CONCEPT
NOTE
National
Seminar on
Ecology, Environment and Religions:
Key Issues and Challenges
(February 26-27, 2018)
Change in environment and ecology is more of a moral challenge. It calls us to examine how we use
and share the goods of the earth, what we pass on to future generations, and
how we live in harmony with interfaith traditions. Ecology has become a
widespread concern. But it means different things to different people. In
normal idiom it can never be entirely divorced from scientific usage and
explanation, but it also has its emotive expression.
This
seminar wishes to examine how humans interact with the environment by exploring
three dimensions. It will conceptualize to locate the interrelationship between
ecology and human behaviour through the lenses of the following dimensions:
1) Physical dimension:
An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of
biotic components such as plants, animals and microorganisms and abiotic
components like, soil, air and water- all interacting as a functional unit. A
balance between these is crucial for ecological sound use of natural resources
within an ecosystem. Since India is a
biomass spaced economy its ecology or eco-system dictates the local economy and
livelihoods of people. Ecology and
development are inescapably interrelated. Development, begs the ecological
question of the long-term productivity of resources and further aggravates
ecological crisis. If human activity causes ecological decline, it also lowers
the limits of what can be aimed at to improve the conditions of human activity.
An understanding of this conflict might be achieved through varied discourses
on ecological crisis.
2) Social
dimension:
Socio-cultural
ecology suggests an explanation of where the actor stands in relation to others in an
ecosystemic whole, in which all manoeuvre for its advantage. It views social and ecological systems as components
of an integrated community. This
approach engages the broader
social drivers of managing the ecology in the face of environmental crisis. It
involves with social contexts, emphasizing how people's lives are influenced by
???? and how they in turn reshape their niches and habitat in such crisis. It
also looks at the ways various social factors such as societal values, cultural
norms and social structure enable or constrain the expectations, experience and
behaviors of people within communities in relation to environment. This
explanation can yield insights that would help in grappling with the complexity
of use, misuse and conservation of natural resources.
3) Religious or spiritual
dimension
The Religious traditions are not monolithic rather
they include a wide range of positions ranging from orthodox to reformistic. In
relation to ecology and environment various religions also had a potential role
towards ecological interpretation, awareness and its conservation.
This understanding
about environment and ecology seeks to explore what the interfaith experiencecan
offer to the environmental understanding and what we can learn from it. In
brief it addresses the comparative religious approach to the concepts of
ecology and environment through assumptions of : 1) the values one finds
commonly asserted in environment or ecology and
2) the values commonly found in religious traditions. This perspective
attempts to explore the spiritual/faith discourses about human moral
sensibilities towards ecology by presuming that the human "community"
includes much more than just “humans”. Religious/spiritual understanding might
have an answer to the question of how, in working for a sustainable global
ecosystem one can fulfill the obligations by maintaining a balance among humans
and ecology.
Since climatic change is a global problem with
multiple explanations of its use, misuse and conservation, this seminar is
designed to ignite interdisciplinary thoughts on the problem.
This process could help in understanding the issue in a much broader way
involving the three interrelated dimensions which have linkage to human
existence. This seminar has the following objectives:
- To link questions of
ecology, environment and development
- To gauge the Impact of
ecological abuse on human beings and their habitat
- To highlight the
social and ethical dimensions of the environmental crisis
- To build an Interfaith
experience on the religious dimensions of ecology, environment and development
- To develop Contributions
towards environmental protection/sustainability by initiating
environmental questions by the interfaith religious bodies.
- To establish a Vision
for a sustainable world community.
At
the End
Humanity faces problems in five interrelated fields:
environment, energy, economics, equity, and values. To ensure the survival of a
healthy planet, then, we must not only establish a sustainable economy but also
labour for justice both within and among nations. We must seek a society where
development and environmental commitment work together to protect and to
enhance life on this planet. We want to stimulate dialogue between natural and
social science along with religion on the issue of climate change.
Bringing people together to talk on climate change,
ecology, environment and consumerism from the social and spiritual viewpoint is a novel experience. During this
seminar, we hope to learn various
perspectives and faith traditions to explore the
relationship between ecology, environment and religion. We hope to discuss the roles of
interdisciplinary approaches and faiths for the conservation and
preservation of ecology.
Seminar
Plan and Topics
Papers
are invited to consider the following broad themes which would be futuristic in
approach:
- The Physical
Dimension on Ecology: Human –Environment Relationship
Natural resources and their
status
Climatic Change and its
effects
Natural resources and their Exploitation
Biodiversity and conservation
- Social Dimension on
Ecology : Society- Environment Relationship
Society, Environment and
Development
Social Issues and Environment
Demography and environment
Environmentalism of poor
Growth and development
Environmental policies and practices
- Religious and
Spiritual Dimension on Ecology: Religion-Environment Relationship
·
The
Religious/Spiritual Perspective on Environment and Climatic Change
·
Ecology and
Religious Scriptures
- Religio-Social
Teachings on Environment
- Global Dialogue and
Harmony with Solidarity among Different Religions
Venue
The
seminar will be held during February 26-27, 2018 at the Centre forCulture and
Development, Vadodara, Gujarat. Vadodara is well connected by road, rail and
air network to the rest of India.
Submission of Papers
Researchers
and other professionals are invited to submit their abstracts on the seminar
themes. Those whose abstracts are selected must send a soft copy of their
papers to the following email address: centreforculture@gmail.com. The
paper must not exceed 4,000 words limit (including tables and appendices).
Abstracts of all selected papers will be printed and distributed among the
participants. After due revision the selected papers will be published as a
volume.
Important Dates
Last
Date for Receipt of Abstracts : 15th
January 2018
Acceptance
of Final Abstracts
: 20th January 2018
Last
Date for Receipt of Full Length Papers : 15th
February, 2018
Travel Support and Accommodations
Travel
fare by IIIAC/Sleeper (Railway) will be reimbursed. Accommodation and local
hospitality will be provided to the delegates at the institute guest house or
nearby hotel/s.
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