Values for a Sustainable Future
According to Novacek, 1997 the scenario of sustainable development starts from the presumption, that the whole present philosophy of material growth and welfare is not acceptable from the long-term and global point of view. Both former dominant social systems, socialism and capitalism, have in fact the same aim û a consumer society. Both lead to an ecological crisis. New technology, the development of science etc. alone cannot solve the problems, a change of value orientation is necessary. A change from anthropocentrism (man as the centre of events, conqueror, ruler etc.) to ecological humanism, theocentrism or biocentrism is fundamental. The growth of the material standard of living in industrialised countries could and should be substituted by a growth in the quality of life and the development of human personality, above all in the neglected spiritual dimension.
Probably the most important step towards the institutionalisation of the agenda of human values compatible with the sustainable way of living concept has happened in early 1990s. It was interrelated with two officially independent, but in reality closely interlinked processes:
1. The preparation of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, first of all with the preparation of the Earth Charter, document, which was in Rio finally substituted by a less ambitious Rio Declaration, consisted of 27 sustainable development principles.
2. The tradition of Pan-European environmental ministerial conferences, fundaments of which where created by the first conference of this type, which has happened in 1991, and which situated to centre of interest as equivalent to political an legal issues also the topic of human values. Thanks to it not only the main initiator of this unprecedented event Josef Vavrousek (former Czechoslovak minister for the environment), but also personalities like president Vaclav Havel and Prof. Erazim Kohak.
When, in 1992, Josef Vavrousek left his ministerial office, the topic of human values lost the most important protagonist. Ministerial officials, Eurobureaucrats, or officials from United Nations structures forgot very quickly and easily, that somebody wanted to incorporate a concept of human values compatible with sustainable way of living, that is so difficult to express in paragraphs and translate politically and financially, into their pragmatic and normative topics.
The result was, that this topic did not appeared in the official ministerial agenda of the 2nd ministerial conference in Luzer, 1993.
In the same time Josef Vavrousek returned back among non-governmental environmentalists, as an activist and thinker with a great authority. He started to be responsible for values aspects of the European EcoForum agenda. This resulted in the fact, that the problems of values, addressed to the Ministers in the Luzern NGO Memorandum, were considered having important, even key status.
After Josef¦s death, these problems remained forgotten, and the environmental leaders followed the pragmatic line of their ministerial partners, also seemed to neglect them.
So, it was a bit logical, a bit symbolic, that the initiative to return the topic to the life was taken over just by Slovak and Czech environmentalists from the Society for Sustainable Living and the representative of it in the EcoForum board was elected Josef¦s old friend Vlado Lay.
The initiative demanded to return issues of human values to the agenda of both non-governmental and ministerial conferences on the environment in Aarhus and after.
We summarized the main reasons into the following 5 points:
- To reflect the real importance of these issues for individual as well as social behaviour, that which is extremely relevant to solving environmental and/or sustainability issues.
- To compensate, at least partially, the imbalance between pragmatically and ethically (or values) oriented approaches. The present situation is, that the second of the above-mentioned categories is almost absolutely overshadowed by the first one, and marginalized.
- To continue in the process which was started during the Dobris 1st Pan-European environmental ministerial conference in 1991, and in the frame of NGO activities was expressed in an excellent way in the Luzern NGOs¦ Memorandum in 1993.
- To attract an important and influential group of NGO activists from all parts of Europe who deal with deep ecology, ethical and values issues, to the "Environment for Europe! (EfE) process."
- To commemorate the excellent personality of the EfE process spiritual father: Josef Vavrousek, who was a big promoter of values issues and their incorporation into the EfE process, which he started in Dobris.
At the end of June 1998 took place the 4th Pan-European Conference of Ministers of Environment in Danish Aarhus. A few days earlier, non-governmental environmentalists from all countries of the Old Continent had met there to inform themselves, to express solidarity, and to discuss how to co-ordinate more efficiently multinational activities and how to influence the agenda and the results of the minister¦s conference. On Monday 22/6/1988, at a plenary session of the Pan-European co-ordination body on environmental non-governmental organizations: European Eco Forum, set up a new issue group (IG) called Values for a Sustainable Future, (abbr. Values). The preliminary process, which had been originally started by an initiative from the last EcoForum Strategy meeting before the conference in Aarhus, was finished.
The foundation of the Values IG has been followed by the creation of web page: www.czp.cuni.cz/values, where is possible to find the most relevant information in English. It is managed by Jirka Dlouhy and your contributions are welcomed.
A regular forum of meetings of (unfortunately, mostly Czech and Slovak members, only) are Memorials of Josef and Petra Vavrouseks in Tatras, but sometimes also wider international events, like the conference: International Co-operation - The Approach to Sustainable Communities, Bratislava, 1999, organised by Academia Istropolitana Bratislava and our Society for Sustainable Living, where values related issues represented one of priorities.
Another relevant international event was 10th ANPED General Assembly in Bratislava, march 2000, in the frame of which a special session of Values IG has been organised with the participation of 50 participants from 15 countries and 3 continents, followed by publishing an article in ANPED Newsletter: Northern Lights.
A similar session was organised during the regular Olomouc international conference: Towards Sustainable Development, April 2000, organised by the Society for Sustainable Living in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Values related issues in relationship to the environmental education issues were discussed during the 11th ANPED AGM in Minsk as well as 12th ANPED AGM in Thessaloniki, and are permanently ölivingö in the ANPED agenda, mostly in relationship with the topic of production and consumption patterns and were discussed several times on the WSSD, as well as during all the preparation process before Johannesburg summit, first of all in Prague, at the Visegrad Region Conference called: Visegrad Agenda 21.
Another important event, participants of which expressed a big interest on Values issues was European EcoForum Strategy Meeting: Environment for Europe: Decisions Depend on us! in Bratislava, Dec., 2002, where majority of participants actively attended workshop on values in relationship to the education. A special part of the Bratislava Declaration û final document coming from the strategy meeting û is dealing with issues and they are highlited also in NGOs letter to the Ministers before the Kiev conference.
But, Values Issue Group has been involved in several other activities.
First of all in publishing proceedings and other materials from all above mentioned events.
Secondly, publishing a representative collection of essays called The World Perceived by the Heart of Europe, Society for Sustainable Living, Olomouc, Bratislava 2000.
Co-organizing a conference with the international participation: Religious - Environment - Values for a Sustainable Future, Society for Sustainable Living, Liptovsky Jan (Slovakia), 2001.
And last but not least a huge Essay competition on the theme: Sustainable Way of Living for university students in both the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic, organised by the Society for Sustainable Living, the Regional Environmental Center for CEE, Country Office in Bratislava, and the Bridges Weekly (under patronage UNDP Regional Support Centre in Bratislava in connection with the Johannesburg WSSD).
Winning essays were published and summaries of them in English were distributed among WSSD participants and presented via Press-Conference.
(The second year of the competition is just running in accordance with the 5th Environmental Ministerial Conference in Kiev preparation.
All above mentioned activities have been organised and provided in co-operation with the European EcoForum "Values" Issue Group.
What should be our strategic aim for the future?
Education and media have a growing impact on, and responsibility for, spreading information and public awareness improvement, as well as on the value orientations of people. Values, attitudes, preferences and expectations influence the character of education, media, church, art and other generators of information, inspiration and public awareness. At the same time, values create the background for consumption and production patterns and conversely, the character of production and consumption influences all the behavioural culture of the population, including its value orientations. Our strategic aim for the future should be to support a good reflection of positive values orientations by public awareness and at the same time to influence, in a positive way, the behaviour of decision-makers, entrepreneurs and opinion-makers via cross-sectoral co-operation.
Recommendations for Kiev:
To continue with all positive activities started yet and to highlight all positive examples/good practices,
To promote and to facilitate a public debate on ethical values and principles,
To put values related issues back to the ministerial agenda,
To develop a set of relevant activities: researches, conferences/seminars/workshops, presentations, mass-media activities, competitions etc., with the aim to highlight the importance of the topic,
To deal with values related issues in relationship with such issues like the environmental awareness, human priorities/preferences/attitudes, consumption
To preserve and increase social, cultural and economic diversity and possibility of lifestyle choices.
To educate people about the consequences and impacts of their choices,
To attract disciplines like axiology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, human ecology and others to deal more with these issues,
To influence teachers, priests, journalists, artists and others to deal more values issues,
To incorporate sustainability issues into church life - green Sundays, ecological ten commandments, youth camps with the ecological orientation..., to interpret the Bible also in the context of environmental issues and sustainable living,
To implement "ethical impact assessment",
To improve transparency, accountability, codes of conductà
To establish an Internet conference dealing with values for a sustainable future.
Concluding let me quoted from the Bratislava Declaration:
"I the period of increasing tensions between countries and people, we urge a return of human valures in the sustainable development agendaàEthics, like solidarity, equity and sufficiency are essential elements of our concept of sustainability."
Literature
Huba, M., Novacek, P. (2000): The World Perceived by the Heart of Europe. Society for Sustainable Living and Palacky University Olomouc, Bratislava, Olomouc.
Novacek, P. (1997): Crossroads of the Future. Towards Sustainable Development and Global Governance. G plus G Publishing House. Prague (In Czech).
Mikulas Huba
Society for Sustaibable Living in the Slovak Republic
Starotursky chodnik 1
811 01 Bratislava
Slovakia
(on behalf of the Values for a Sustainable Future European ECO-Forum Issue Group)
Bratislava, March 2003