Table of Contents I- Introduction 1 II- ECI Mission and Vision Statements 3 III- Highlights of 2007 4 IV- Overview of activities led by Earth Charter International 5 1. Decentralized Empowerment for Scaling Up Policy 5 2. Endorsements 7 3. Education for Sustainable Development 8 4. Earth Charter Youth Initiative (ECYI) 14 5. Religion and Sustainability Programme 16 6. Business Programme 18 7. Earth Charter Global Dialogue on Ethics and Climate Change 19 8. EC-Assess 19 V- Overview of activities led by Earth Charter affi liates and partners 21 VI- The Earth Charter Initiative Structure 39 VII- Financial Report: Statement of Income and Expenditures 41 VIII- Looking forward to 2008 – The Earth Charter Initiative Priorities 42 Annex 1: List of the Earth Charter International Council members, Earth Charter Commission, Advisors and staff 44 Annex 2: List of Earth Charter Initiative Affi liates 46 Annex 3: List of Earth Charter Youth Groups and Leadership Team 52 I. Introduction he Earth Charter Initiative is Earth Charter International (ECI) is the the collective name for the formal organization that facilitates and extraordinarily diverse, global catalyses a number of efforts to promote network of people, organiza- the use of the Earth Charter in different Ttions, and institutions who participate fi elds and regions of the world.1 From in promoting the Earth Charter, and in 2005 to 2007, Earth Charter International implementing its principles in practice. had two administrative offi ces, called A growing number of activities have “Centers,” in Sweden and Costa Rica. Report of Activities of Report been taking place around the world The number of staff members working at 2007 inspired by the Earth Charter inclu- these offi ces varied from 8 to 10 persons. ding book publications, children, youth The center in Costa Rica, located at the and adults workshops, and projects University for Peace campus, focused on within the private sector, academia and the ECI Education Programme known as religious/ interfaith communities. These the Earth Charter Center for Education efforts are fueled by a profound sense of for Sustainable Development at UPEACE. urgency to change the current paradigm The staff members of this offi ce were also and improve the well-being of Earth in charge of communicating with affi liates and the whole community of life. from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. | Initiative Charter Earth | The The Initiative is a broad-based, voluntary, civil society effort, but participants The offi ce in Stockholm, Sweden, was include leading international institutions, called the Center for Strategy and national government agencies, universi- Communications. In addition to these ty associations, NGOs, city governments, core functions, it also focused on the faith groups, and many well-known coordination of affi liates, fundraising, leaders in sustainable development. and overall administrative and fi nancial Many of these organizations have shown management. It also hosted until the a strong long-term commitment to the end of 2007 the development of the Earth Charter and have agreed to become Earth Charter Business Programme, and ECI Affi liates. Others are considered as the development of the Programme on Partners, since their involvement in the Religion and Sustainability, as well as the Initiative might be more short term or Youth Initiative, which was transferred for a very specifi c project. to Costa Rica in October. 1 1 Please note that the Earth Charter Initiative should be distinguished from Earth Charter International (ECI). The former refers to the entire network of individuals, organizations, etc globally, whereas the latter designates the core staff members and Council working to coordinate the Initiative. Charter Initiative and to collaborate as an Advisor. Consequently, the ECI Council decided to close the ECI Offi ce in Sweden, where Mr. Atkisson staff had been based, and to transfer all of its functions to the Center in Costa Rica. At the same time, the Religion and Sustainability Programme was moved to Germany. Mirian Vilela became the new Executive Director of Earth Charter International. In order to help this process, Alide Roerink - lead Earth Charter contact at ECI’s Dutch Staff Members of Earth Charter International Affi liate, NCDO - agreed to assume a very active role as a Council member. The main activities carried out by the She will be working more closely with Centers – hereafter referred to as Earth ECI staff in areas such as the further Charter International - are detailed in the development of the Business Initiative. fi rst section of this report. Many of these ECI Council member Oscar Motomura, activities have been carried out with the also assumed a leadership role in strategic support of ECI Affi liates and Advisors. planning. 2007 These are individuals and organizations who are close to ECI and contribute In the 2nd half of 2007, the ECI Council to the implementation of the various began a strategic planning process to ECI programmes. develop a new, much more decentralized approach to expand the Initiative. In 2006, ECI had been completely During this period of strategic review redesigned as an organization, including and planning, ECI effectively suspended Report of Activities of Report the formation of a new International fundraising activity pending the out- Council and policy framework for come of Council deliberations. As a result, governance. This Transition continued ECI did not reach the new fundraising in 2007 and involved on-going goals originally established for 2007, development of the organization’s although it did secure the renewal of key structure, development of Council po- multi-year gifts as well as new funding to licies, continued strategic planning, support the development of the Business development of administrative systems, and Religion programmes. The resulting and implementation of communication shortfall in the planned 2007 budget strategy. After having designed this has been covered by new contributions Transition and then serving for two years received in early 2008. New Council as Executive Director of Earth Charter guidelines on strategy were completed International to lead the Transition and launched at the close of 2007. process, Alan Atkisson returned to his | The Earth Charter Initiative | Initiative Charter Earth | The work in the private sector. Mr. Atkisson ECI believes these steps were essential to continues to be active in the Earth reaching its long-term goals. 2 II. EARTH CHARTER INITIATIVE Mission and Vision Statements The following statements have been prepared and issued by the Earth Charter International Council.(Version Dated 15 March 2007) Mission Statement Earth Charter and working collaboratively to build just, sustainable, and peaceful The mission of the Earth Charter Initiative societies. is to help establish a sound ethical foundation for the emerging global society and to promote the transition to a sustainable way of life founded Organizational Vision on: respect and care for the community Report of Activities of Report of life; ecological integrity; universal Over the next fi ve years, we envision 2007 human rights; respect for diversity; creating high quality communications economic justice; democracy; and a and education programmes that reach culture of peace. millions of people, promoting a holistic and systematic way of understanding the fundamental challenges of our time, Vision Statement catalyzing thousands of initiatives in support of the Earth Charter’s objectives, We envision the Earth Charter becoming and inspiring hope. the most widely shared ethical framework for sustainable living and exercising a Over the next fi ve years, we envision | Initiative Charter Earth | The growing infl uence on human affairs. bringing the Earth Charter and its ethical values and principles into strategically We envision recognition and endorse- chosen events, processes, and initiatives ment of the Earth Charter by an ever- involving civil society, business, and increasing number of national and government. international institutions, including UN agencies, leading to the embrace of the We envision accomplishing these goals Earth Charter by the United Nations as a small, effi cient organization that General Assembly. works in partnership with Earth Charter Affi liates and other institutions and We envision individuals, organizations, organizations, providing an inclusive businesses, governments, and multi- ethical vision and bringing fresh energy lateral institutions throughout the world to the task of advancing the transition to a adopting the values and principles of the just, sustainable, and peaceful world. 3 III. Highlights of 2007 The year 2007 was a year of extraordi- build on the existing structure nary dynamism and progress within and strategy, which appears to be the Earth Charter Initiative. Highlighted working well. here are just a few of the milestones for the EC Initiative this year: ECI communication and web strategy worked well with the number of web At the Strategy level: visitors increasing exponentially in 2007. EC website visitors went from Following the strategic workshop 7,000 visitors in January to 70,000 carried out in Sao Paulo, Brazil, visitors in August and nearly 100,000 at Amana Key’s training center, by the end of 2007. Furthermore, with the participation of Council the number of endorsers vary from members, Staff, Advisors and 2 to 7 a day. These are important some Affi liates, the ECI Council indicators of growing