Earth Charter Vrienden – Worldconnectors, affiliate Earth Charter

Peter Akkerman

in , , Earth Charter Vrienden Earth Charter Vrienden

Peter Akkerman (1993) is one of the writers of the National Environmental Program. He has a background in diplomacy and security issues. After starting his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he transitioned to sustainability. While peace and security are important, a livable Earth is the prerequisite.

Addressing biodiversity loss, the climate crisis, and environmental pollution are the challenges of our time, and Peter is passionately dedicated to tackling them. He enjoys working with young people and is the founder of the Youth Environmental Council, chairman of the foundation “Bos dat van zichzelf is” (Forest that Owns Itself), and the creator of Serendicity, an app for greening cities (currently in development).

Additionally, he is one of the organizers of the Symposium 50 Years of Environmental Policy (2021) and the National Environmental Day 2022 – Limits to Growth. Peter is also a creative individual with thousands of ideas, an enthusiast of meaningful conversations, a history buff, and an animal lover with a deep affection for nature.

Gerrien Anbeek

in Earth Charter Vrienden Earth Charter Vrienden

Professional background

Gerrien’s contribution to the SDG goals of gender equality, poverty reduction and innovation shows through her board position at the VVAO, an association for higher educated women that promotes empowerment, and as a member of the committee Broad Welfare of VNO-NCW. Her entire working life has been in international business; as a trainee at Rabobank, global director and expat at KPMG Consulting, and associate director at EY. As an interim director at global corporates, she supervises leadership development, digital transformation of HR and cultural changes in organizations. Gerrien has been a non-executive director on foundations and social enterprises in the charitable and semi-public sector for over 10 years.

Personal motto

“A good compromise is one where everybody makes a contribution.” – Angela Merkel

Meindert Brouwer

in Earth Charter Vrienden Earth Charter Vrienden

Meindert Brouwer (1951) is an independent communication advisor, writer, and publisher. He specializes in the conservation and sustainable use of nature, especially forests. Previously, he worked at KPMG Accountants & Consultants and at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Brouwer authored the books “Amazon Your Business,” the first guide to sustainable products from the rainforests of the Amazon; “The Ecosystem Promise” about the economic value of nature conservation with examples from around the world, and “Central African Forests Forever” on opportunities and solutions for the conservation and sustainable use of the Congo Basin rainforest. Brouwer sees social equality and economic justice as necessary conditions for a sustainable world.

Personal Motto:

There are always opportunities.

Teresa Fogelberg

in Earth Charter Vrienden

Teresa Fogelberg is Deputy Chief Executive of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). She is also board member at Cordaid, WWF Netherlands and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

Professional background
Teresa Fogelberg is an expert on the subject of women and development. She is former Chief Reviewer of the Gender and Diversity Programme of the CGIAR at the World Bank, and Associate Professor in Anthropology at Leiden University. She also held the position of executive assistant to the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. She has also held the role of Chair of the OECD Expert Group on Women and Development. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs she was head of the Research department, head of the Women and Development department, and thematic specialist on women and development at the Dutch embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

Personal motto
Be touched by compassion: indifference is dangerous.

Jan Pronk

in Earth Charter Vrienden, Worldconnectors Earth Charter Vrienden

The UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro was considered by many as a clarion call. The Cold War had ended, and henceforth, the global focus would be on combating poverty linked to environmental protection. I had the privilege of attending that conference and was impressed by the renewed enthusiasm, both among politicians and the youth.

New initiatives were emerging everywhere, and one of them was the drafting of the Earth Charter, a groundbreaking and inspiring document outlining principles to guide our actions as citizens of the Earth.

I was tangentially involved in the Earth Charter initiative, first in my roles as Minister for Development Cooperation and Minister for the Environment, and later when I had the opportunity to teach at the University for Peace in Costa Rica, where the office of Earth Charter International is located. Ruud Lubbers was the driving force behind the Charter, both internationally and in the Netherlands. When he passed away, I wholeheartedly took over the chairmanship of Earth Charter Netherlands, not only as one of his former friends and comrades but also as a friend of Earth Charter Netherlands.

—

See Jan Pronk’s contributions to the dialogue series in collaboration with the Worldconnectors on Climate Action (July 7, 2020) and on Migration and Refugees (Migratie en Vluchtelingen) (March 9, 2021). A compelling podcast from Earth Charter International features a conversation between director Mirian Vilela and Jan Pronk discussing his key moments in the UN and international politics, available here (podcast van Earth Charter International). A series of three podcasts about Jan Pronk’s political ideals and positive actions was released in September 2021 by the Correspondent. You can listen to it here (hier te beluisteren.)

Frans Versteeg

in Worldconnectors Earth Charter Vrienden

The Earth Charter has become more and more meaningful to me in recent years. After many years in the international business world, I have come to experience the Earth Charter as a summary of my beliefs.

Taking the life process of the Earth, our home, as a starting point. As ‘natural’ as it may sound, we, as humanity, seem to have become increasingly distant from it at this time.

For this reason, I find the Earth Charter and the call to seek a new beginning more necessary than ever.

Through my projects in energy and food transition, I have gradually become more focused on water: Today, about 2 billion people live with water scarcity and water stress. If we do nothing, that number could be 5 billion by 2050. In my opinion, transporting water on a global scale will become necessary to help large areas and many ‘megacities’. Through the Greenlandic shaman Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, I became involved in the challenge of doing something with the melting ice of Greenland.

In addition to water scarcity, there are also significant challenges with the quality of our water. Chemical pollution is just one part of it. Human-caused electromagnetic pollution has also become a significant problem. I believe that restoring water to its ‘natural structures’ has become essential for our environment and ourselves. Introducing vitalized water into the world is a second activity for me.

From my HR/organizational consulting practice, I work with companies on new inclusive leadership, so that organizations for the next phase of our consciousness development can be built, especially from the business sector. The Earth Charter can make a significant contribution to this consciousness development.

For more information, please visit the following websites: CC Coach and For Good Clean Change.

Dick de Groot

in Earth Charter Vrienden

Professional Background

Since the rise of the Third World Movement in the 1970s, Dick de Groot has been involved in issues of the global community. He started his career in 1975 in Zambia, subsequently contributing to education in Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya over the years. Dick de Groot served as the principal of a high school and as a senior education consultant at the national bureau. He has published various articles on educational innovation, drawing inspiration from the ubuntu vision.

Personal Motto

“I am because we are.”

Heleen de Mooij-Lubbers

in Worldconnectors Earth Charter Vrienden

“I SEE YOU – Sustainability starts with yourself. Where do we truly connect with our mind and heart? The art of truly coming back to our own source and, from deep trust, offering our real contribution and personal responsibility in all the beautiful core values that the Earth Charter provides. Awareness of what we may let go, do, and pass on together in the Earth that has been given to us. It starts with truly seeing yourself and seeing the other, beyond thoughts that have already formed. Beyond knowledge, beyond words, keep looking by being able to see.

It starts with one!

How may and can we look differently at the talent in everyone, in nature, in every culture?

I am blessed to be the daughter of my loving parents, my father Mr. RFM Lubbers, who has meant a lot to Earth Charter with his wisdom. In my younger years, I consciously and unconsciously received wise words of meaning.

I am grateful to be part of the “Friends of Earth Charter Netherlands” and to contribute and inspire where desired.

To contribute to the warm group of people and organizations that consciously commit to the Earth Charter or any form in the broad and beautiful visions of sustainability. Above all, I hope to embark on a journey with the more unconscious field and engage in conversations with those people, to listen, touch the core, and together create awareness to make a difference.

How is it in our education, where we have developed so much from our thinking, collected so much correct knowledge, and also run the risk of being further away from our source? When we SEE the talents and passions that each individual possesses, a world opens up. And when you encourage that, the impossible becomes possible for every student, our future leaders. Society and education have developed from thinking.

“We are so much more than we think.” How can we use emotional, and spiritual intelligence much more alongside true cognitive analyses? How pure can we remain and bring forth wisdom together? Wisdom beyond intelligence. From authentic leadership, intrinsic motivation arises to make a difference. “What you give attention to, grows.” How consciously do we give our attention to the positive difference we want to make together?

From wisdom, we are all one and have to take care of each other and embrace and respect diverse cultures. We share the belief in Love.

For sustainable development, my father advocated Pneuma as the fourth pillar alongside the three Ps: People, Planet, and Prosperity. Spirituality in this modern time, “beyond religions,” is important. The art of looking further, looking beyond judgment to see the gift.

What prevents us from truly seeing? Fear of what cannot or should not be seen. The courage to look beyond old loyalty and to talent and possibilities beyond the expectations of the system or our history.

The pressure of performance is increasing, and even now, in a society where much is required, we also want to convey our responsibilities in sustainability. When we realize that we mainly get to do this, the first step has been taken.

From must to meet. From looking to seeing. From talking about to doing together.

Taking personal responsibility is crucial for everyone in the system. When each individual can take their own, also emotional responsibility, the next generation is free to develop as optimally as possible. To experience space and free awareness and, from themselves, create the awareness and personal motivation in their share for our collective existence.

One of my father’s messages is: ‘Strong economy through ecology.’ Respect for the natural balance is crucial. My follow-up message is: ‘Strong society through connection and natural balance of heart and mind, of IQ and EQ.’ The power of looking through the eyes of our hearts and showing that we are so much more!

Life goes on, and the times, that is us.

‘Be who you want to be.’ Truly being who you are is sometimes our greatest challenge.

Do you follow the path of expectations, the expectation of how it should be, the experience that has already been formed by (family) history, or do you follow the path from your desires, not to prove the opposite, to live from authentic power?

To discover from authentic power is good to experience that it is you who can make a difference rather than waiting for the difference or change to be made by others or that system you depend on.

Discover your own qualities and look beyond the rules, beyond the imagined requirements, dare to show yourself, beyond old loyalty.

To make that difference, to discover what increases happiness is sometimes just: being silent.

In these two words, Silent and Being lies so much meaning, silent to be able to hear and see beyond (not) knowing and Being in all its purity to receive. Receive wisdom beyond intelligence. Is that not what true education in sustainability is about?

It was an honor for me to speak about this in January at the Earth Charter Education Conference in Costa Rica. Beautiful encounters and much inspiring wisdom to receive and pass on together.

Looking from your own core, from yourself – completely contrary to looking from yourself – to the big picture, I think ensures the ultimate form of liberation. Freedom means not only being free but especially the right to do good. To bring forth the good together.

Heleen de Mooij-Lubbers – In Eigen Kracht

New mail