Why there are grounds for optimism
Dear Friends of ELIANT,
Although fear and uncertainty have reached epidemic proportions due to the current world situation – especially among children and young people – there are grounds for optimism. For in response to the pressure of events a whole wave of positive initiatives and impulses has been set in train by individual people and organisations or developed further with renewed energy. What they have in common – acting out of a feeling for humanity, care and concern for the future of mankind and the earth – is something which ELIANT has been campaigning for ever since it was founded in 2006.
We would like to report on some of these things:
Biodynamic agriculture along with other organic movements sees the human being as being part of the ecosystem and having a major responsibility for it. Those farms across the world that are connected to ELIANT through our partner organisation the Biodynamic Federation Demeter International, are consciously aware of their social responsibility (Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR). This along with the comprehensive sustainability of biodynamic agriculture confirms the research carried out by Claire-Isabelle Roquebert at the University of Lausanne Switzerland .
The global coalition made up of 300 professional and patient organisations as well as research institutes are campaigning through its People's Declaration for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Healthcare (TCIH), "for mutual respect between traditional, complementary and conventional treatments in order to develop a common approach to holistic health provision." The WHO is due to vote on the draft of a new working strategy for traditional medicine and the participation of civil society in May. "The new strategy should make integration, research, regulation of practitioners and products and the contribution to universal health, a priority." The ELIANT member International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA) is one of the initiators.
ELIANT has repeatedly reported on the potential consequences of digitalisation for children and young people. There is great variation in the way children and young people aged between 0 and 21 are able to learn. ECSWE and IASWECE – both members of the ELIANT alliance – have launched the HERMMES project to promote media competence and resilience in the digital age. The HERMMES project aims to develop methods for media education as support for teachers and parents.
And last but not least the EU petition Save Bees and Farmers which ELIANT has been strongly supporting, has succeeded in gaining more than one million signatures! We are delighted about this because it means that our demands must now be discussed in Brussels – namely to reduce pesticides affecting bees, halt the decline in insect numbers and improve biodiversity; but also that excess fertilizers are no longer applied to the soil to ensure good water and food quality!
Initiatives of this kind are taking place all over the world, inspiring many young people too and creating a future, and – being connected with all these active people sharing a common goal provides strength. We encourage you to share our newsletter with your circle of contacts. Here is the link.
Warm greetings from the ELIANT team
Michaela Glöckler
Your financial support is very welcome.
