Most of my travel in 2006 was related to the Baha'i Faith and activities of Baha'i-inspired organizations.
For example, the European Baha'i Business Forum (http://www.ebbf.org)
has an active partnership with AIESEC, the international organization
of students of business and commerce, so I often get invitations to
speak at AIESEC events. In 2006 one of the AIESEC themes was energy,
and EBBF Italy asked me to participate in the weekend institute that
they organize each year in February at the Baha'i study centre in
Acuto, a hilltop village south of Rome, for selected AIESEC
representatives from universities all over Italy. AIESECers are a very
dynamic and stimulating group, so after my presentations on the energy
challenge and its implications for business and society, they prepared
various skits and artistic presentations aimed to convince world
leaders to take action on energy.
AIESEC/EBBF institute at Acuto
A skit about energy
I also participated in the EBBF Annual Conference in de Poort, the Netherlands, in September.
de Poort conference centre
With the nice weather, some of the activities were outside in the beautiful gardens.
In the summer I visited my brother Greg and his family in Bulgaria, and
we went together to (the former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia to give classes at the Baha'i Summer
Gathering (as they call their summer school) on the shores of Lake
Ohrid. There was a wonderful diversity of participants, including
Macedonians, Albanians, Turks and a significant contingent of Roms.
The school was held at a beachfront resort on Lake Ohrid in western
Macedonia, so there was always something to do after classes.
There were lectures, workshops, and various artistic activities.
There were songs and performances by the children, youth and adults. Everyone had a lot of fun.
The beauty of the environment also added to the spirit of the summer gathering.
Morning on Lake Ohrid
Since we had to cross all of Macedonia to get to Ohrid, we saw typical
Macedonian landscapes, with hills and forests, fields of tobacco, and
drier areas.
Later in the year we returned to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia to give workshops at an AIESEC conference for national officers.
In mid-September the International Environment Forum, the
Baha'i-inspired organization for the environment and sustainability of
which I am president, held its annual conference at Oxford University,
in Balliol College where the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi
Effendi, studied nearly 90 years ago. For more information and
photographs of the conference, see the IEF web site at http://www.bcca.org/ief/conf10.htm. Balliol College is one of the oldest in the university, with buildings surrounding peaceful inner quadrangles and gardens.
Entrance to Balliol College
inside the college
Commons from outside
Inside the commons
IEF Conference dinner in the church basement