Environment Fellowship
We are grateful for having been able to experience another very active year enjoying rotarian fellowship while actively
- promoting international fellowship and goodwill among all in the family of Rotary with an interest in the environment
- promoting and sharing the best environmental projects with those wishing to consider and implement them, and
- promoting the creation of rotarian action groups in different areas of the environment and sustainable development.
At the Rotary International (RI) Convention in Lisbon, we greatly enjoyed meeting and hearing both, Jane Goodall and Céline Cousteau. Our deep appreciation goes to RI for undertaking to invite these outstanding personalities who shared with us their unique vision and example of dedicated world citizens from whom we have so much to learn in order to make our planet an always better place.
During the Convention, as usual we naturally also attended and introduced ourselves at the annual meeting organized by the RI Fellowships Committee for all Rotary Fellowships' representatives.
We will be present also in Sydney in 2014 and at all the RI conventions thereafter, and are particularly looking forward also to our RI Convention of 2017 in Atlanta/Georgia/USA where we trust that hopefully we'll not only celebrate The Rotary Foundation's 100th birthday in the very city where TRF had started, but we do believe that it will be possible that there and then, in Atlanta in 2017, Rotary will be able to announce to humankind the success of PolioPlus : the global complete eradication of polio !
A Flow Without End
In the House of Friendship in Lisbon/Portugal we had a very much visited booth #1904, located just next to the first and oldest Rotary fellowship in booth #1906, the Esperanto World Fellowship of Rotarians www.radesperanto.org.
There we were showcasing and highlighting
great Rotary environmental activities and projects from all continents. With our presentation on the environment and sustainable development, we were attracting a continuing flow of interested Rotarians, their spouses and guests, as well as Rotaractors. Their flow was without end, continually stopping by, looking at the photos and reading the texts of our displays, and then asking questions on the environmental projects they were most interested in. Our display there showcased examples of rotarian environmental activities in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. These projects included also, to name a few examples, alternative energies, dengue fever prevention, cleaning of the ocean in costal areas, reforestation, ecotourism, sustainable development, availability of clean water for all, preservation of animal species from extinction, climate change awareness, etc.
In a double-booth #1902-4, together with the Honorary Consuls' Fellowship of Rotarians (HCFR), one of the newest Rotary fellowships, we made the best of the so created synergies and verily multiplied Rotary fellowship !
The HCFR unites Consuls and Diplomats, past and present, as well as all interested in being involved in lending support to Rotary's global peace-building efforts. Just write to kappenberger@gmail.com for information on it.
Environmental projects
As our world is increasingly but one country and all humankind are its citizens, the environmental projects which our Environment Fellowship of Rotarians supports include many promoted by Rotarian Action Groups which are active in related areas, including, water, vision, health, seeds for better nutrition, etc.
Here follows an example/selection of just 19 of the websites which contain those rotary projects which we mentioned
most when talking with our visitors:
Already in June, when in Lisbon, we started registering for the RI 2014 Convention to take place in Sydney.
As we are now also preparing for our participation at the RI 2014 Convention in Sydney/Australia, we have these following questions to all of the family of Rotary who read this newsletter, and we thank you very much in advance for generously emailing your answers to: envirorotarians@gmail.com Kindly try now to answer today, and later share anything more you wish to add on:
1. your confirmation of your own participation at the RI Convention in Sydney: 30 May to 4 June 2014.
2. your ideas for our EFR display in the 3x3-metres booth in the House of Friendship at the Rotary International (RI) Convention in Sydney.
3. your expression of interest to participate forming a Rotarian Action Group (RAG) in your specific field of expertise in the environment & sustainable development,
4. your expression of interest to serve as an officer, on the board of our EFR,
5. your interest and availability to serve as a social media co-administrator,
6. your comments on any subject of this our EFR Newsletter you care to share,
7. your ideas and suggestions for any additional activities for our EFR,
8. your input about your Rotary district's very best exemplary environmental projects, and
9. any other comment you'd like to share !
From Alternative Energies To Water
As one of the older and more experienced Rotary fellowships, also in this Rotary year our Environment Fellowship of Rotarians, in contact with our membership in every region of every continent, wherever Rotary exists, proactively shares information and promotes successful rotarian Environmental projects. Yes, we also promote all kinds of exemplary environmental projects, from A to Z, Alternative energies to Water, and we are in active contact with other RI Fellowships and the Rotarian Action Groups. We feel and observe that our fellowship's activity successfully results in increasingly enhancing Rotarians' experience and satisfaction in Rotary and so definitely contributing to further improving Rotary's service to humankind, especially strengthening Rotary clubs, increasing enthusiasm and dedication for humanitarian service, and significantly improving the people's image of Rotary worldwide, which, besides retaining membership, does attract potential Rotarians into Rotary.
We thus continue to support Rotary's 'Preserve Planet Earth' which attracts new good potential Rotarians towards and into Rotary, increasing retention, as we act to advance towards the object of Rotary in an always better environment to which the projects we promote do contribute. We promote the Object of Rotary by facilitating Environmental projects globally. We support The Rotary Foundation in its efforts and action for an always improved service to humankind, so effectively attracting world Peace besides eradicating polio !
Reforestation, Environmental education, waste, eco-tourism...
We have continued to encourage Rotarians to form environmental Rotarian Action Groups (RAG). While our Environment Fellowship of Rotarians remains a Rotary fellowship, the Board of RI had encouraged us to facilitate the formation of RAGs and the first one we successfully supported was the now very active RAG on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. New ones are being considered in the fields of reforestation, environmental education, waste management and recycling, eco-tourism, as well as the creation of parks and gardens, and others have been already applied for, as for example the one for endangered wildlife in which some of us are looking forward to become founding members.
Our support for climate change awareness, is also quite well reflected in the expedition www.toptotop.org , a decade-long dedicated action by a Rotarian and his family team of 6 for climate-change-awareness through all the major United Nations' environmental conferences as well as all the oceans' costal regions, and islands, as well as to the highest summits of all continents, all using exclusively wind, solar and muscle energy, promoting by example climate change awareness through the media and to the schools' students, civil authorities and Rotary clubs !
Aware that an always better environment drastically reduces the possibility of disasters happening, we proactively build this environment with increasingly less disasters and at the same time support Rotary's efforts in the area of disaster prevention and relief, which is an area for which Rotary is indeed particularly well-positioned, an area for which Rotary has an immensely-greater potential than what it is offering humankind at present.
From Cyprus to Armenia
As an example, let us mention that, while we're promoting rotarian environmental projects globally, this includes in particular also RI District 2450, which reaches from Cyprus in the Mediterranean to the West, all the way to Armenia and Georgia to the North, through Egypt to Southern Sudan to the South, as well as the UAR and Bahrain to the East : a region where greater efforts for a robust growth of Rotary and its humanitarian activities will be so particularly very beneficial for all humankind, for international understanding and lasting peace.
As its goals cause undeniable environmental benefits and build always better understanding among humankind, we wholeheartedly support the ICC-InterCountry Committees www.rotary-icc.org that promote en environment of improved relations between all countries.
We seek the best-possible environment for humankind, and thus we wholeheartedly and fully support Rotary's goal to best and soonest eradicate polio !
While the United Nations Organization (UN) had seen its birth in San Francisco after the second world war thanks especially also to the work, support and proactive participation of some 50 Rotarians who were leading delegations representing the world's nations, Rotary has also significantly contributed to almost achieve the victory regarding polio, giving humankind an almost polio-free world
!
Indeed, working with the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary has been the leader advancing towards humankind's victory over polio, and Rotarians are certainly best-prepared to optimally achieve total Victory over polio: it's actually rally in our own hands !
The Leader...
In fact, the more we Rotarians and our Rotary clubs also plan and implement humanitarian projects closest-possible to the areas where the polio virus still exists and the more TRF of RI supports this action with its grants and programs, the more certainly and only then really all parents will overcome their fears and gain the trust and confidence to finally bring really all children for polio immunization/vaccination, which is now the way Rotarians can best make the difference and fastest fully eradicate polio disease !
More than governments and international agencies, Rotary is better prepared as it is composed of Rotarians who live according to the 4WayTest, practice ethics, and act to advance towards the object of Rotary, all living the Rotary example of humanitarian action and commitment which powerfully radiates good will, humanitarian action and creates as well as attracts the so badly needed trust and confidence.
Supporting the best of the United Nations !
We definitely contribute towards forging a better environment for humankind, without polio, and with a better action of Rotary supporting the best of the United Nations !
Every year more of us participate in the yearly Rotary Day at the United Nations, now imminent, on Nov 1 & 2, 2013 it does provide a great, unforgettable experience which includes important highlights on the environment and sustainable development, which facilitates great networking, and which has resulted in great environmental projects.
We invite you to visit www.myworld2015.org and enter the forum discussion to share your ideas for a next generation world future.
We do continually support the Rotarian Declaration for World Peace as it had been adopted by the Council of Legislation of RI in 2010, especially also in its declaring the priority of effective protection of the environment in general, with priority to actions and programs for clean air and water for all.
Much gratitude to all for everyone's contribution to a better environment and sustainable development !
Respectfully submitted in the name of our
Environment Fellowship of Rotarians
envirorotarians@gmail.com
Chair/President
Marco Kappenberger
kappenberger@gmail.com
www.recl.org
President, Rotary E-Club of Latinoamérica, District 4200
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