Skyridge Church of the Brethren in Kalamazoo will be celebrating Earth Day this Saturday by hosting “One Earth, One Chance;” a workshop and discussion on environmental sustainability and social justice in the surrounding communities. The event will be led by grassroots activist David Radcliff of the Virginia-based New Community Project (NCP), and will be held April 22 from 1-3 p.m.
The Skyridge Worship Planning Task team felt it was important to bring Radcliff’s workshop to Kalamazoo saying, “We are a group committed to peace and justice, earth care, and efforts to leave a humane and thriving planet for those who will follow us.” Radcliff told Watershed Voice his discussion will cover the range of challenges facing the planet such as climate change, and loss of biodiversity due to consumption and pollution. He will explain humans’ part in causing these problems, and what we can do to solve them, such as making changes in personal choices, and action on a local level. “Through photos and stories, we’ll see evidence ‘on the ground’ of the condition of the environment in parts of Africa, the Arctic, and the Amazon rainforest,” he said.
Radcliff launched NCP in August 2003, and it is a small, non-profit organization focused on environmental sustainability social justice, and experiential learning. “We want to put people in a place to see the world in a different way by pulling back the curtain on significant human justice and environmental challenges,” he said.
NCP’s main approach is to engage people through personal experience, and the organization does so through Learning Tours. Radcliff explained these tours take people of all ages to partner areas to live and learn with local communities and the ecosystem. “In each of these areas, NCP supports programs to improve the situation — whether it be scholarships and other assistance for girls’ education, vocational training and micro loans for women, and reforestation and forest preservation,” he said. “We also have Sustainable Living Centers in Virginia and Vermont that invite visitors, volunteers, interns and others to see how we are relating to local communities for food security and other issues, and working at improving the environment.”
Other NCP partnerships are with grassroots groups in East and Southern Africa (South Sudan, Rwanda, the Congo and Malawi); Nepal and Myanmar in South Asia; the Dominican Republic; and native communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Alaska, and the Dine Reservation in New Mexico.
Radcliff has several ideas for ways in which communities can do a better job caring for the planet such as beginning to treat the earth as a relationship rather than a resource, and refusing to buy into the “me/more/now” mantra of consumer society. He also suggested setting up systems which would reward good behavior like bike lanes, composting, and energy conservation while discouraging bad behavior like pricing fossil fuels in a way that reflects their true cost to the environment. Lastly, he said advocates for the planet can pressure politicians to put long-term sustainability above short-term economic gain.
Those interested in attending the workshop and discussion may register online or by calling 269-375-3939 with name, contact information and attendance preference (in person or virtual). Walk-ins are welcome on the day of the workshop, subject to seating availability. Skyridge Church of the Brethren is located at 394 S. Drake Rd., Kalamazoo.
Beca Welty is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice.
