The Ecopsychology Network of Southern California and the Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, Ecopsychology Program (CLE) at Pacifica Graduate Institute warmly invite you to an inspiring Sunday afternoon on the Earth Charter, featuring Mirian Vilela, executive director of Earth Charter International in Costa Rica, and joined by Pacifica faculty Linda Buzzell, Mary Watkins, and Ed Casey.

Fee: $15 General Public, $10 Pacifica Students and Alumni
Date: Sunday, January 25th, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Location: Pacifica's Ladera Lane Campus
Contact: Mary Watkins 805.969.3626 ext. 332 

The Earth Charter Setting the Course

Mirian Vilela asks us: “What is our vision in terms of our place on Earth? How do we see our relationship with other human beings and with the great community of life on Earth? She will explore the quest for building a more just, sustainable and peaceful world and the Earth Charter contribution to the New Way Forward.

Earth Care, People Care and “Fair Shares”

Linda Buzzell understands ecopsychology as a guide to a deep understanding of the fact that we are embedded in a living Earth and share our life support systems and souls with what the Lakota Sioux call “all our relatives.” Permaculture offers us three foundational ethics -- Earth Care, People Care and “Fair Shares” -- and, with the Earth Charter’s four principles, these healthy roots can give us the practical, psychological and spiritual grounding we need as we create and transition to the world we all want to live in.

The Four Principles of the Earth Charter as a Guide to Vocations for the Psychologically-Minded

Mary Watkins uses the four principles of the Earth Charter to direct us toward vocational work that fosters respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, social and economic justice, and, democracy, nonviolence, and peace. Drawing on twenty years of student and faculty fieldwork and research in the Depth Psychology Program at Pacifica, she will sketch the geography of work that has evolved to co-create the Commons.

Bio's

Mirian Vilela is the executive director of Earth Charter International and has been involved in the initiative internationally since early 1996. She has coordinated an international process of consultation, and set up partnerships with organizations and individuals who contributed to the consultation process and who continue to be involved in the implementation phase of the Charter. She has organized and facilitated numerous international workshops and seminars on values and principles for sustainability. Ms. Vilela coordinates the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter and is a member of the UNESCO Expert Reference Group for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). Prior to her work with the Earth Charter, Ms. Vilela worked for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) for two years in preparation of the 1992 UN Earth Summit. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she was an Edward Mason Fellow and is finalizing her doctorate on Education from Universidad LaSalle, Costa Rica.

Linda Buzzell, psychotherapist and ecotherapist is the co-editor with Craig Chalquist of Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind (Sierra Club Books 2009). She is Adjunct Faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California in the MA/PhD Depth Psychology program specializing in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology and Ecopsychology. She is a blogger at The Huffington Post on ecopsychology and ecotherapy; and a member of the Editorial Board of Ecopsychology, a peer-reviewed journal. In 2002 Linda founded the online organization The International Association for Ecotherapy, and edited its journal Ecotherapy News. She is the founder of the  Ecopsychology Network of Southern California and a member of the Ecopsychology Network of Clinicians.

Mary Watkins is the co-founder of the Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology and Ecopsychology Program (CLE) at Pacifica, and the founding coordinator of Community and Ecological Fieldwork and Research in the Depth Psychology Program. Among her books, she is the co-author of Toward Psychologies of Liberation and Up Against the Wall: Re-Imagining the U.S.-Mexico Border. She works at the interfaces between Euro-American depth psychologies and psychologies of liberation from Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Ed Casey is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at State University of New York, Stony Brook and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pacifica in the CLE Program.  He is the author of numerous books, including The Fate of Place, Getting Back Into Place, Earth-Mapping: Artists Reshaping Landscape, Representing Place: Landscape Painting and Maps. He is a past-president of the American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division). He hosts the Eco-Dreamers in the CLE Program.