
Savour a flavour of Earth Rights Conference 2019 in this mini documentary made with love by Phil Jamieson Photography!
EARTH RIGHTS CONFERENCE
A space for dialogue and co-creation about the idea that nature, not just humans, have rights.
Can this idea be the foundation for a new dimension of respect and harmony between humanity and the planet? The legal and existential dimensions of this question are raised and examined, in dialogue with leading voices for Earth rights from different parts of the world. This is the second international conference on Earth rights arranged by the Sigtuna Foundation in cooperation with Lodyn and Cemus.
Thank you all from near and far who created such a magical space with us!
WHEN
WHERE
REGISTER
Alternative accommodation at Sigtuna Folkhögskola Hostel, about 10 minutes walking distance from Sigtunastiftelsen, offers accommodation at a discounted price. Single room SEK 495, double room SEK 645. For reservation contact frida.jansson@sigtunafolkhögskola.se. Discount code: ERC

PROGRAMME
FRIDAY May 10
Nature´s rights in law – processes and practice
9.00 Coffee and registration
10.00 We are here. Welcome and introduction
10.30 Ecological Jurisprudence: Going beyond Mechanistic Law
Henrik Hallgren, Lodyn
10.40 The Lake Erie Bill of Rights – People rising for nature in the US
Mari Margil, Community Environment Legal Defense Fund
11.00 How The Amazon became a living breathing entity with Rights in the eyes of the Law
Gabriela Eslava Bejarano, Dejusticia
11.30 To address climate change, does Culture need a new relationship with Nature?
Panel discussion with AnnaKarin Hammar, Per Johansson, Parul Sharma and Mari Margil, moderated by Louise Hård af Segerstad.
12.00 LUNCH
13.00 A meeting with Mother Earth – outdoor activity
13.45 Parallell workshops:
- Songs of the Earth – Ecopedagogy in action
- Nature’s Rights in international frameworks
- Saami moratorium on mining – the Násavaerie story
- Rights of nature for Land owners – partnership with the Land
- Evolving Law of Ocean Rights and Responsibilities
16.00 Tribunal on the Rights of Lake Vättern
18.00 Break
19.00 Dinner
21.00 Remembrance and thanksgiving for Polly Higgins
Khalil Ghibrans The Prophet
Annika Lykta
SATURDAY May 11
The worldview reflected in Rights of Nature
from 7.00 BREAKFAST
8.30 Morning celebration for the Earth (outdoors)
9.15 Tribunal on the Rights of Lake Vättern – decision from the judges
10.00 Peace with the Earth: indigenous perspectives on Rights of Nature
Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
11.00 Parallell workshops:
- A European Hub within the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
- I am Nature, I am Artificial – am I Aware?
- Ecopsychology, animism and the Soul of the World
- Earth Rights, Sápmi and Indigenous Leadership – next steps
- Inventing the Universities we need
12.30 LUNCH
13.30 Ecocide in Sápmi – a report
13.40 How do we co-create harmony with nature? A Learning Ecosystem
Interactive session: where do we go from here?
15.30 Fika and closure.
WORKSHOPS
Rights of Nature for Land Owners: Partnership with the land
terms. We will explore ways to relate to the land, such as permaculture and ecoforestry, that manifest a respect for the Rights of Nature. As participant you will be a part of a group thinking about how Rights of Nature can be put in practice, in relationship to the land. Henrik Hallgren leads the workshop together with Mikael Karlsson. They will present an initiative for certification of land based on a rights of nature approach.
Songs of the Earth - Ecopedagogy in Action
Earth Rights, Sápmi and Indigenous Leadership - Next Steps
Evolving Law of Ocean Rights and Responsibilities - Indigenous and Canadian Examples
Creating an European hub for the Rights of Nature
Ecopsychology, animism and the Soul of the World
Ecopsychology calls for the Voice of the Earth to be included in the environmental debate. At this key time of challenge, we need to
engage with both the body and the soul of nature. Learning to work with them together can radically re-awaken our relationship to the Earth and help us discover new solutions, new inspirations, and new possibilities. This is not a luxury bonus or exotic sideline, it is an essential core practice. We invite a way of life where we are no longer isolated individuals but participating in the whole. By re-connecting to our natural community including humans, nature, and spirits, we turn a feeling of longing into a sense of belonging. The workshop, led by Zara Waldebäck, Jonathan Horwitz and Henrik Hallgren, will explore ways of re-connecting with Earth through shamanic and ecopsychological practices.
Rights of Nature in international frameworks
I am Nature, I am Artificial - Am I Aware?
Inventing the Universities We Need
This workshop will invite participants to work creatively together to invent a university adequate to contemporary ecological crises and to recognising the rights of the Earth. It will offer an opportunity to consider the sorts of institutions and practices that would facilitate encounters between different forms of knowledge, different practices of cultural learning and different ways of being in the world; practices that might build capacity to acknowledge the loss and grief of the current ecocide and to find new ways to act (and not act) in current conditions. The workshop will invite participants to reflect on the educational experiences and relationships that have been significant in their lives, to intertwine these with theories of learning, to develop principles that might inform the ideal processes and practices, and to begin to imagine what institutional (or anti-institutional) forms these might take. Participants will be encouraged to dream, to imagine possibilities, as well as to work backwards from these to consider what might be needed to invent such a ‘university’ in the timescale required for action on climate change. The central purpose of such work is to build opportunities for dialogue amongst the participants around the role of learning in the work that they do, to strengthen and deepen their understanding of each other, and to create the beginnings of spaces of possibility for relationships of change. The outcomes of this process may take the form of a found poem, an invocation of a new possibility. Led by Susanna Barrineau and Keri Facer.
Saami Moratorium on mining - the Násavaerie story
Since time immemorial, the Nása Mountain has served as grazing pastures for reindeer herding Saami. Through a system of ecologically sustainable hunting, fishing and reindeer husbandry, this area has become an important site where Saami have co-existed peacefully with nature on its own terms. From a Saami viewpoint, this area is also marred by a long and painful history. The Swedish State realised the monetary value of the Nása Mountain in the 1600’s, after having stumbled on silver in the area. In June 2017, the reindeer community in Nása mountain declared a moratorium over the Nása Mountain. As an introduction to this workshop, Sara Ajnnak from Svaipa sameby will share her personal story of connection with the Násavaerie mountain, and how she found inspiration to protect her local community. To be followed by a sharing session – how can we achieve transformation through our personal connections with Mother Nature?
CO-CREATORS

TOM GOLDTOOTH

KERI FACER

PER JOHANSSON

NIKOLAS BERG
Nikolas Berg is a practitioner of ecopedagogy, transformative leadership and inner transition since 30 years. Early on he got involved with strategic and innovative organizations to implement social change to end hunger and poverty. Nikolas is the co-author of ”Rights of Nature – When Law Brings Peace With Earth”, with Ingrid Berg and Martin Hultman. It is the first book in Swedish about this legal innovation, the Earth Rights Movement and Ecopedagogy as a tool for co-creating the system shift needed. He and Ingrid are co-leading courses about rights of nature at Färnebo Folkhögskola, together with Carmen Blanco Valer.

HANA BEGOVIC

MARTIN HULTMAN

MARIAM CARLSSON KANYAMA

LINDA NOWLAN

GUNILLA HÖGBERG BJÖRK

PIA BJÖRSTRAND

MARI MARGIL

VALERIE CABANES
Valérie Cabanes is a legal expert in international law, specializing in human rights. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and one of the experts of the UN Harmony with Nature initiative. After two decades in NGO fieldwork, she launched in 2013 a European citizen initiative on the crime of ecocide in France then co-founded in 2015 the NGO Notre Affaire à Tous at the initiative of the “Case of the century” (Climate case against the french government supported by 2 millions citizens). In 2015, she contributed to the drafting of the project of a Universal Declaration of Humankind Rights (and duties) and to a proposal for amendments to the Statute of the International Criminal Court on the crime of ecocide.

HENRIK HALLGREN

MALIN ÖSTMAN

ZARA WALDEBÄCK

MIKAEL KARLSSON

GEORGIA LLOYD-SMITH

ERENA RANGIMARIE REREOMAKI RHÖSE

LOUISE HÅRD AF SEGERSTAD

SARA AJNNAK

GABRIELA ESLAVA BEJARANO

JONATHAN HORWITZ

PEDER KARLSSON

STEFAN MIKAELSSON

SANNA BARRINEAU

PELLA THIEL

ALF LINDERMAN

ANNIKA LYKTA

ANNA KARIN HAMMAR
HOSTS




PARTNERS






”Just as human beings have human rights, all other beings also have rights which are specific to their species or kind and appropriate for their role and function within the communities within which they exist.”
from the Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth
Declaration by the Earth Rights Conference participants 2017
Because of the accelerating socio-ecological challenges and wounds caused by the modern human-centered worldview which has emphasized our separation from each other and from nature,
We recognize and support:
- The need of an earth-centered worldview emphasizing the interconnectedness of all beings, as well as the urgent need to implement this worldview in our legal systems,
- The indigenous peoples’ knowledge and rights to territories and organizational forms and livelihoods based on a harmonious relationship with nature,
- The urgent and historical opportunity to gather around Earth Rights* as a framework to restore the relationship between humans and nature.
We commit ourselves to living in harmony with nature, each other and ourselves, as well as to the co-creation of a common Earth Rights culture.
We declare to be the change we want to see in the world through:
- Learning to govern ourselves in alignment with the Laws of Nature;
- Listening to and speaking for Nature;
- Connecting and cooperating across borders;
- Healing past wounds, individually and collectively, in order to move forward;
- Standing up and taking action for Earth Rights with love.
Today we call on all peoples, organizations and governments to join us in this great undertaking and take adequate measures. We call on the United Nations to adopt the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth for the wellbeing of our Earth Community and future generations, and in honor of our common home.
* Earth Rights include the rights of all of our planet’s ecosystems and all of its inhabitants. We envision Earth Rights as working in harmony with, reinforcing and securing all other rights of peoples and species.

CONTACT
“A true “right of the environment” does exist.”
Pope Francis to the UN, September, 2015