APPEAL FOR AN INTEGRAL GREEN EUROPE
A NEW EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Scientist, experts, artists, policy makers, corporate leaders, civil society activists regional developers, educational and academic innovators gathered at the 3rd International Conference INTEGRAL GREEN ECONOMY FOR A BETTER WORLD – IGE2017 and working on the initiative for an INTEGRAL GREEN SLOVENIA, being aware of multiple crises in Europe and neighbouring regions set in the context of a world on fire, while the EU, at the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 2017, is even facing a threat of disintegration, are calling on the community/people(?) and the leaders and of the European Union to find inspiration for envisioning the future of Europe in the great era of the European Renaissance and to step on the path of holistic societal and economic renewal, that has to be today based on the paradigm of sustainable development and therefore need to fully embrace the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030).
Recognising that the Agenda 2030, as probably the most ambitious agenda in the history of humankind, will have to be strongly supported by equally ambitious and integrally framed, holistic, trans-sectoral policies for sustainable development, we are proposing for further consideration a new conceptual framework with a transdisciplinary, transcultural and transformative character – the Integral Worlds approach that can inform us in our endeavours towards Sustainable Development Goals in a Renaissance mode:
By placing fundamental values, underlying the European cultural heritage, in the centre and as the starting point of visionary thinking as well as practical policies and measures – to inspire, help to integrate different spheres, and to enable a strong connection of all stakeholders to the innermost value core of the European society.
By entrenching / rooting sustainable development in nature and community and including culture of the particular society as a crucial, but often neglected, component of a holistic approach to development. The integral paradigm of sustainable development therefore encompasses four, mutually balanced dimensions – economy, environment, society, culture – and is strongly based on the moral core. An Integral Green Europe is authentically building on European culture(s) as well as recognising contributions of neighbouring and other cultures.
By revisiting the economic paradigm that is to a large extent responsible for current environmental degradation, social and economic crises – following the wisdom that we can’t solve problems by using the same way of thinking and acting we used when we created them.
The future of Europe’s economy has to be rebuilt on the wealth of integral impulses from all spheres and sectors of society, promote various economic approaches and paths that are successful in free market conditions and resilient to crises (e.g., environmental technologies, social entrepreneurship), and take into account the whole of the environmental and social impact of business operations.
By connecting and upgrading a number of successful European integral green practices, explaining them with the help of Integral Economics and Integral Development; among them Integral Green Slovenia as a pilot country.
By smart integration and effective implementation of EU policies based on sustainable development principles, such as the green, low-carbon and circular economy (with sustainable tourism and sustainable design), protection and sustainable management of natural ecosystems, social economy and socially responsible entrepreneurship, ethical banking, sustainable development of towns and rural areas with food and energy self-supply, revitalisation of cultural heritage, social responsibility, … (synergies and cross-sectoral approach). Crucial is the ability to draw constructively on the existing potential for sustainable development, as articulated in current policy frameworks of the larger political-economic entity that EU countries belong to.
By helping Europe to become aware that “Integral Age†and “Societal Renaissance†are emerging in other cultures, too, and to support such integral impulses for societal and economic renewal in developing countries.
And thus to enable the European community to REASSUME – now in partnership with, and drawing upon, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and America – the joint ROLE OF NAVIGATING SOCIETAL AND ECONOMIC RENEWAL GLOBALLY.
Signatories:
Dr. Darja Piciga, Citizens’ Initiative
Prof. Ronnie Lessem, Trans4m
Prof. Alexander Schieffer, Trans4m
…. and 40-50 personalities from Slovenia and other countries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgvIDuyZ_gA&feature=em-upload_owner.