SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
on
RELIGIOUS STUDIES and THEOLOGY EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
CHALLENGES for HIGHER EDUCATION
Friday 28 September 2007
INTRODUCTION
The debate on sustainable development has lately gained momentum with the production of new evidence for rapid climate change, the earlier Millennium Ecosystems Assessment report, and media presentations such as Bill Clinton’s tour and Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth. Whereas this debate has until now focused largely on technical aspects, there is now growing attention for underlying values, assumptions, opinions, and, ultimately, the deeper religious motivations in our cultures underpinning environmentally benign or destructive behavior. All faiths and life philosophies, whether belonging to the institutionalized world religions or to informal spiritual movements, nurture worldviews on the essence of life, mankind and nature. However, the relations between these worldviews and their impact on the environment (positive or negative) are by no means clear and should be debated further. And in order to carry this debate further into the future - for that is what sustainable development is about - , we have to ask ourselves: how are those worldviews and the debate about their supposed effects incorporated in the academic disciplines of religious studies and theology, in their research and education? Do academic and other higher educational institutions sufficiently equip their students for this debate? In what way do they incorporate the theme in their research agendas? How can the disciplines of religious studies and theology (of all faiths and denominations) contribute to the underpinning of social and international policy debates on sustainable development as articulated in, for instance, the Earth Charter and the Millennium Development Goals?
SCOPE
In the preparation for this seminar it became clear that the exploration of this conglomerate – religion, sustainable development, and higher education – is still in its infancy. Many scholars hold a view on the subject and there is evidence of many practical experiences in courses and classrooms, but very few, if anyone at all, has a complete overview of the subject. The purpose of this seminar is therefore to explore the theme together with scientists, lecturers and others interested in embedding sustainable development in the teaching of theology and religious studies at academic and higher educational level. The aim is to share research themes, field experiences and best practices, identify commonalities and further questions, and hopefully reach some understanding on which to build recommendations for further work.
PROCEEDINGS, BOOK PUBLICATION, AND NETWORK
Proceedings of the Seminar will be published on the Seminar website as well as in hard copy. Best case material will be combined and published as an international disciplinary review on Theology, Religious studies and Sustainable Development. Cooperation with international scientific journals is currently being investigated. The seminar is also envisaged to initiate a network for further dialogue on and development of the subject.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Kindly note that we aim at the best possible coverage of presentations over a limited number of slots. Abstracts and papers will therefore be selected primarily on their relevance to the subject as described above. In this light, theoretical papers as well as reports of practical experiences are eligible. Selection will be done by the seminar organization with advisory support from the Program Committee. Please contact the organization when in doubt.
Closure dates for contributions:
- 30 May 2007: deadline for Abstracts
- 20 August 2007: deadline for Papers
Abstracts should not exceed 750 words (1 page A4) and are to be sent to Ms. Dorri te Boekhorst
VENUE
Conference centre De Holthurnse Hof, Berg en Dal (near Nijmegen), Netherlands
ORGANISATION
Centre for Sustainable Management of Resources (CSMR)
Radboud University Nijmegen - Faculty of Science
P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL NIJMEGEN, Netherlands
Contact person for information on logistics: Ms. Anja Mooren, tel. +31 (024) 3652262
Contact person for abstracts and papers: Ms. Dorri te Boekhorst, tel. +31 (024) 3652091
Fax: +31 (024) 3652263
PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
Prof. Dr. Wil Derkse - Radboud University Nijmegen
Prof. Dr. Jan Boersema - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Prof. Dr. Erik Eynikel - Radboud University Nijmegen
Ir. David Renkema - OIKOS Foundation, Centre for Religion and Development
Dr. Kocku von Stuckrad - University of Amsterdam, International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC)
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