#sustainabilityinmelbourne

[poordogseeksgod]

‘Environment & Faith’ (Workshop)

G’day & Chao (hello in Vietnamese),

How are your endeavours going in July?

After a busy weekend of volunteering at the ‘Open House’ event and helping out at a film shooting, I can finally rest for the next couple of days. I feel great that I am writing this on my desk with the window open and the view of the blue sky... 

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In my last post, I mentioned that my next post will be about the ‘Anthropocene’ talk I attended. I recently borrowed a book related to this topic and plan to do a review of the book which means I need to finish reading the book first! 

In the meantime, I will share you my experience of participating at a workshop on the concept of ‘eco-faith...’

I am looking over my jotted notes recorded on the 22nd of July. I happened to find an event that links with my values on the environment and our spiritual/moral stewardship/duty towards it. Oh Facebook - thank you for the notification! 

Have you heard of the ‘Australian Religious Response to Climate Change’ (ARRCC)? They’re a ‘multi-faith’ organisation involved in environmental protection(especially climate change), by engaging in dialogue with faith networks to advocate and promote ‘climate justice’ for public policies and our society. 

I am grateful to have met different people with different professions, disciplines and faith backgrounds who were zealous about advocating for sustainability!

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Here’s my experience of the day...

After having soup that warmed our bellies on that very chilly day, we began the workshop by listening to a discussion - Five panelists shared a short testimony of their story about their values of ‘faith and the environment.’

Fig. 1 - Facilitator Andrea introducing the five panelists.

1. Jonathan Keren-Black 

He grew up in a ‘Jewish’ family and is a ‘Rabbi.’

He referenced some bible passages but from a ‘Jewish’ perspective.

“Our responsibility to protect the Earth to pass it on to other generations...”

2. Andrea Mayes

She works as an ecologist and for the Uniting Church in Australia.

“At church, the environment was not talked a lot...”

3. Swarupa Shakti Dasi

She represented her Hindu community. I was intrigued by her views about the ‘universal’ language of our relationship with mother nature. 

“Animals and plants are us too...”

4. Robert Thomas

He was raised up Christian and then was influenced by Buddhist principles. 

“I wanted to use eastern references of spirituality...”

5. Imam Riad Galil

He is the multi-faith chaplain at Deakin University with Muslim roots.

Workshop 1 - 'Spreading the word’

I have heard of testimonies of ‘faith’ and ‘spirituality’ but ‘eco-conversion/testimony’ was new to me.

Our group were given a worksheet of supporting questions to frame our story about our connection between our faith & the environment. 

1. Who are you? What values/faith tradition(s)/practices informed the way that you were raised? And how did they help you define the way you live now?

2. Have you ever experienced God/the divine/unity/love, in nature? If so, how did that experience influence the way you think/live?

3. What would you like to see change regarding the way we as a society think about/interact with the environment?

What are you doing now to make that change possible?

Fig. 1 - Facilitator Angela sharing her eco-conversion story...

Workshop 2 - ‘Problem-solving’

Our group brainstormed the main issues of raising opinions of environmental initiatives with the community and public.

Some challenges I remember:

- Lack of research 

- Heart & compassion

- Lack of ‘education’

TAKEAWAYS:

- Speaker Alex Sangster of Fairfield Uniting Church proposed a solution to work with our community.

Creating allies - ‘preparing’ the ‘groundwork’ to engage in a conversation about the environment and faith by:

- educating, learning & information 

- combine the above with sharing ‘stories’ from one another’s experiences.

http://www.arrcc.org.au/climate-action-kits

Fig. 3 - Icebreaker activity called ‘Spectrum.’ Finding everyone’s views on...

QUESTION TIME:

- What do you think of the integration of spiritual/religious values and environmental activism?

- Is a ‘inter-religious’ organisation/community more effective than an organisation with a single religious belief? Why or why not?

Would you like to know my answers to Workshop 1 & 2 questions? Read my thoughts on: https://medium.com/@juliannewrites (06/08 - need to do)

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That’s all folks! What do you think?

The next post will be about the ‘ANTHROPOCENE.’ (I went to a talk event to hear a professor give his thoughts on the new book - Defiant Earth).

Until then, Chao! (also goodbye in Vietnamese)

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I am intrigued to hear your thoughts/opinions on this subject matter. Let’s create a growing dialogue from different peoples’ experiences and disciplines!

email me at: jn.sustainability@gmail.com

or use the ask box above!

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Having a ‘dialogue’ is crucial in the 21st century. We need to have every citizen share their experiences and thoughts on ‘sustainability’ in general. We can then carry everyone’s voices of different disciplines, in the designs of the built environment to produce ‘good’ buildings. To our future descendants, see you soon...

Event references:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1852960241633820/

http://www.arrcc.org.au/environment_faith_workshop

Photographs retrieved from Jonathan Keren Black of ARRCC.

31/07 - First draft

06/08 - Second draft