Pipal Tree /  Dialogues en humanité Invites you to February Dialogues on “The spiritual, intellectual and social-transformational Challenges before us” to be held at Fireflies Ashram (Bangalore, India) between 15th-19th February 2012 about :

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Sagesses et savoirs traditionels pour construire l'avenir 15-19 February 2012, Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore, India
Never before has human civilization been faced with a challenge of such enormous magnitude. Climate change is already beginning to have devastating effects on the lives of millions. In India, the Himalayan glaciers are predicted to melt in the next 30 years or so. The great rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, are predicted to either run dry or have little water.
There will be millions of farmers and landless labourers who will become climate change refugees. Much of Bangladesh will go under water in the few decades. Where will the over 100 million people go? Many parts of the world will be in a similar situation.

CLIMAT JUSTICE ET FUTURS DURABLES

C'est avec grand plaisir que nous vous annonçons l'événement des Dialogues en Humanité 2012. Les thèmes principaux porteront sur le climat, la justice et les futurs durables. Nous espérons continuer à progresser en nous basant sur l'expérience des Dialogues précédents.

Chauqe année qui passe nous alerte sur le fait que nous devons développer la conscience universelle concernant la crise climatique et que nous devons agir en ressentant l'urgence de la situation.

Ces Dialogues rassembleront des mouvements sociaux, des ONGs, des syndicats de fermiers et de populations indigènes, des leaders religieux et de politiciens. Environ 75 participants du monde entier, dont la moitié en provenance d'Inde nous rejoindront.

ORIENTATIONS ET OBJECTIFS:

• Le potentiel pour les mouvements alternatifs de se renforcer est maintenant une réalité. Le printemps arabe, les protestations et manifestations des Indignés devant Wall Street et la colère des communités de par le monde témoignent de ce nouveau contexte émergeant rempli de promesses. Les mouvements sociaux et d'autres organisations de la société civile ont urgentmment besoin de s'inclure dans le nouveau paradigme du développement durable..
• Durant cet événement, les traditions religieuses de différentes communautés seront présentées, incluant des perspectives de spiritualité séculaire. Toutes ces réflexions tenteront de conduire et d'évoluer vers une pratique d'action-réflexion nouvelle se basant sur une véritable compréhension des valeurs de la communauté ainsi que sur les pratiques spirituelles et religieuses qui encouragent l'espoir et donnent une force intérieure dans le combat pour une justice climatique.
• Avec l'augmentation alarmante de l'agro-business, les mouvements de petits fermiers changent de stratégies pour à la fois innover et confronter, particulièrement en ce qui concerne les options à la souveraineté alimentaire incluant l'agriculture avec un indice carbone minime, des mesures d'adaptation et des politiques de justice climatique. Les mouvements des fermiers partageront leurs expériences pour combattre l'agro-business et pour le renouveau de ces mouvements dans un contexte de montée des prix de l'alimentaire et plus largement de modèles climatiques imprévisibles. Nous essaierons aussi de concentrer nos efforts afin de définir ce que justice climatique singifierait pour les petits paysans qui se débattent au quotidien.
• Des options alternatives innovantes de développement durable émergent dans le combat des Adivasi (aborigènes indiens) au sein des forêts et en dehors des forêts. Qu'est-ce que cela signifie dans le cadre d'un nouveau paradigme de développement? Nous souhaitons aussi mettre l'accent sur les defies de déplacement de populations auxquelles les communautés de la forêt sont confrontées, y compris les préoccupations d'efforts de reforestation afin de baisser le taux carbone/stratégie d'atténuation du taux carbone.
• Cette conférence rassemblera des mouvements sociaux d'importance, des ONGs et d'autres acteurs de la société civile ayant une vision d'équité énergétique pour les pauvres et une vision de la politique énergétique juste. Nous explorerons comment populariser ces perspectives et stratégies.
• Nous espérons approfondir les réflexions concernant la transformation des gouvernements et des institutions pour la justice climatique. Dans les années à venir, les migrations liées au changement climatique, à la fois sur le plan national et international va générer de très grands problèmes. Il est très urgent de mettre en place des lois et des institutions de dimensions nationale et internationale concernant ces soucis en invitant autour de la table les communautés vulnérables.

Programme

15 February, Wednesday

04:00 pm : The February Dialogues: Objectives and Orientations
                  Siddhartha (Founder, Pipal Tree & Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore)
                  Genevieve (Co-Founder, Dialogues en Humanite, Lyon)
05:00 pm : Self-introductions and Sharing of Expectations

06:00 pm : Mandala Ceremony

06:30 pm : Awakening the Dreamer
                  Sister Gail Worcello (Co-Founder, Green Mountain Monastery, Vermont)
                  Chair: Orla Hazra

16 February, Thursday

09:30 am : Challenges Before Food Sovereignty in the Context of Climate Change       
                  Devinder Sharma (Food and Trade Policy Analyst and Journalist, New Delhi)
                  Chair: Siddhartha (Founder, Pipal Tree & Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore)

10:30 am : Panel on 'Climate Justice and Sustainable Futures'
                  Jeevan Kumar (Director, Centre for Gandhian Studies, Bangalore University)
                  Ashwani Vasishth (Director, Sustainability Studies, Ramapo College, New Jersey)
                  Genevieve Ancel (Dialogues en Humanite, Lyon)

11:30 am : Tea break

12:00 noon : Panel on ‘Climate Justice and Sustainable Futures’ continues

12:30 pm : Alternative Energy:  Experiments from a Biomass Project      
                  Adarsh Bavikatte (Mechanical Engineering Student, Bangalore)

01:15 pm : Lunch

02:15 pm : Alternate Eco-friendly Design and Construction
                  Satya Prakash Varanasi (Architect and Columnist in ‘The Hindu’ on Urban Planning)

03:15 pm : Creative Responses to Climate Change: Rethinking Knowledge, Transforming
                  Societies and Realizing Bio-happiness
                  Ananta Kumar Giri (Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai)
                  Henryane de Chaponay (Founder, Centre for Latin American Studies - CEDAL, Paris)
                  Chair: Anjali Gera Roy (Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
                  Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur)

04:30 pm : Tea break

05:30 pm : Understanding Eco-spiritual Art of Fireflies
                  Siddhartha (Founder, Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore)

07:00 pm : Documentary

17 February, Friday

09:30 am : Climate Justice: Insights from Faith Traditions
                  Jean-Claude Basset (President, Inter-religious Platform of Geneva)
                  Siddhartha (Founder, Pipal Tree & Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore)
                  Debora Nunes (Professor, University of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil)
                  Trish Glazebrook (Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies,
                  University of North Texas, USA)
                  Chair: Radha Kunke

11:30 am : Tea break

12 noon : Culture and Climate Justice
                 John Clammer (Visiting Professor, United Nations University, Tokyo)

01:00 pm : Lunch

02:00 pm : Durban: Fiasco or Modest Hope?
                  Walter Mendoza (Member, Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change)

03:00 pm : Towards a Poetics of Possibility: Critical Spirituality as a Resource for Framing
                  Sustainable Futures
                  Marcus Bussey (Lecturer, World History/Sustainable Futures, University of Sunshine
                  Coast’s Sustainability Research Centre)

04:00 pm : Tea break

07:00 pm : Dialogues en Humanite; Brazil event

18 February, Saturday

09:30 am : Challenges Before Food Sovereignty: Experiences from the Field
                  Julie-Vivek Cariappa (Organic Farmers, Savayava Krishikara Sangha, Mysore)
                  Bablu Ganguly (Dharani Farmers Cooperative / Timbaktu Collective, Andhra Pradesh)
11:00 am : Tea break

11:30 am : Vision for Sustainable Futures
                  Patrick Viveret (Philosopher and Political Thinker, Paris)    

12:30 noon : (To be fixed)

01:30 pm : Lunch

02:30 pm : Panel: Moving towards Sustainable Futures
                  Ashwani Vasishth (Director, Sustainability Studies, Ramapo College, New Jersey)
                  Jeevan Kumar (Director, Centre for Gandhian Studies, Bangalore University)
                  Henryane de Chaponay (Founder, Centre for Latin American Studies - CEDAL, Paris)
                  M.P. Parameswaran (Former Director of KSSP - Kerala Science Forum)
                  Emerson Sales (Professor, University of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil)
                  Nicolas Krausz (Foundation for the Progress of Human Kind, Switzerland)
                  Chair: Genevieve Ancel (Co-founder, Dialogue en Humanite, Lyon-France)

04:00 pm : Tea break

07:00 pm : Documentary

19 February, Sunday

09:30 am : Reflections on the Declarations from the 2012 February Dialogues

12:00 noon : Music Festival begins (12 Noon to 10:00 pm)

FESTIVAL DE MUSIQUE

Les réflexions des Dialogues de Février 2012 termineront le dimanche 19 février matin où une déclaration sera partagée avec tous les participants.

Cette dernière sera lue au public du Festival de Musique annuel qui aura lieu du 19 Février de midi à 22H00. (Les participants sont invités à rester jusqu'à la fin du festival car les meilleurs groupes joueront à partir de 19H)

HEBERGEMENT

Nous nous occupons du logis et du couvert pour les participants du 15 février au 20 février.

PARTICIPATION

Comme nous ne pouvons loger qu'un nombre limité de participants, merci de nous informer bien à l'avance. Pour les nouveaux participants aux Dialogues en février, merci de nous adresser un petite note concernant votre implication dans les thèmes mentionnés ci-dessus.

CLIMATE JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURES

It gives us great pleasure to announce the February Dialogues 2012 event. The focus will be on Climate Justice and Sustainable Futures. We are hoping to build on the experience of previous Dialogues.

Each year that goes by alerts us to the fact that we must spread awareness of the climate crisis and act with a sense of urgency.

These Dialogues will bring together social movements, NGOs, unions of farmers and indigenous peoples, religious leaders and policy makers. About 75 participants will come from all over the world, with half from India.

ORIENTATIONS AND OBJECTIVES:

• The potential for alternative movements to become stronger is now very real. The Arab spring, the protests on Wall Street and the anger of communities all over the world bear witness to a new context that is potentially full of promise. Social movements and other civil society organizations urgently need to usher in a new paradigm of sustainable ‘development’.
• At this event there will be presentations from different community and religious traditions, including perspectives of secular spirituality. All these reflections will attempt to evolve fresh action-reflection praxis based on a critical understanding of community values and spiritual and religious practices that foster hope and give inner strength in the fight for climate justice.
• With the alarming rise of agribusiness, small farmers’ movements are evolving strategies to confront and innovate simultaneously, especially on just food sovereignty options that include low carbon farming, adaptation measures and climate justice policies. Farmers’ movements will share their experiences of fighting agribusiness and renewing small farmers’ movements in a new context of rising food prices and wildly unpredictable weather patterns. There will also be an attempt to focus on efforts to define what climate justice would mean to struggling small farmers.
• Innovative alternative sustainable development options are emerging from adivasi (tribal) struggles within and outside forests. What does this mean for a new paradigm of development? We also hope to focus on the displacement challenges which forest communities are facing, including concerns with reforestation efforts as part of a carbon sink/mitigation strategy.
• This conference will bring together significant social movements, NGOs and other civil society actors who have a vision of energy equity for the poor and a just alternative energy policy. How to popularize these perspectives and strategies will be explored.
• We hope to deepen reflections related to transforming governance and institutions for Climate Justice. In the years to come, both internal and international migration related to climate change will become huge issues. There is great urgency to put in place national and international laws and institutions around these issues with the participation of vulnerable communities.

MUSIC FESTIVAL

The reflections of the February Dialogues 2012 will end on Sunday, 19th February morning, where a declaration emerging from the Dialogues will be shared among the participants.

The same will be read out to the audience of the annual Fireflies Festival of Music which will be held on 19th February from 12 noon to 10:00 pm. (Participants are requested to remain till the end of the festival as the best groups will perform after 7:00 pm)

ACCOMMODATION

We will take care of board and lodge of participants from 15th February to 20th February.

PARTICIPATION

As we can only accommodate a limited number of participants, please inform us well in advance. For new participants to the February Dialogues may we request you to send us a short note of your involvement in the issues mentioned above.

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The impact of climate change in rural areas
“Values and practices that promote food security in the context of climate change”

16th to19th February 2011
Fireflies Ashram, Bangalore, India
(The February Dialogues is an annual event of Fireflies Inter-religious ashram and
Dialogues en Humanites, Lyon)

This conference will serve to integrate traditional knowledge with modern scientific practices to face the challenge of climate change in the area of food security and food sovereignty ([1]). Insights will also be drawn from cultural and religious traditions to motivate communities to act with a sense of urgency.

The impact of climate change in rural areas

Climate change in India will mean increase in surface temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, increase in the frequency of floods and droughts, the melting of the Himalayan glaciers and rise in sea-levels.  Changes in rainfall patterns and temperature will affect local water availability, disturbing the optimal cultivation period available for particular crops. According to some estimates, almost 40% of the agricultural production potential in some developing countries could be lost. Those most seriously affected will be farmers in dry-land regions where agriculture is rain-fed, and only one crop is grown per year.

Cereal production potential will decrease substantially in many developing countries. Rice production in India will decrease by almost a tonne/hectare if the temperature goes up 2^oC. By 2050, about half of India's prime wheat production area could get heat-stressed, with the cultivation window becoming smaller, affecting productivity. For each 1^oC rise in mean temperature, wheat yield losses in India are likely to be around 7 million tonnes per year, or around US $ 1.5 billion at current prices. Similar figures could apply to many countries in Africa and Asia. The emphasis on growing rice and wheat and the neglect of millets will have to be drastically corrected in the interests of food security and food sovereignty.

The current preoccupation in the international discourses on climate change is, however, on mitigation of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. There is very little official discourse on how the affected communities need to adapt to face the consequences of climate change.

The need to integrate peoples’ traditional values, practices and religious insights in a holistic manner to meet the challenge of food security cannot be overstressed.

Existing understanding of desirable adaptation strategies in rural areas

A huge challenge lies before farmers in the years ahead. To deal with the challenge of climate change farmers might find it useful to follow an ecosystem approach.

The ecosystem approach integrates traditional and modern agricultural practices. It involves crop rotations, bio-organic fertilisers and biological pest control. This approach improves soil health and water retention, increases fertile top soil, reduces soil erosion and maintains productivity over the long term. This was more or less how most farmers cultivated before the green revolution changed the trend.

Agricultural biodiversity is central to an agro-ecosystem approach to food production. The more diverse the agro-ecosystem, the more efficient the network of insects and micro-organisms, that control pests and disease. Building resilience in agro ecosystems and farming communities, improving adaptive capacity and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is the way to cope.

A knowledge-intensive rather than input-intensive approach should be adopted to develop adaptation strategies. A special package for adaptation should be developed for rainfed areas based on minimising risk. Some of the elements that need to be emphasised in this package are:

• Millets constitute the food of the future since it does not need irrigation and can grow in dryland with just a few rains. Millets are also far superior to rice as far as nutritional values are concerned. Millets are the answer to water shortages for agriculture and rising temperatures. Finger millet can also grow in saline conditions, while pearl millet is right for sandy soils. (There are already campaigns going on urging the government to include millets in the public distribution system. It is a scandal that this has not been done).
• Traditional knowledge can play a significant role in adapting to climate change. Drought and flood resistant seed varieties must be identified, documented and promoted. The need to conserve the genetic diversity of crops in collaboration with local communities cannot be overstressed.
• Around 3000 to 5000 litres of water is needed to produce 1 Kg of rice in the traditional method. SRI use 30% less water. If the SRI method is practised about 8,42,000 litres of water can be saved for each acre. This method can also reduce flooding induced methane emissions.
• Kitchen gardens need to be popularised to compensate for shortfalls in food and nutrition from climate-related yield losses.
• About 60% of our cultivated area comes under the semi-arid rainfed category. Farm ponds, fertiliser trees and biogas plants must be actively promoted in such areas.
• Extreme weather conditions can lead to droughts and floods. There is a need to look at the restoration and renovation of traditional water storage units. But fresh innovations are also needed to deal with water supply reliability, flood risk, drought and agriculture.
• Farmers should be given adequate information about new pests and diseases. Mechanisms should be put in place to evolve integrated pest management strategies at the local level, keeping in mind the advance of climate change.
• Given that there are 13 major and 127 micro agro-climatic zones in the country there is a need to have information relevant to local conditions. Basic agromet stations should be put in place in each agro-climatic zone. This is vital to develop local adaptive strategies. (The India Meteorological Department claims to provide district level advisories to farmers through the Agrometeorological Advisory Service. It claims that farmers who use this agromet service have made a net gain of around 10 per cent. This needs to be checked out).
• A rat-free national grid of grain storages needs to be put in place. In addition household and community bins/grain banks to modern silos at the district level must be established to ensure local food security and stabilise prices.
• Agricultural credit and insurance systems must be made more comprehensive and responsive to the needs of small farmers.
• For some years now various NGOs have been promoting fuel efficient stoves that will offset the high GHG emitting stoves. It is estimated that about 86% of the rural households depend on biomass for their primary energy source. The ordinary stoves create air pollution and use too much wood. The improved stoves will be saving about 500 kg of fuel wood per family per annum. The destruction of forests for fuel wood will also be reduced.
• Energy from bio-gas must be promoted. This will have the added effect of preventing methane release from cattle dung. Unfortunately bio-gas production has not become popular in rural areas despite efforts to promote it.

The conference will cover the following areas:

• Exploring the potential of religions and spiritualities to motivate people to combat climate change and understand the challenges posed to food security and sovereignty.
• Rural adaptation options available at the local level.
• The experiences of civil society organisations and farmers who promote integration of climate-resilient strategies in regular development activities.
• Strategies to mainstream community based adaptation experiences into national and international development policies.

Participants:

Participants will be drawn from South Asia, a few African countries, Asia, Europe and North America (if funds permit).   Most participants will represent farmers’ organisations and civil society organisations working in the rural context. There will also be people who are agricultural/climate change experts, policy makers, journalists and cultural and religious thinkers.

Follow-up:

The results of this programme will be disseminated through a book, website, email bulletins, and through meetings of the GRAIN ([2]) network and other networks.

Music festival:

Fireflies Festival of Sacred Music: http://www.fireflies.org.in/

The participants to the February Dialogues will be treated to a spectacular all-night music festival which will start on 19^th evening. About 3000 people are expected at this festival where the theme of food security and sovereignty will be promoted.

([1]) While food security implies the ability of a country to provide food for all its citizens food sovereignty emphasises the importance of peasants being able to feed themselves independent of the public distribution system or the market.

([2]) GRAIN stands for “Global Rural Adaptation Initiatives”. It is a network of farmers, rural community organisations, agricultural experts and media. The objective of this programme is to evolve and implement rural adaptation strategies in the context of climate change.

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What is the good life ?
Valeurs et spiritualités pour relever le défi de la justice sociale et du changement climatique

Du 17 au 20 Février 2010
Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore, India

Aujourd’hui, notre société fait face à une crise écologique d’une grande ampleur : les changements climatiques actuels commencent à avoir d’énormes répercussions sur la vie de million de gens dans le monde. C’est effectivement le cas en Inde par exemple où le réchauffement climatique risque de faire fondre les glaciers himalayens au bout des trente ans à venir et qu’une grande partie du Bangladesh se retrouvera dès lors enseveli sous l’eau ; ou encore que les grands fleuves, notamment le Gange et le Brahmapoutre, soient asséchés progressivement. En conséquence, plusieurs millions d’agriculteurs et de paysans sans terre, peuvent se retrouver réfugiés pour des raisons de survie. Où vont aller tous ces gens ? De nombreuses régions dans le monde vont se retrouver dans une situation similaire, que faire ?

Le temps d’agir :

Il est temps d’agir ensemble pour sauver l’humanité, car nous sommes encore en mesure d’éviter une telle catastrophe majeure. Si nous commençons à mettre en pratique les stratégies d'atténuation et d'adaptation nécessaires, nous pouvons parvenir au bout des famines et sauver la vie de centaines de millions de personnes.

C’est en réactions à tous ces problèmes que  Fireflies interreligieux Ashram et les Dialogues en Humanité ont été organisé en Février 2010 sous le thème « What is’s the good life ? ». Ces dialogues se sont déroulés dans un beau village en dehors de Bangalore, dans le sud de l’Inde, et se sont tenue du 17 février à 16H, jusqu’au 20 février à 15H ; avec un festival musical en clôture de l’événement. 3 000 participants se sont joints à l’événement.

A l'initiative de Siddhartha, directeur du centre interculturel Fire Flies (lucioles), 3 000 participants se sont joints à l’événement dont Vandana Shiva, Bablu CK Ganguly.

What is the good life ?
Values and spiritualities to face the challenges of social justice and climate change

17-20 February 2010
Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram, Bangalore, India

Never before has human civilization been faced with a challenge of such enormous magnitude. Climate change is already beginning to have devastating effects on the lives of millions. In India, the Himalayan glaciers are predicted to melt in the next 30 years or so. The great rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, are predicted to either run dry or have little water.
There will be millions of farmers and landless labourers who will become climate change refugees. Much of Bangladesh will go under water in the few decades. Where will the over 100 million people go ? Many parts of the world will be in a similar situation.

It is time to act :

It is time to find the psychological and spiritual motivation that can galvanise us into action.
If we begin to act today we will still be able to avert a major catastrophe. If we begin to put into practice the mitigation and adaptation strategies needed we can prevent famines and save the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
It is with these objectives in mind that Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram and Dialogues en Humanité are launching its February Dialogues: ‘What is the good life?’ The February Dialogues will begin at 4pm on 17th February and end by 3pm on 20th afternoon.
The all-night music festival will begin at 7pm on 20th February. The venue will be Fireflies Interreligious Ashram, in a beautiful village, outside Bangalore, in the south of India.

PROGRAMME :

17 February 2010, Wednesday

04:00 – 05:00 pm : Registration
05:00 – 05:15 pm : Welcome and introduction to the February Dialogues 2010
                              Siddhartha (Founder, Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram and Pipal Tree,
                              (Bangalore) & Genevieve Ancel (Dialogues en Humanité, Lyon)
05:15 – 05:45 pm : Self-introductions by the participants
                               Lighting the lamp and Flower Mandala
05:45 – 06:15 pm : Why we think “What is the good life?” is important for peace
                              and social justice
                              Henryane de Chaponay (Internationally known expert on
                              sustainable futures, social justice and human rights.
                              Founder: Cedal, Paris.)
                              Chairperson: Jean Fischer (Foundation for the Progress of
                              Humankind, Lausanne, Switzerland)
6:15 – 07:15 pm : Climate justice after Copenhagen: implications for the poor
                               and excluded populations
                               Walter Mendoza (Director, CED-Bangalore, and member of INECC,
                               Vishakapatanam)
                               Chairperson: Joseph Tharamangalam (Emeritus Professor,
                               Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Canada)
08:00 pm : Dinner

18 February 2010, Thursday

08:00 – 09:00 am : Breakfast
09:00 – 11:00 am : Ecosystems and climate change: Testimonies and reflections
                               Panelists:
                               Arid regions: Bablu Ganguly (Timbaktu Collective, Andhra Pradesh)
                               Urban regions: Genevieve Ancel (Dialogues en Humanité, Lyon)
                               Forest regions: Roy David (CORD, Kushal Nagar, Karnataka)
                              Coastal regions: T. Peter (Fisherfolk Movement, Kerala)
                              Chairperson: Anne Marie le Moing (contribution from Mexican
                              experience)
11:00 – 11:30 am : Tea break
11:30 – 12:00 pm : Ecosystems and climate change: Session continues
12:00 – 01:00 pm : Primal cultures and climate justice
                               Jyoti Sahi (Founder, Art Ashram, Bangalore) &
                              Meghnath (Film maker and adivasi action concerns, Ranchi)
                              Chairperson: Vyasaprasad (Narayana Gurukula, Ooty)
01:00 – 02:00 pm : Lunch
02:00 – 03:00 pm : Sustainable lifestyles: A personal perspective
                               Jane Sahi (Founder, Sita School, Bangalore)
                               Chairperson: Tapas Bhatt (Social researcher, Paris)
03:00 – 04:00 pm : Christianity and climate justice
                               Fr. Allwyn D’Silva & Judy Siqueira
                               Chairperson: James Morley (Ramapo College, New Jersey)
04:00 – 04:30 pm : Tea break
04:30 – 05:30 pm : Walk around Fireflies (presentation by Siddhartha)
07:30 – 08:00 pm : Media involvement to combat climate change
                               Francoise Scholler (European desk, French television)
                               Chairperson: Ananda Siddhartha (Fireflies, Bangalore)
08:00 pm : Dinner

19 February 2010, Friday

08:00 – 09:00 am : Breakfast
09:00 – 09:15 am : Summary of the main insights and experiences from the
                               previous day
09:15 – 10:15 am : Islam, climate change and social justice
                              Asghar Ali Engineer (Centre for Study of Society and Secularism,
                              Mumbai)
                              Chairperson: Walter Mendoza (CED, Bangalore)
10:15 – 11:15 am : Women subsistence farmers and climate change in North-
                               East Ghana
                               Trish Glazebook, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
                               Chairperson: G.N.S. Reddy (BAIF Institute for Rural Development,
                               Karnataka)
11:15 – 11:45 am : Tea break
11:45 – 01:00 pm : The significance of Gandhi in the context of climate change
                               D. Jeevan Kumar (Director, Institute of Gandhian Studies, Bangalore
                               University)
                               Chairperson: Radha Kunke (Director, Architecture and Development)
01:00 – 02:00 pm : Lunch
02:00 – 03:00 pm : Culture and climate justice
                               Ananta Kumar Giri (author and faculty member of Madras Institute
                               of Development Studies, Chennai) &
                               John Clammer (United Nations University, Tokyo)
                               Chairperson: Ruma Sen (Ramapo College, New Jersey)
03:00 – 04:00 pm : Hinduism and climate justice
                               Makarand Paranjape (Author and Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru
                               University, New Delhi) & Siddhartha (Fireflies Inter-religious Ashram)
                               Chairperson: Raghu Anantanarayan (Sumedas, Chennai)
04:00 – 04:30 pm : Tea break
06:30 – 08:00 pm : The dominant model of development, exclusion and climate
                               change and sustainable communities
                               Vandana Shiva (Author, Internationally renowned environmental
                               campaigner and Founder Director of Navdanya and Foundation for
                               Research in Science, Technology and Ecology)
                               Chairperson: Bablu Ganguly (Timbaktu Collective, Andhra Pradesh)
08:00 pm : Dinner

20 February 2010, Saturday

09:00 – 10:00 am : After Copenhagen: An action oriented people’s approach
                               Praful Bidwai (Journalist, New Delhi)
                               Chairperson: Siddhartha (Fireflies, Bangalore)
10:00 – 11:00 am : Group work: Revisiting the good life in terms of practical
                               alternatives/What is to be done
11:00 – 11:30 am : Tea break
11:30 – 01:00 pm : Concluding plenary
                               Ashwani Vasishth (Director, Masters Programme in Sustainable
                               Studies, Ramapo College, New Jersey), Genevieve Ancel, Siddhartha,
                               Radha Kunke, Jeevan Kumar
01:00 – 02:00 pm : Lunch
07:00 pm : The Fireflies Music Festival (20th 7:00 pm to 21st 7:00 am)
                  (We will be presenting the Fireflies International Award for
                  advancing Human and Earth Freedoms, 2010, to Henryane de
                  Chaponay during the festival.
                  Vandana Shiva will briefly address the people present at the
                  Fireflies Music Festival.)

Pipal Tree

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