“ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” with Roland Wiederkehr

Bloomington Peace Action Coalition and the Center For Sustainable Living offer a Youth and Community Forum “ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” with Roland Wiederkehr, co-founder of various institutions in Switzerland and abroad in the field of Environment, Culture and Peace, on June 5.

The Forum will start at 7:30 pm at the Monroe County Public Library, Room 1-B with an introduction by Lew Polsgrove.

Roland Wiederkehr will speak about his vision of creating a “Platform of the Good" to replace the “axis of evil” worldview, and of engaging young people in bringing about change towards a more sustainable and peaceful future. To this end Roland Wiederkehr created a leadership training organization called “ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” http://www.ecfp.org

“ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE”, founded in Switzerland and supported by the Swiss government, supports young leaders in their efforts to work for a positive future in countries affected by conflict. Roland Wiederkehr will speak about how “ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” encourages and facilitates young peoples’ effective engagement for peace. The organization was founded in 2001 and has had several participants from the United States, including a young woman from Bloomington, Indiana. http://www.ecfp.org/en/archiv/index.php

Roland Wiederkehr is a former member of the Swiss Parliament. He was Director of the WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE in Switzerland from 1968 – 87, and founded GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL together with Mikhail Gorbechev in 1993. The U.S. affiliate organization is GLOBAL GREEN.

http://www.greencrossinternational.net/index.htm
http://www.globalgreen.org

http://greencross.ch

The ongoing activities of Green Cross International are centered around

· Preventing and resolving conflicts over natural resources, especially energy and water

· Addressing the environmental consequences of wars and conflicts. Green Cross promotes the clean­up and conversion of military bases to civilian use, the remediation of nuclear contamination, and the environmentally ­responsible destruction of conventional and chemical weapon stockpiles.

· Promoting value and behavior changes leading to a sustainable future. Green Cross was one key actors in the development of the EARTH CHARTER, a document which is intended to serve as a universal code of conduct to guide people and nations towards a sustainable future.

Roland Wiederkehr can be reached for interviews at: E-mail: rw@rolandwiederkehr.ch , Phone: 805-969-0413 (until May 30), 812-336-0360 (May 31-June 9)

Bloomington Peace Action Coalition and the Center for Sustainable Living invite members of the community, and especially high school students and young people in their twenties, to learn about these efforts to prevent conflicts and wars over scarce resources (energy and water), and to explore how individuals, and communities like Bloomington, can bring about change towards a more sustainable and more peaceful future.

The event is free and open to the public.

“ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE”

Monday, June 5, 2006

7:30 pm

Monroe County Public Library, Room 1-B,

303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington

For additional information: Christine Glaser, Bloomington Peace Action Coalition

E-mail: cglaser@iupui.edu, Phone: 812–336-0360