Leaves 12(2) December 2010

 

1 December 2010
Website: iefworld.org
Article submission: newsletter@iefworld.org Deadline next issue 15 December 2010
Secretariat Email: ief@iefworld.org General Secretary Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen
Address: 12B Chemin de Maisonneuve, CH-1219 Chatelaine, Geneva, Switzerland

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A fundamental teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is the oneness of the world of humanity. Addressing mankind, He says: "Ye are all leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch." By this it is meant that the world of humanity is like a tree, the nations or peoples are the different limbs or branches of that tree and the individual human creatures are as the fruits and blossoms thereof.
('Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í World Faith - Abdu'l-Bahá Section, p. 246)

From the Editor

Having just returned from three weeks in Australia and New Zealand and experiencing the beauty and majesty of the rainforest and coral reef and mountains and deserts, I look forward to serving in any way possible to facilitate the sharing of information that will aid each of you in your work.

Please feel free to share the Leaves newsletter with friends whom you think may be interested and to encourage them to consider membership in the IEF. In addition, if you have information to share, please email it to newsletter@iefworld.org.

IEF Annual Conference, Brighton, 16-18 December 2010

Conference and registration details are on the ESDinds web site at www.esdinds.eu. The time of the IEF Annual General Assembly has been moved to Thursday 16 December during lunch time from 13:15 to 14:30, as some members had to leave before Friday evening.

Hurry to register before 1 December, as there will be a late registration charge from that date. All the details are on the ESDinds web site at www.esdinds.eu. The time of the IEF Annual General Assembly has been moved to Thursday 16 December during lunch time from 13:15 to 14:30, as some members had to leave before Friday evening.

For those not coming to Brighton, the main talks will be video recorded and posted on the internet, and a conference blog will be updated regularly on the new IEF web site at https://iefworld.org

IEF web site migrates

After more than a year of preparation, the IEF web site has finally migrated from bcca.org to a Drupal content management system on a new server. The new site will allow many new features like blogs (each IEF member can have one) and forums for discussions on particular topics like those for which we have issue managers. The site is completely searchable. Each member can have a user page (you can register on the site now), and you can provide an updated directory entry. New applications for membership can also be made through the site. It is possible to reserve parts of the site for members only, so it can become a platform for us to work together.

The main URL address remains https://iefworld.org, but all the page addresses within the site are new, so you should update your links. For simplicity, we retained the file names for most old pages, but eliminated folders within the site, so you can update old links to pages by replacing www.bcca.org/ief/folder/filename.htm by iefworld.org/filename.htm. It should be possible to change many links with a simple search and replace. There were hundreds of pages to reformat and over a thousand files to transfer, so this has taken some time. Some files have not yet migrated (papers, sustapedia entries, the long training course), and are temporarily linked on the old site until the migration is completed. The old site will be gradually phased out, with forwarding to the new site for those whose links are not up-to-date.

HELP WANTED! If any members know the Drupal system and would like to help to manage the site and/or add new features, please contact Arthur Dahl at ief@iefworld.org. You could develop a new feature, be webmaster for the whole site, or just take responsibility for some part of it.

IEF member Awarded UN/DESA Fellowship to Tajikistan

Jon Church, who already won a prestigious doctoral fellowship to Harvard University, has now been awarded a UN/DESA fellowship for 2011, to undertake research on root causes of potential conflicts in the economic and environmental fields in Central Asia, under the supervision of the Special Representative of the Secretary General and in cooperation with the UN/ECE. From January to December 2011, he will be posted to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, to work at the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia. He has just published a working paper on environmental regionalism (http://lnk.nu/hks.harvard.edu/1ev1.-47) that has been appreciated by the UNEP Executive Director.

IEF participates in 6th ECPD International Conference on National and Inter-ethnic Reconciliation, Religious Tolerance and Human Security in the Balkans

Again this year, IEF participated in the European Center for Peace and Development's conference on Brioni Island, Croatia on 28-29 October on the theme "Implementing Human Security". Arthur Dahl co-chaired one session and gave a paper on "Interstate Collaboration for Human Security: The Lessons from Copenhagen" which is available on the IEF web site at https://iefworld.org/ddahl10c. Participants included former Ministers and Presidents, religious leaders, government officials and academics from across the western Balkans. A declaration on human security was issued at the end of the conference.

PLEASE SHARE IEF MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

MEMBERSHIP IN THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM

Interested in the environment and sustainable development?

Join the International Environment Forum (IEF)!

The International Environment Forum (IEF) is a Bahá'í-inspired professional organization of scientists and engineers, managers, civil servants and representatives of civil society in fields relevant to the environment and sustainability, as well as students and others with an interest in these fields.

The IEF provides a forum for its members to, among other things:
deepen their understanding of the relevance of the social and ethical principles in the Bahá'í Writings for the environment and sustainable development challenges the world is facing;
explore the application of those principles in their work and activities;
share knowledge and experience.

We also seek to share our views and interact with other organizations in various international fora. The IEF was, for example, accredited to the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002) as a scientific and technological organization.

The IEF was launched in October 1997 and today we have over 200 members in over 50 countries on all 5 continents. Our annual international conferences have until now been organized in Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA and South Africa and each conference has an electronic version for those who cannot attend in person.

As a virtual organization, IEF does not collect dues or fees from its members. To function without cost we use the Internet as much as possible. Most of our communication is by e-mail to reach members even where Internet access is difficult. The IEF cannot assist its members financially with attendance at its conferences, nor can it provide letters of invitation or assistance in obtaining visas.

To apply to become a member of the IEF, complete the questionnaire Application for Membership and send it by e-mail to the General Secretary of the IEF at the address indicated

MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM

[Version for copying and e-mailing to ief@iefworld.org

DATE:

NAME:
ADDRESS:
COUNTRY:
TELEPHONE: +
FAX: +
E-MAIL:

I HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET: [ ] Yes [ ] No

AGE ABOVE 21: [ ] Yes [ ] No: year of birth ___________

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

SPECIAL ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST:

I WISH TO BECOME:
a) A MEMBER [ ]
b) AN ASSOCIATE [ ]

WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING A MEMBER OF IEF?

I AM A MEMBER OF THE BAHA'I COMMUNITY OF:

I WOULD LIKE TO BE ACTIVE IN THE FORUM DOING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
Be an issue monitor for a particular topic [ ] (specify):
Work with the web site [ ]
Write for the newsletter [ ]
Edit articles and publications [ ]
Develop educational materials for adults and/or children and youth [ ]
Mentoring for choice of studies and careers [ ]

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