1 64th DPI / NGO Conference, Bonn 2011 „Sustainable Societies - Responsive Citizens“ Hilda Mukina Mativo (Manager for Mama na Dada) Andrea Zielke-Nadkarni

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64th DPI / NGO Conference, Bonn 2011

„Sustainable Societies - Responsive Citizens“

Hilda Mukina Mativo (Manager for Mama na Dada)

Andrea Zielke-Nadkarni

(WNGE representative)

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Hilda & Andrea in front of Maritim Hotel, Bonn, the conference venue

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Opening Ceremony

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UN-Secretary general Ban Ki-moon defines sustainability as

„meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs“.

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The installation „open mindedness“ by Vietnamese artist Dao Droste was the motto of the conference

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Sustainability and responsiveness, the 2 keywords of this NGO meeting, were mostly discussed with view to

The connecting of various specialists and differing viewpoints

and

Volunteerism: participation of young people

Goal of the conference: to prepare for Rio+20

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The most impressive keynote speaker and specialist: Vandana Shiva who stated without any embellishment that

- the objectives of Rio (1992) have not been met

- through the dominant economy, led by the World Trade Organ- ization, everything is for sale

- 60% of the ecological species are beyond salvation

- we need to connect economy & ecology as well as ecological and social goals

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Many speakers addressed the question of young volunteers:

„use them or lose them“

• find means to promote a spirit of volunteerism in young people

• listen to what they have to say, take them serious and on board

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(Continued):

Many speakers addressed the question of young volunteers: • help young people to understand the complexity of social problems

• integrate them into a well-organized systems

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To encourage people there were many „garage- founder” stories like that of Bill Gates: here are 2 examples:

1. Vandana Shiva founded the independent Institute „The Research Foundation for Science, Technology , and Ecology“, renowned for its independence and professionalism, in her mother‘s cowshed in 1982.

2. Bruce Crowther, founder of the fair trade movement, started in a small town in UK in 1992 and turned it into an international movement.

In 2010 they promoted a global project: children from various countries eating bananas from fair trade simultaneously linked

by the internet.

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In view of all the current problems, i.e. …

• collapsing ecosystems

• fish-stocks that will soon be exhausted

• climate change

• violation of rights of indigenous people

• dangerous prevalent pattern of growth

• the drawing of capital from other parts of the world and future generations

• mercantelization of common goods (e.g. water, plants)

• the general lack of taking responsibility by the developed nations for their damaging activities in the developing world

• etc

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… and in view of all that needs to be done, e.g. …

• pressure governments to keep their commitments to action

• send a signal to investors by way of consumption

• influence investments to create green jobs

• create new opportunities by introducing compensation measures for poor communities

• change key systems for green ecology: food, housing, transport, energy

• join the green movement

• use transparent, participatory and inclusive ways to dissolve boundaries

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• continue to work on improvements

• small low-budget interventions often lead to more enduring changes

• overcome boundaries and share experiences

• do not compartmentalize, but „connect the dots“

• celebrate your achievements !!!

… messages at the conference which tried to convey a spirit of hope were …

(At evening reception, Sept. 3, launched to celebrate and promote networking)

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My personal conclusions from this conference for WNGE:

• Perhaps we should find young people to join our core group.

• Perhaps we should put one project into the foreground of our work for a certain period of time while others are going on simultaneously – quasi in the background. This is in order to work on sustainability and the integration of the various complex factors that are linked with ongoing projects which asks for a concentration of strengths.

• We are on a good way with our combination of local action through our various projects combined with global connections through WNGE.

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Thank you for this chance to participate in a most thought-provoking conference!

Documents

1 64th DPI / NGO Conference, Bonn 2011 „Sustainable Societies - Responsive Citizens“ Hilda Mukina Mativo (Manager for Mama na Dada) Andrea Zielke-Nadkarni