).

I believe that church leaders, poli-cy makers and all believers need a scientific tool to clarify the effects of greed and establish policies for an economy based on justice and

sustainability. The greed index approach using fuzzy evaluation provides new insights for tackling the root causes of greed. It is a sine qua non tool for change in deci-sion-making and policy design at individual, communal or national levels if we want to attack the root problems of justice, peace and sus-tainability.

Box 1. Personal Greed Index Sur-vey: 10 Sample Questions

1. How big is my ecological footprint (to calculate click on http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/)?

2. Do I have stock shares or savings capital in the bank? If yes, how much?

3. How much is my annual in-come?

4. How much credit card debt do I have? How much is my

monthly installment vs. my monthly income?

5. How much do I spend on luxury goods in a year? How many cars do I have? How big is my house?

6. Would I consider myself to be part of the upper, middle or lower income class? Do I aspire to a higher social class? If so, which class?

7. 7. How much do I spend on personal healthcare per year with respect to the average

neighbor?8. What level of education do

I have (in terms of years of schooling)? How much do I spend on my education per year with respect to the aver-age neighbor?

9. How much tolerance do I have for corruption and for human rights violations?

10. How much do I value money and power over friendships, sharing, harmony, and wis-dom?

Enda ReillyAn interview with singer and songwriter from Ireland

Interviewed by Catharina CovoloIrish singer-songwriter Enda Reil-ly writes in both English and Irish. As covered in the Sunday Times in November 2012, he is busy with his Climate Change Songs Workshops initiative, bringing fun songs and environmental issues into schools and other groups, through Irish and Eng-lish. Enda has recently won the Christie Hennessy Song Com-petition with “Follow The Wa-ter” a co-write with Christine Deady and earlier in 2012 had TV appearances on both TG4 and BBC2 Northern Ireland. Arise and Go! is a collabora-tion with the Irish contempo-rary poet Stephen James Smith, which is a collection of poetry and original works performed by blending spoken word and song. He is currently mixing for his next album, which is all new material in the Irish lan-guage. You can listen to Enda Reilly’s environmental songs on www.endareilly.bandcamp.com or www.endareilly.com. You can also watch his music videos here: http://www.you-tube.com/endaderoad.

Catharina Covolo:How would you describe your mu-sic?

Enda Reilly: I write and perform acoustic songs

in Irish and in English, which are influenced by many genres I listen to, including traditional Irish, folkmusic, rock and poetry. People of-

ten compliment me on my guitar .skills and my resonant voice

C. C.:What are the themes you are ex-pressing in your songs?

E. R.:I don’t set out to write about any theme in particular but thinking about it I suppose I’m expressing my feelings, dealing with love, loss, emigration from our modern viewpoint. The climate change songs are something I feel is not being dealt with enough and so I

am writing what I can to explore the topic myself, and also to make people aware of certain parts of the problem and consider solutions. I also have some fun songs like ‘The Nut in the Hut’ which are

quite subconscious and I’m not sure what they are about. C. C.:Music and climate change: why and how does this mixture fit for you? E. R.:I’ve learned a lot of the fun-damentals of how the earth works through my degree (a BSc in Geology), which in-cluded chemistry, physics and maths. I believe we are chang-ing the planet’s atmosphere, which will have consequences for generations to come. I‘m also a songwriter who has heard older folk singers sing of the injustices of their time. That puts me in a fairly unique place and I feel it’s very im-portant that I create art around this for others to interact with. C. C.:

Does your faith play a role in your work for climate change?

E. R.:I’m not a very religious person to be honest. I am raised Catholic and although I don’t believe in a monotheistic God, I do see how sense can be made of the world and how people can live great lives

Enda Reilly in the Cobblestonephoto by Linda Devlin

by looking at the world that way. I feel everything is part of the same “God” and as such we should act in a responsible and fair way to the planet. C. C.:You also do workshops in schools to raise awareness on issues of ecological justice – how do you fa-cilitate these workshops so that the students become motivated to get active themselves? E. R.:I lead the students to the explana-

tions of problems by asking them questions about what they already know and then filling in some in-formation that they may not know. Much of the time students are told to turn off the lights and conserve energy but they don’t really un-derstand why, other than to save money. I believe that if they have a better understanding of the con-sequences of climate change to others in more vulnerable climates around the world, as well as to ani-mals then they will be more moti-vated to make changes that are for the betterment of the planet.

C. C.:What are the most pressing issues in the field of ecological justice to you, globally and in your context? E. R.:Getting us to change our habits to emit less or no CO2 and CH4 gases or coming up with solutions that re-move carbon from the air. There’s a song I wrote called ‘Methadone Denial’ which takes the analogy of fossil fuels being like Class A drugs which we were all born us-ing. People don’t change such ad-dictive habits unless they think it’s an emergency and the changes to the planet have been happening relatively slowly as well as being in other areas of the world so it doesn’t feel like an emergency to most people. How do we remind ourselves that it is an emergency? We are the curators of Earth and when we’ve ruined it will we go from living on to merely surviving on it? C. C.:How do you think individuals, but also communities can contribute to more ecological justice?

E. R.:It’s a tough question to say who should do what as an individual, community, on a national gov-ernmental level or at other levels. From my perspective a general awareness that this is extreme-ly important will lead to social change in all areas. So learning is the key for everyone. One prob-lem is that scientists research and speak in their own language which makes it difficult for them to let lay people know what is happen-ing. Academic papers are locked within journals even online and so

Enda Reilly at a concert

lay people can’t easily get that in-formation. Also it seems to me that it’s nobody’s job at the moment to explain this to the public. So when the people search online for answers, they get lots of misinfor-mation and misleading articles by those with agendas and others who have misinterpreted papers. Per-haps journalists need to do more to fix that gap and perhaps artists and songwriters and writers have a role to play too. The green flag system schools have in Ireland is great; schools get rewarded with a green flag for each of the initiatives they complete. The Transition Towns movement is also going in the right direction and is based on locally sourcing food.I think most people, don’t ac-knowledge or see it as such a big problem compared to the financial one that most people have at the

moment. Hence we don’t feel the need to change as a community. The lack of actual communities es-pecially in cities could be another problem.

C. C.:What do other musicians, singers and songwriters say when they hear about your work to promote ecological justice?

E. R.:Some have complimented me on the songs and some have told me they are glad someone is look-ing at it from my angle and open-ing up the discussion. Initially a few years back people thought it quirky perhaps, and many people didn’t agree that climate change was happening. I get fewer people with that viewpoint nowadays see-ing as though evidence for climate change is mounting up.

C. C.:What songs on climate change need to be written still? And who should listen to them?

E. R.:I still feel I have songs to write about climate justice issues be-cause this might help people in the western world see what con-sequences our actions are hav-ing elsewhere, and it might help us change our habits too. I’d also like to explore how we can change what we are doing to emit less CO2 and still live in a technological so-ciety with cars, airplanes and all the gadgets? Or if that’s not possi-ble, what will the future be like and how can we live a good life within it? I need to look further into the problems of biodiversity also.

Enda Reilly in a school

Thoughts on CreationBy Philipp Ruess„In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.“ (Gen-esis 1: 1)From a scientific point of view, Genesis 1 is not how it began. In the Beginning there was nearly nothing, only dense energy, which rapidly expanded, cooled down and became matter. Through grav-ity formed stars and galaxies, in-cluding a blue planet we all hold dear and where life began a long journey till now.

Still, the most important Christian (and Jewish and Muslim) assigna-tion towards our environment is, that our environment is creation. To be precise that it was created and is conserved by God.

But is it still adequate to speak about “Creation” when this is not how mater and live, including us, came into existence? I believe it is more necessary then ever. Because beeing creation is more than mere explanation of our origin. Creation as in beeing created is being in a relationship with God, it is about being wanted, it is about having a purpose. Genesis 1 is not a scien-tific paper, but an interpretation of life. And in the end, does it really matter if we believe the account of Genesis 1 or the Big Bang Theory, since both interpret us as a result of an casual link? A link where God is the starting point!

When Luther wrote in his small catechism: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul,

eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them” he was aware that he was born by his parents and not by God. He could still believe and write that God made him, be-cause in God he has found the in-ternal reason and a motif for his existence, while his parents pro-vided the external reason. Speak-ing about creation for him, meant speaking about the internal reason for his existence, even though the external reason - the how it hap-pened - might be different. I belive the same goes for Genesis 1.

But what does „beeing created“ mean? What defines us as crea-tion? For one, beeing created in-cludes, that we are different from God and that God is different from us. Unlike in most other myths of origin, God created the world and therefore the World is not God. Neither gave God birth to the world nor did the world emanate from him. There is no „genetical“ link between the World and God. Whereas native religious views could identify the World with their gods. Christians cannot gaze to the stars and identify God with them – because the stars are not godly, they are mere creation without a direkt link. One aspect of creation is the categorical difference be-tween us and God. God could have created us and moved on – leaving us completly lonely.

But that does not mean that the Cre-ation is bad or that humans need to be redeemed from the world. Be-

cause fundamentally God created the world as something good. Not only does God deem every sin-gle aspect of his creation as good (Genesis 1:4;10;12;28;21;25), but finds his creation as whole very good (Genesis 1:31). And this is the same god, who became flesh and revealed himself for our resur-rection and glory. Another aspect of being creation is, that we (and every other Creation) are wanted and that we are deeply entangled with God. These two aspects together define our relationship towards God. We are different from him, but we are wanted and loved. Just as every-thing else within is creation.

This is, why I believe, that seeing us as “being created” is impor-tant: To be aware that we are, just as everything else is, wanted and beautiful. That we do not have the right to exploit the rest of His crea-tion, that we are not better then the rest of His creation, but that God‘s love towards us is infinte.

The Author

Philipp Ruess, born 1986 in Germany. Studies protestant theology and is a member of the CCT for the Campaign to promote ecological justice.

The WSCF is a worldwide organi-zation of Christian students with a long history of ecumenical life. It gathers 107 local Student Chris-tian Movements (SCM) from all around the world. Among them, 13 local SCM belong to the regional WSCF family of Latin American and Caribbean region also known as WCSF-LAC.

Regarding advocacy work in Eco Justice, the Global Eco Justice Programme was set up, with the goal to mobilize students in the lo-cal, national, regional levels of the WSCF federation. WSCF-LAC decided to develop projects on leadership development linked to environmental justice. In relation to the existent global processes, those projects will bring formation in capacity development. Among the Global Eco Justice Programme, SCM from WSCF-LAC have par-

ticipated to two main initiatives: the Youth and Environmental Jus-tice project and the WSCF Bi-re-gional Programme on Eco justice and Advocacy.

The Youth and Environmental Justice projectThe Youth and Environmental Jus-tice project belonging to the Latin America and Caribbean regional Eco Justice programme was de-veloped from this observation: the environmental problem is above all a profound social problem with roots in an unjust mode of produc-tion and consumption of our socie-ties. As students can be a source of ac-tion and inspiration for their lo-cal, ecclesiastical, university and social communities, the project aims to mobilize local SCM on Eco Justice issues, to form a solid leadership, and to set up trainings workshops on environment in rela-tion with economic problems, and on capacity development towards advocacy. The project began in November of 2011.

Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecua-dor, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Chile are involved in the pro-ject. However, other movements coming from Cuba, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Uruguay are accompanying the project, even if they are not included in the programme budget. The project involves not only local SCM, but also grassroots organizations, led by young adults.

Three main activities were devel-oped within the Youth and Envi-ronmental Justice project: the pho-tography Exhibit of Water, training workshops, and the Regional Con-ference of the Youth and Environ-mental Justice Project in Rio+20.

The Photography Exhibit of Wa-terEight countries among WSCF-LAC are participating to the Pho-tography Exhibit of Water project, with the objective to show the rais-ing conflicts regarding the right of access to water of the different communities. It also looks to im-plicitly mobilize SCM and grass-roots organizations, putting them together for dialogue and promo-tion of their local work. The young adults from grassroots organiza-tions took the photos . They had to go through their hometowns, gathering the testimonies of their inhabitants, and research the caus-es and consequences which are violating the basic human right of access to water. The exhibit is itin-erant. It was first presented at the People’s Summit of Rio+20. The next exhibition took place at the Global Assembly of the WCC in Busan, in October 2013.

Training workshopsTraining workshops were set up during 2012 and the first part of 2013. It was planned to develop at least three workshops in each coun-try. Those workshops consist in theoretical and practical training, focused on the following themes:

Eco Justice work of youth from WSCF family of Latin American and the Caribbean region

The Author

Marcelo Leites, an Uru-guayan living in Argen-tina, is a Regional Sec-retary of WSCF Latin America and Caribbean.

By Marcelo Leites

Concepts of Eco Justice, Rio+20 and International Governance on the Subject, Climate Change, Wa-ter, and Common Goods.

For each workshop, a methodo-logical guide was created, in which there were resources and propos-als for the fulfilment of activities, monitoring pages, and concrete tips to carry out local processes of advocacy. A guide of a Popu-lar Reading of the Bible is being worked on which will be complet-ed in the local groups.

Regional Conference of the Youth and Environmental Justice Pro-ject in Rio+20The Regional Conference of the Youth and Environmental Jus-tice Project was set up in Rio+20. Representatives of the local SCM

met up to discuss alternatives for ecological justice from a universal point of view. They also participat-ed actively in the People’s Summit of Rio+20, within the ecumenical and inter-religious coalition. Ap-proximately 25 young adults from Latin America participated, in ad-dition to global delegates from WSCF.

“Participating in a transcending event like the People’s Summit brings many challenges and suc-cesses. The first basically trans-lates into the struggle for life and the militant denouncement of any project that goes against life. The second has to do with the broth-erhood of peoples and cultures, seeing different faces of the poor, the working-class, the farmer, and the indigenous person and feel the

force, the hope, which said us that another world is not only possible but also makes necessary this part of continuing to build bridges, rec-ognizing the diversity in peoples and cultures. Rio+20 does not fin-ish in the Summit. It is the begin-ning of a new dawn”

Freddy Añaguaya, Methodist Church of Bolivia/ UMAVIDA Network in Qhantati Magazine, June 2012. More information on www.accioncreacion.org.

The WSCF Bi-regional Pro-gramme on Eco justice and Ad-vocacyThe WSCF Bi-regional Pro-gramme on Eco justice and Ad-vocacy had as an objective the achievement of a bi-regional Eco Justice agenda. It was 8 days train-

Training workshop

ing, gathering SCM from Latin American and Caribbean region and North American region. Par-ticipants challenged all parts of the anthropocentric conception of human origins, with relation to en-vironment, ecology, and economy, in the Latin American, Caribbean and North American contexts. The anthropocentric conception of hu-man origin is the result of a multi-ple forms domination system that feeds off capitalism (in political, economical, cultural, social, en-vironmental areas). It was justi-fied by the Christian theological confinement, which put the figure of human domination over living beings as the centre of the world. This conception has justified the domination of humans over nature. Then, the paradigm of develop-ment has justified the removal of natural resources and has produced consumerism and individualism. Participants have identified the three following common prob-lems:

• Socio-environmental conflicts are the consequence of the pri-vatization of natural resources and social services.

• Criminalization of protest, re-pression, and censorship of different opinions are a general phenomenon that puts in dan-ger social movements fighting for ecological justice.

• Transnational corporations have the upper hand in control-ling natural resources and the lives of many workers, liter-ally enslaving people to work for the benefit of the greed of those in power. This supports

the system, destroys the envi-ronment and human social re-lations, and reinforces domina-tion over other human beings and nature.

Participants also affirmed the fol-lowing four alternative paradigms:• From indigenous cultures:

“Buen vivir bien”: It is good to live well when faced with sur-vival.

• From Afro-American com-munities: “The Ache” or vital energy: which is found every-where, in ourselves as well as in our ancestors. According to this interpretation, if I destroy the world, I destroy my own identity and my own history.

• The perspective of gender: “Eco-masculinity”: the new man recognizes that he is a victim of sexism and then, can achieve a new masculinity. He has to have a good relationship with women, his community, and nature, as well.

• Multicultural and inter-reli-gious paradigm.

These points, which were worked on during workshop, have been taken into consideration at our last Regional Assembly and Advocacy Tools Training in Lima, Peru.

To conclude, Eco Justice work in Latin America and Caribbean re-gion, through the Youth and Envi-ronmental Justice project and the WSCF Bi-regional Programme on Eco justice and Advocacy has:• mobilized and trained youth

from all over Latin America on Eco Justice and on local advo-cacy processes. It has also mo-tivated them to be part of the struggle for change.

• made visible the work of the SCM from WSCF-LAC in relation with grassroots or-ganizations. It has positioned WSCF through the expression of the voice of young adults and students it represents.

• provided training, creation of local networks and mobiliza-tion of resources, institution-ally strengthening the SCM.

Those projects have given life to a perspective of cohesive action be-tween the actors that make up the federation. Even if only the work from WSCF-LAC was highlighted here, the other regions are also de-veloping the Global Eco Justice Programme, in consultation with students, conferences and seminar-ies. Currently, as part of the global activities the creation of a resource and theological perspective guide on Eco Justice is being worked on, with inputs from all of the regions.

Are YOU sustainable?Sick of cleaning your flat with expensive and industrial detergents?

Did you know that with only 3 cheap and simple products you can clean your entire home, in a healthy and eco-friendly way?

All you need is white vinegar, baking soda and lemon!

White vinegar and lemon have good disinfectant properties and baking soda has abrasive properties. Combin-ing those properties in self-made detergents allows you to clean all, starting from the floors to the bathroom and kitchen. These products are also good stain removers. In addition, baking soda and lemon can help you to avoid unpleasant smell in the fridge, and white vinegar is quite efficient to remove calcium scales from your coffee maker or your pipework.

For a multipurpose detergent : mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda in 2 litres of hot water. Add a glass of white vinegar and few drops of lemon essential oil. Shake this solution before each use. Dilute it in cold water to clean the floors.

Green Politics Events2013 so far has been an important year for the visibil-ity of environmental development and sustainability issues.

For example 2013 was the United Nations Interna-tional Year of Water Cooperation. This initiative aims to raise awareness about the potential for increased co-operation, and about the challenges of the successful water management. Events related to environmental issues were specifically dedicated to this subject, such as the World Water Day (22nd of March), or the Inter-national Day for Biological Diversity (22nd of May)

• In 2013 also new thematic days have been intro-duced, such as the 1st International Day of For-ests and the Tree (21st of March), which aims to put the focus on the necessary protection for forests and to promote sustainable livelihoods for all forest-dependent people. The 1st Africa Food Security conference has taken place the 20th-21st of August in Nairobi, Kenya, and was

organised in cooperation by UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Food and Agriculture Or-ganisation (FAO), governments, research institu-tions, and NGOs. Plenary sessions and panel dis-cussions were focusing on the theme “Harnessing Ecosystem Based Approaches for food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change in Africa”

• The World Environment Day on the initia-tive of UNEP has taken place the 5th of June

• Furthermore, regular international rendez-vous for international climate discussions will take place at the 19th Conference of the Par-ties (COP 19) to the United Nations Frame-work Convention on Climate Change (UNF-CCC) in Warsaw, Poland, 11th-22nd November.

• And don’t forgethe world car-free day (22nd of September) and the 2nd Youth Actio n Day for Climate Justice (7th of December).

EYCE Upcoming EventsPlease find out below about EYCE’s upcoming events for 2013, the last year of EYCE’s Campaign to Pro-mote Ecological Justice, and for 2014, the first year of EYCE new campaign: “Break the chains! : EYCE Campaign to overcome poverty”. Get involved in shaping the future you wish to see tomorrow and for the future generations!

• 26th January - 2nd February 2014: “Looking for a Brighter Future! A training course to foster soli-darity in Europe and strengthen the participation of young people”, Malaga, Spain

• 13th -20th April 2014 : “Links of Poverty: a train-ing course to challenge the patterns of poverty”, Sofia, Bulgaria

• 29th June - 6th July 2014: “Say no to Hate! Young

people addressing hate speech from an interreli-gious perspective”, European Youth Centre in Bu-dapest, Hungary

• 16th - 20th November 2014: “Food, Land and Wa-ter. A training course to promote fair distribution of natural resources in the framework of ecologi-cal justice”, Moscow region, Russia

• For National Correspondents: National Corre-spondents meeting will take place from 10th - 13th October 2014 in Romania

For more information follow us on www.facebook.com/EYCEecoJustce or

www.eyce.org!

Imprint

Published by Ecumenical Youth Council in Europein the framework of the EYCE’s Campaign to Pro-mote Ecological Justice

Editing: Benjamin Mlýnek, Philipp RuessProofreading: Tina Barnett, Ross Bartelt, Hilary KeachieLayout: Benjamin Mlýnek

Copyright:© Photos: EYCE and respective contributors© Cover Photo: Marcus Kuemin, www.marcuskuemin.com© Design: EYCE© Cartoon: Erdem Çolak

ISSN 2294-1573

This magazine has been published thanks to the support form the Council of Europe and Otto per mille Chiesa Valdense.

The Leaf 5th edition

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