Hi everyone,

For those interested in Development issues, or supporting colleagues in that
field, re. below is an informative conference talking place at St. F.X. this
June.

Enjoy the mild weather:)
Leo

------ Forwarded Message
From: Anne Monette <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: GPI Atlantic
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:11:00 -0400
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Rethinking Development - Conference Announcement

International Conference
RETHINKING DEVELOPMENT Local Pathways to Global Wellbeing
St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
June 20-24, 2005


PROFILING INITIATIVES around the world that integrate sustainable and
equitable economic development with environmental conservation, social
and cultural cohesion, and good governance.

ILLUSTRATING THE LINKS between innovative practice at the local level
with strategic policy changes of national, regional and global
consequence.

PRACTICAL GUIDANCE to governments, businesses and non-government
organizations that want to take concrete steps towards creating good and
sustainable human societies.

WHAT IS WORKING and showing ways forward by focussing on how a number of
current initiatives were put into practice, how major challenges were
overcome, and what challenges remain.


CONFERENCE PRESENTERS INCLUDE:

Maurice Strong - Senior Advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and
Secretary General of UN Conference on Environment and Development

Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley - Home Minister and former Prime Minister of
Bhutan, whose King has proclaimed that "Gross National Happiness is more
important than Gross National Product"

Ray Anderson - Founder and CEO, Interface Carpets, Atlanta, who has
vowed to make his company completely sustainable

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche - Head of the Shambala Buddhist lineage, which
is committed to creating enlightened human societies

Ela Bhatt - Founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association - India's
largest trade union, whose SEWA Bank is capitalized entirely by members

Mathis Wackernagel - Developer of the Ecological Footprint, one of the
world's most powerful and widely used measures of sustainability

Dr. Marilyn Waring - Senior lecturer, Massey University, New Zealand;
Member of Parliament for 10 years; author of If Women Counted, and Three
Masquerades: Essays on Equality, Work and Human Rights; and
international development adviser to the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM)

Farouk Jiwa - General Manager of Honey Cove Africa, which established
sustainable community-based bee keeping initiatives across Kenya. He
received prestigious Equator Prize recognizing outstanding achievement
in sustainable development and sustainable community livlihoods

Dr. John Helliwell - Professor of Economics, University of British
Columbia, formerly of Harvard and Oxford Universities; author of
Globalization and Well-Being (2002), The Contribution of Human and
Social Capital to Sustained Economic Growth and Well-Being (2001), and
many others; Special Adviser to the Bank of Canada; and a pioneer in
wellbeing measurement

John Taylor Gatto - New York State and New York City Teacher of the
Year; and author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Cirriculum of Compulsory
Schooling (1992), The Exhausted School (1993); A Different Kind of
Teacher (2000), and The Underground History of American Education (2001)

Elizabeth Beale - President and CEO Atlantic Provinces Economic Council

Holly Dressel - Co-author with David Suzuki of Good News for a Change:
Hope for a Troubled Planet, which profiles exemplary models of
sustainable development and environmental protection throughout the
world

Raffi - Famed troubadour and children's songwriter; and author of the
Covenant and Principles on Child Honouring

Elizabeth May - Executive Director, Sierra Club of Canada, whose
advocacy for the environment was recognized by her receipt of the UN
Environment Program Gloal 500 award

Cindy Blackstock - Member of the Gitksan First Nation, Executive
Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada
(FNCFCS), and one of Canada's leading and most eloquent spokespersons
for the promotion and strengthening of First Nations cultures and
knowledge

Danny Graham - Elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature following a
two-year term in Ottawa as a special adviser to the Department of
Justice. Graham has been a leader in Canada on the subject of
Restorative Justice, spearheading a Nova Scotia initiative that is
widely recognized. He has also worked with the United Nations to advance
Restorative Justice internationally


The conference will conclude with a traditional Nova Scotia ceilidh and
celebration featuring Mary Jane Lamond, Wendy MacIsaac, Beolach, and
Raffi

ADDITIONAL WORKSHOPS

Monday, June 20 8.30am to 5pm:
1) Full day workshop on Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan aimed
at clarifying the four pillars of GNH;
2) Tour of Nova Scotia's leading-edge solid waste management facilities,
and forum on next steps towards zero waste target

Friday, June 24 8.30am to 5pm:
Three workshops on Next Steps, applying conference learning practically
to
1) GNH in Bhutan;
2) development in Atlantic Canada;
3) applications to other jurisdictions and creation of global support
network

Hosts, sponsors and partners include:
Coady International Institute at St. Francis University,
GPI Atlantic,
Centre for Bhutan Studies, Shambala International, Province of Nova
Scotia, International Development Research Centre,
UN Development Program, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency,
Gorsebrook Research Institute at Saint Mary's University
Atlantic Provinces Economic Council
University of New Brunswick
Spirit in Business.

Conference and workshop space is limited by facilities.  Register early
to reserve your space online at www.gpiatlantic.org
For inquiries, email [log in to unmask]

------ End of Forwarded Message

________________________________________________

Leo J. Deveau M.Ed., MLIS
9 Chestnut Avenue
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
B4P-1V7
________________________________________________

"A neurosis is a secret you don't know you're keeping."
- Kenneth Tynan
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