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Porto on the river
The year 2019 started off slowly, with only a talk for World Religion Day in Thonon-les-Bains, France, and the opening keynote for the model UN at the French university Sciences Po in Dijon in January. On 1-3 February I went to Porto, Portugal, for a joint meeting of the Common Home of Humanity working group and our working group on Global Governance for the 21st Century, both supported by the Global Challenges Foundation, whose New Shape Prize we won last year. Then in mid-February we had to travel to Stockholm where the Global Challenges Foundation organized the review of our governance proposals by an external panel of experts. March was a quiet month, so I had the time to join over 5,000 others for the student march for climate action in Geneva on 15 March (see separate page), participated in the UN Economic Commission for Europe Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (see separate page), signed a MoU on behalf of the European Center for Peace and Development - UN University for Peace with the Geneva Center for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, and made a short trip to Paris to speak on human rights and environment at Sciences Po. April was busier. I went to New Zealand 2-16 April for the International Environment Forum (IEF) 23rd Annual Conference, which consisted of events in Auckland and co-sponsoring a sub-plenary at the World Conference on Health Promotion in Rotorua (see report on the IEF web site and separate page). Then I went to the Netherlands 19-26 April for the 2019 Justice Conference (see separate page) and some lectures at Wageningen University and in Amsterdam (see report on IEF web site). After participating in the ebbf - Ethical Business Building the Future conference in Geneva on 16-19 May, I left immediately for Scotland 20 May-12 June for a Baha'i teaching trip on global challenges for the 21st Century that took me to 22 communities in 22 days from Dumfries in the South to the Shetlands in the North, and from Aberdeen in the East to Isle of Skye in the West (see separate page). I was then off to the Czech Republic and Bulgaria on 21-28 June for a family reunion (see separate page) before going immediately to a Triglav Circle meeting 28-30 June (see separate page) at the Chateau d'Ettevaux in the centre of France. The following Friday I took the train to Belgium for the Baha'i Summer School in Durbuy on 5-9 July (see separate page). In August I participated in the French Bahá'í Summer School near Angers (see separate page) and then spent a week with the Stendardo family in Tuscany near Pisa, Italy (no pictures this year). My only September trip was to La Domaine de la Garde, near Bourg-en-Bresse, France, for a retreat on everyday spirituality and food. The week of climate strikes 20-27 September saw me participating in three events, a demonstration at the Place des Nations in Geneva on Friday 20 September, a march through the center of Geneva on Friday 27 September, and a national climate march in Bern on 28 September (see separate page). October was particularly busy. On 1-6 October I participated in an ebbf-Ethical Business Building the Future retreat at Acuto, Italy (see separate page) before going on to Stockholm for meetings at the Global Challenges Foundation. Then on 14-19 October I was invited to Malta by the Bahá'í community to contribute to their activities, including university lectures, TV and press interviews, a commemoration of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb, and a public forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (see separate page). At the end of the month I went to Belgrade for the European Center for Peace and Development (ECPD) annual conference and Youth Forum (see separate page). In November I went to a five-day seminar at Walenstadt, Switzerland, for the commemoration of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb (no pictures) and participated in the Paris Peace Forum on 12-14 November, also speaking at a Bahá'í exposition for the bicentenary, and meeting with the International Science Council (see separate page). December started with a colloquium of leading specialists on the science of complex systems in Stockholm, Sweden (see report on IEF web site), and ended with the Swiss Bahá'í Winter School in Leysin (see separate page).
The joint working group meeting on the Common Home of Humanity and on Global Governance for the 21st Century was held at the University of Porto (see separate page). We also had an opportunity to walk around the old centre of town and down to the waterfront, and one evening to go up to the old monastery across the river.
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Porto on the river
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Two churches with narrow house in between
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Porto; small park near the old town
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Porto at night; monastery across the river; bridge
The meeting of our Global Governance team with the external review panel of the Global Challenges Foundation in Stockholm on 15 February was presided over by GCF Executive Director Fredrik Karlsson.
Fredrik Karlsson In the student march on 15 March, I joined over 5,000 young people and other supporters as we marched through the centre of the city along the main shopping streets (see separate page).
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The UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development and its Civil Society pre-meeting 20-22 March were held at the Palais des Nations and the Geneva International Conference Centre (see separate page).
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On 22 March I met with Ambassador Jazairy, Executive Director of the Geneva Center for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue his office to sign a MoU on behalf of the European Center for Peace and Development - UN University for Peace, based in Belgrade, with whom I have collaborated for the last decade. See their press release.
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Ambassador Jazairy and Arthur Dahl
My twelve days in New Zealand in early April for the 23rd International Environment Forum Conference included meetings in Auckland (see report on the IEF web site) and participation in the World Conference on Health Promotion in Rotorua (see separate report).
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Auckland skyline; Maori greeting; Government Gardens, Rotorua
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Lake Rotorua; hot springs; redwood walk
The Justice Conference in the Netherlands provided for rich exchanges around issues of racial justice, truth, migration and governance (see separate page), followed by several talks and university events (see the report on the IEF web site).
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The annual conference of ebbf - Ethical Business Building the Future was held near Geneva, Switzerland, on 16-19 May.
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My intensive tour of Scotland in support of Baha'i communities took me to Edinburgh, Stirling, Dumfries in the South, Broadford and Portree on the Isle of Skye in the West, Aberfeldy in Perthshire, Dundee, Aberdeen in the East, Lerwick and Levenwick on the Shetland Islands in the North, and Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, among other places. For more pictures and details, see the separate page.
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Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh; Arthur's Seat (mountain) in Holyrood Park behind the Parliament
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Stirling
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Dumfries
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Views of western Scotland on the way to Isle of Skye
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going to Skye
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going to Skye
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Isle of Skye
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Isle of Skye
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Crossing the Grampian Mountains
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River Tay at Aberfeldy
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Memorial to Black Watch, Aberfeldy; Wade's Bridge 1733
Shetland Islands
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South coast of Shetland Islands
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Sea cliffs of Shetland Islands in the fog
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Cliff flowers; Lighthouse; farm, Shetland Islands
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Shetland Islands coast
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Lerwick, Shetland Islands; sunrise at 4 am over Lerwick
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central Shetland
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The only trees I saw on Shetland in a sheltered valley; central Shetland mainland
Orkney Islands
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Orkney Islands from the air
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St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, founded in 1137 by the Viking, Earl Rognvald; stone with a mason's mark
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St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
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Ring of Brodgar, Orkney; Standing stones of Stenness, Orkney Islands
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Scara Brae neolithic village
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Scara Brae neolithic village
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Skaill House from Scara Brae; old aerial view
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Skaill House interiors
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coast beyond Brough Head
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Gun viewpoint of Scapa Flow, Stromness
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Italian Chapel
With my brother's family, I visited the Vitosha Nature Park behind Sofia. For the rest of the family reunion, see the separate page.
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Vitosha stone river; forest, sream
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Vitosha pond; stone river
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Vitosha stone river
The Triglav Circle (see separate page) met in the Chateau d'Ettevaux in the Morvan Nature Park in the centre of France.
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Chateau d'Ettevaux; stables
The Belgian Baha'i Summer School (see separate page) was held in a small chateau in the village of Durbey in Wallonia, surrounded by beautiful countryside
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The little chateau with beautiful gardens; nearby forest
I attended one of two French Bahá'í Summer Schools near Angers in the west of France (see separate page).
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The beautiful vacation village; participants, including many youth
In early September I joined my friends the Kirkbachs at their beautiful chateau, La Domaine de la Garde, near Bourg-en-Bresse, France, for a retreat on everyday spirituality and food. (For pictures of the domaine, see previous years.)
For the student climate strikes and marches the week of 20-27 September (see separate page), I joined a first demonstration in Geneva at the Place des Nations near the UN Palais des Nations on Friday 20 September. My placard said "Values change, not climate change".
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Students and other supporters demonstrating at the Place des Nations
The Geneva strike and march the next Friday drew thousands, and we marched from the train station through the city center
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The national march in the Swiss capital, Bern, on Saturday 28 September, was the largest in history, with 100,000 squeezing into the capital and trying to reach the Bundesplatz before the Federal Parliament. This was as big as Berlin, representing more than 1% of the Swiss population (see separate page).
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On 1-6 October about 40 members of ebbf - Ethical Business Building the Future gathered a the Bahá'í conference center at Acuto, Italy, for a retreat on future issues that ebbf should address. There was also a Canadian film crew recording interviews for our film on global governance (see separate page).
The Bahá'í community of Malta invited me to visit them for university lectures, press and TV interviews, a commemoration of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb, and a public forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (see separate page).
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Valletta, Malta; Forum on Sustainable Development Goals
The European Center for Peace and Development held its annual conference in Belgrade 0n 25 October on the 2030 Agenda. They asked me to prepare the concept note, give a keynote and serve as rapporteur. On 26-27 October I chaired an ECPD Youth Forum (for a short photo album see separate page, or a complete illustrated report on the Conference and Youth Forum). At the end of the forum the ECPD gave me the title of Visiting Professor.
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EPCD Conference keynoters; conference participants; me as rapporteur
ECPD Youth Forum
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Youth discussed key issues in workshops and presented the results; me named Visiting Professor
I participated in the Paris Peace Forum on 12-13 November, taking part in a PeaceGame of negotiations on climate change. I also spoke at a Bahá'í exposition for the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb (see separate page).
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Paris Peace Forum at La Villette; PPF; Baha'i exposition
I was invited to a colloquium of leading specialists on the science of complex systems in Stockholm, Sweden, in early December (see report on IEF
web site), where one of the organizers snapped a picture of me.
The Swiss Bahá'í Winter School was held in the beautiful Alpine village of Leysin on 26-31 December with 330 participants of all ages and from many countries (see separate page).
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View from the school in Leysin
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Winter school music; games with my daughter Agnés and grandson Luca; our workshop in English
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Last updated 24 January 2020
Photographs copyright © Arthur Lyon Dahl 2019