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FORUM 2020

Science, Spirituality, the Climate Emergency, and Our Future

Proudly presented by the Temple of Understanding in collaboration with Marble Collegiate Church, New York City.

FORUM 2020 Program

Dr. Michael Bos

10:00-10:15AM EDT

Film “Peace, Justice and the Planet” about the Temple of Understanding. Welcoming comments, Dr. Michael Bos, Senior Minister, Marble Collegiate Church.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

10:15 – 10:20AM EDT

Opening Prayer

19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle for the Great Sioux Nation. 

Chief Oren Lyons

10:20 – 10:30AM EDT

Keynote Address 

 Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Peoples. 

Eda Zavala Lopez

11:00 – 11:10AM EDT

Message from the Amazon

Wari, Peru; Anthropologist, Sociologist, Shaman, Environmental Activist; Program Leader, Impact a Village & Rainforest  Action Network.

Dr. Vandana Shiva

11:10 – 11:20AM EDT

Keynote Address

Founder, Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International. 

World-renowned environmental thinker, activist, feminist, philosopher of science, writer and science policy advocate.

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

11:50 – 12:00PM EDT

Keynote Address

Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche is the head of the Trungram lineage and one of the highest tulkus of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Grandmother Mona Polacca

12:00 – 12:10PM EDT

Message from the 13 Grandmothers

Hopi, Havasupai, Tewa Nations; Member, World Council of Spiritual & Religious Leaders; President, Turtle Island Project; Member, The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

12.40 – 12.50PM EDT

Keynote Address

19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle for the Great Sioux Nation. 

Rev. Dr. Mary and Marcus Braybrooke

12.50 – 1:00PM EDT

Juliet Hollister Award Ceremony

Honoring awardees Rev. Dr. Mary and Marcus Braybrooke.

 

Panel Discussions

State of the Earth Panel Discussion

Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker
Coordinator, Forum on Religion & Ecology, Yale University.

Imam Saffet Catovic
Founder, Green Muslims of New Jersey, Founding Board Member of the Global Muslim Climate Network.

Dr. Tyrone Hayes
Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley.

Rev. Susan Hendershot
President, Interfaith Power & Light

Dr. Charles McNeill
UN Environment Programme

Women In Leadership On the Environment Panel Discussion

Dr. Azza Karam
Secretary General, Religions for Peace

Dr. Erin Lothes Biviano
Program Director, Associate Professor, College of Saint Elizabeth

Lyla June
Diné & Tsétsêhéstâhese Nations; Environmental Anthropology, Stanford University; Co-founder, Taos Peace and Reconciliation Council

Audrey Kitagawa
Chair, Parliament of the World Religions.

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein
Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, National Jewish Environmental Organization 

Heather McTeer Toney
Former Regional Administrator EPA Southeast Region under President Obama; National Field Director, Moms Clean Air Force.

Intergenerational Wisdom & The Future of The Earth Community Panel Discussion

Isha Clarke
Co-founder & Youth Organizer, Youth Vs Apocalypse

Zanagee Artis
Cofounder, Zero Hour

Kehkashan Basu
Youth Ambassador World Future Council, Founder & President Green Hope Foundation

Marlow Baines
Youth Director, Earth Guardians

FORUM Action List

  • Become informed and spread the word, talk with family, friends, and colleagues
  • Share the video recording of our FORUMS:
  • Share our videos of ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL Dialogues & Interviews
  • Join an environmental group, unite, and take action
  • Take part in or organize a cleanup on a beach, river, creek, park, street, etc
  • Use your voice and your vote to push for credible climate action locally, nationally, and globally
  • Support legislation to curb plastic production and waste
  • Put pressure on corporations and manufacturers
  • Make your money count, support green companies
  • Invest money responsibly in renewable energy and energy efficiency
  • Walk, bike, or take public transport
  • Reduce, reuse, purchase items secondhand, repair & recycle properly
  • Cut down your consumption
  • Eat organic, non-GMO, eat more vegetables, and less dairy, meat, seafood, and fish
  • Cook more, buy more in bulk
  • Don’t waste food, create compost
  • Respect and protect green spaces, do not cut down trees
  • Plant trees and native vegetation, plant regenerative forests and food gardens
  • Cut back on flights, boat cruises, and unnecessary travel
  • Refuse any single-use plastics and avoid products containing microbeads
  • Carry reusable bags, produce bags, water bottles, utensils, coffee cups, and straws.
  • Save energy at home and at work.
  • Use less water. Use less hot water.
  • Adjust your thermostat for heating and cooling.
  • Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs and electric appliances.
  • Turn off electronic devices when not in use.
  • Wash laundry with cold water and hang clothes to dry.
  • Host a viewing party for one of the many plastic-pollution-focused documentaries, like A Plastic Ocean, Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic, Bag It, Addicted to Plastic, Plasticized, or Garbage Island.

Here are a few links we suggest for more information:

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