International Conference, 1 – 3 November 2010, CEE, Ahmedabad, India
 
Speakers
1 | 2 | 3
 
  Armoogum Parsuramen
  Mr. Parsuramen is the newly appointed Director of the UNESCO Office in New Delhi, and UNESCO Representative to India, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. At the international level, Mr. Parsuramen was the Chairman of the General Council of Ministers of Culture of the Organization of African Unity (1986-1989). In 1996, Mr. Parsuramen joined the World Bank, initially as a Consultant and then as Education Policy Adviser and Coordinator of the education component of the World Bank’s United Nations Special Initiative for Africa (UNSIA).  In November 2004, Mr. Parsuramen was appointed to the post of Secretary of UNESCO Executive Board. Concurrently, from March 2008 to September 2009, he was entrusted with the expanded responsibility of Director of the Secretariat of the Governing Bodies, serving both as Secretary of UNESCO Executive Board and Secretary of the General Conference.
 
 
 
  Kartikeya Sarabhai
  Kartikeya V. Sarabhai is the founder and director of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), a national institution engaged in promoting environmental awareness and conservation as well as education for sustainable development. CEE has grown extensively and works at both national and international level. With over 300 staff members, 40 offices across India, and having offices in Australia and Sri Lanka, CEE has had a huge impact in the field of sustainable development. CEE was formally rewarded for its progress by receiving the Global award for Outstanding Service to Environmental Education from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). At the same time, Mr. Sarabhai founded VIKSAT, an NGO endeavouring to increase input from people in natural resource management, as well as Sundervan, a nature discovery centre. For his dedication to Education for Sustainable Development, Mr. Sarabhai was awarded the Tree of Learning Award from The World Conservation Union in 1998, and in 2005 received the World Human Rights Promotion Award. In addition, Mr. Sarabhai has been active internationally. He was the chair of South and South-East Asia, IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, initiated SASEANEE, the South and Southeast Asian Network for Environment Education, and was a member of the Indian delegation to UNCED at Rio and WSSF at Johannesburg. He is currently vice-chair of the Indian National Commission.
 
 
 
  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
  His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a renowned spiritual leader and multi-faceted humanitarian whose mission of uniting the world into a violence-free family has inspired millions of people worldwide. The icon of non-violence and universal human values, Sri Sri seeks global peace through service and dialogue. Born in 1956 in southern India, Sri Sri's appeal transcends class, race, religion and nationality. Millions of people revere him as their spiritual leader, and look up to him for inner peace and promoting ecumenical values. In 1981, Sri Sri started the Art of Living Foundation, an international non-profit educational and humanitarian organization. The Foundation, now active in more than 140 countries, offers educational and self-development programs designed to eliminate stress and foster a sense of well-being. In 1997, Sri Sri founded the International Association for Human Values, a humanitarian nonprofit organization that advances human values in political, economic, industrial, and social spheres. In South Asia, South Africa, and Latin America, the Association's sustainable development programs have reached more than 30,000 rural communities.
 
 
 
  Steven C. Rockefeller
  Steven C. Rockefeller is professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College, where he taught for 30 years and also served as dean of the College and chair of the religion department. He received his master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and his PH.D. in the philosophy of religion from Columbia University. He is the author of John Dewey: Religious Faith and Democratic Humanism (Columbia, 1991) and the co-editor of two books of essays, The Christ and the Bodhisattva (SUNY, 1987) and Spirit and Nature: Why the Environment is a Religious Issue (Beacon, 1992). His essays appear in a variety of books and journals. In recent years, much of his research and writing has focused on global ethics, sustainable development, and the interrelation of democracy, ecology, and spirituality. Active in the field of philanthropy, Professor Rockefeller has served as a trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) for twenty-five years and chaired the Fund’s board of trustees from 1998 to 2006.
 
 
 
  Alide Roerink
  Alide Roerink is an anthropologist and has been involved over the years in networking, advocacy, and policy development for gender justice, international solidarity and global governance. Alide Roerink was coordinator of Vrouwenberaad Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, a network of gender experts in development agencies in The Netherlands. Since 2000 she has been working with the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO) in the capacity of advisor international relations, and is a member of the NCDO management team. Alide Roerink initiated and co-edited the book Earth Charter in Action: Towards a Sustainable World.
 
 
 
  Michael Slaby
  Michael C. Slaby works as Program Manager for the Soetendorp Institute. Currently, he manages the Feather Project and also helps to coordinate the Earth Charter Task Force on Religion, Spirituality, and Ethics that is co-chaired by Rabbi Soetendorp. He holds a Master in Comparative Religion, Political Science and International Law from Heidelberg University, Germany. His studies and practical experiences make him an expert in interfaith dialogue. Since 1996, Mr. Slaby has been actively involved in youth led civil society initiatives on sustainable development, human rights and refugee aid on both national and international levels. From 2003 to 2006, he volunteered as Earth Charter Youth Coordinator, and helped to establish the vibrant network of youth organizations that form the Earth Charter Youth Initiative.
 
 
 
  Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp
  Rabbi Awraham, human rights activist, environmentalist and writer; born in Amsterdam in 1943 and saved as an infant by non-Jews during the Second World War; re-established Jewish communities in the Netherlands; the co-chair of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders and a founding member of Green Cross International; founder and chair of the Hope for Children Foundation, which aims to secure a percentage of annual gross national incomes for the education of children worldwide.
 
 
 
  Jim Taylor
  Jim Taylor is director of the well-established Environmental Education within WESSA, and has been working towards a sustainable environmental agenda. WESSA offers services to schools, teacher's groups and other environmental educators and increasingly engage in community development work and run a number of EE Centres. Major successes in this field are the establishment of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Regional Environmental Education Centre which are both led by Mr. Taylor and which support education activities in fourteen SADC countries. Mr Taylor has also been responsible for the initiation of a national Environmental Clubs scheme and the establishment of a resource development network known as Share-Net.
 
 
 
  Mary Evelyn Tucker
  Mary Evelyn Tucker has a PhD from Columbia University in East Asian religions. She has a dual appointment with the Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Previously she was a visiting professor of religion at Yale University and is founder and coordinator of the Forum on Religion and Ecology. Along with John Grim, she organized a ten-conference series on World Religions and Ecology at Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions, which led to the publication of 10 volumes by Harvard from this series. She co-edited the volumes on the ecological dimensions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Ms. Tucker has been a committee member of the Interfaith Partnership for the Environment at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 1986, and is vice president of the American Teilhard Association. She was a member of the Earth Charter International Drafting Committee.
 
 
 
  Mirian Vilela
  Mirian Vilela is the executive director of Earth Charter International. As part of her responsibilities she has coordinated an international process of consultation, and set up partnerships with organizations and individuals who contributed to the consultation process and who continue to be involved in the implementation phase of the Charter, and has organized and facilitated numerous international workshops and seminars on values and principles for sustainability. Even before her work with the Earth Charter, Ms. Vilela was heavily involved in sustainable projects, having worked for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) for two years in preparation of the 1992 UN Earth Summit. She is currently a faculty member of the University for Peace. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she was an Edward Mason Fellow.
 
 
 
  Erna Witoelar
  Erna Witoelar was appointed as UN Special Ambassador for MDGs in the Asia Pacific region in October 2003. She was formerly the minister of human settlements and regional development (1999-2001) and a former member of the National Assembly of Indonesia. She currently serves as chairperson of the Indonesia Biodiversity Foundation (KEHATI), co-chair of the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, and an Earth Charter Commissioner. Before joining the Indonesian government, she pursued a long career in civil society and led the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), founded and led both the Indonesia Forum for the Environment (WALHI) and Friends of the Environment Fund (DML), among others. At the global level she has been elected president of Consumers International (1991-1997), member of the Commission on Developing Countries and Global Changes (1990-1992), and member of the Advisory Committee on Industry and Sustainable Development of the Brundlandt Commission (1985-1986).