The Netherlands
I went to the Netherlands on 19-27 March, primarily to participate in the Justice
Conference on 25-27 March at the de Poort Conference Centre, where I
presented a keynote on "Using the
new UN 2030 Agenda to work for justice at the local level", and
ran a workshop with Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen on the Paris Climate
Agreement negotiations (see the IEF
report).
Before the conference I spent several
days with Sylvia and Onno Vinkhuyzen and their boys Erasmus and Elion in
Heelsum, starting with a couple of Naw-Ruz parties for the Bahá'í New Year,
where I gave a presentation on the artist Mark Tobey. On 21 March I spoke at
the Impulse forum at Wageningen University on "Is Science Enough? Exploring
the relationship of science and religion in addressing sustainable
development" where about 36 students and faculty members came for a
discussion over lunch. In the evening I went to Amsterdam for a fireside at
a university professor's apartment on "What will it take to keep the planet
habitable?".
Some guests at the Vinkhuyzens in Heelsum
The next day I went back to Wageningen University for several hours of
discussions with the researchers in the coral reef group, and gave a seminar
on "Management of coral reef ecosystems", concluding with a dinner with the
Professor and a number of other researchers. Wednesday was a fireside at the
VInkhuyzen's on "Walking the Spiritual Path with Practical Feet: A Bahá'í
Approach to Sustainable Development" including two videos on Bahá'í-inspired
development activities in Honduras and Vanuatu. Thursday morning I met with
one of Sylvia's doctoral students from Uzbekistan to discuss implementing
the Sustainable Development Goals, and we had a Skype conference to plan the
next IEF annual conference in Bolivia next October.
The Justice
Conference
This was the 21st annual Justice Conference, a Bahá'í-inspired forum for the
exploration of international law, global governance, justice and ethics,
which draws lawyers and other experts from all over the world. The theme of
the conference this year was "Justice in Action: From Local to Global".
Group photo of the Justice Conference
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Maya Groff opening the conference; part of the audience
I presented a keynote on "Using
the new UN 2030 Agenda to work for justice at the local level"
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Presenting my keynote; part of the audience; me with Sherma Deamer,
wife of an old friend from my days in the Pacific
In addition to my keynote, Sylvia and I ran a workshop on the Paris Climate
Agreement negotiations. The workshop reviewed the dynamics of the complex
multiyear negotiations leading up to COP21 that resulted in the Paris
Agreement adopted on 12 December 2015, and discussed the many opportunities
for participation in discourses alongside the negotiations, including the
side events that IEF organized in
Paris. It explored the lessons for international governance, the role
of Bahá'í-inspired organizations, and the ways such events can be used to
contribute Bahá'í perspectives on issues important to society.
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Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen; part of the audience
Sylvia participated in another panel with Neysun Mahboubi, specialist in
Chinese law, and Maya Groff from the Hague Conference on Private
International Law.
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Neysun Mahboubi; the panel; Sylvia and Maya
Other high-level presentations included a session on Building a Global Human
Rights Campaign: Education is not a crime, with film-maker Maziar Bahari,
and the screening of his film "To Light a Candle". John Christensen of the
Tax Justice Network spoke on "Catalysing Policy Reform at National and
Global Levels: Tax Justice, Economic Inequality and Human Rights". There
were a number of parallel workshops.
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John Christensen, Tax Justice Network; a warning about the financial
system; workshop on human rights investigations in China and India
A number of other International Environment Forum members also participated
in the conference. Ismael Velasco presented a case study on his work with
Greenlanders. IEF board member Wendi Momen also attended, as did Iko Kongo
and Nigel Jollands.
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Ismael Velasco; Wendi Momen; Iko Kongo; Nigel Jollands
The final plenary was by Kirsten Meersschaert, Director of Programs of the
World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy, working on the
Coalition for the International Criminal Court and the International
Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect, and Susan Lamb, Senior Legal
Advisor to the Commission for International Justice and Accountability,
which is collecting evidence of violations of international criminal and
humanitarian law in Syria.
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Susan Lamb and Kirsten Meersschaert in the closing plenary; part of
the audience
There was also an evening of more artistic activities including story
telling about escaping from persecution of the Baha'is in Iran, and a dance
about preventing domestic violence against women in which everyone could
participate.
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One evening of artistic activities included story telling and a dance
about preventing domestic violence against women