Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus
Resilient Communities Program: Rights of Nature
April 13 – 14, 2012
Join a dynamic seminar to learn about the history of Rights of Nature including the groundbreaking 2008 event when Ecuador became the first country to include Rights of Nature in its national constitution. We will cover movements in the United States and Bolivia as Rights of Nature takes hold as an idea whose time has come. We will also discuss advocacy work for Rights of Nature at COP17 and at the upcoming UN Earth Summit — Rio + 20 in Brazil.
Rights of Nature laws create a right to legal standing, such that people, communities, Indigenous peoples, non-profit environmental organizations, and others would have standing to protect the environment. Climate activists have long been seeking a tool, which would enable communities affected by climate change to gain recognition for the harms done not just to human interests around the globe, but also to environmental ones. We come together with a common interest to actively advance the creation of human communities that respect the Rights of Nature. We will also explore how Rights of Nature invigorates momentum for a new cultural narrative that honors our living Earth. Join us and step into this historical moment!
Education and Advocacy from the front lines locally and globally
April 13, 2012 7:00 – 9:30 pm
April 14, 2012 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Location: Corte Madera Town Center Community Room in Corte Madera
770 Tamalpais Drive, Suite 201 Corte Madera, CA 94925
Seminar fee: $55.00
Bring lunch on Saturday or there are many nearby restaurants for the mid-day break.
For more information or Partial Scholarship or Work Study request, contact Wyolah Garden 415-722-2083 or wgarden@ix.netcom.com
Instructors:
Shannon Biggs is the Director of the Community Rights program at Global Exchange. She recently co-authored a book, Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots (PoliPoint Press). Her current work focuses on assisting communities confronted by corporate harms to enact binding laws that place the rights of communities and nature above the claimed legal “rights” of corporations.
Osprey Orielle Lake is a lifelong advocate of environmental justice and societal transformation. She is the Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus (WECC) and an International Advocate for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. Her book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature (White Cloud Press) is a 2011 Nautilus Book Award winner.
For more information about this event and others, visit Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus.