Initiative for a Culture of Peace
The Avalon Project is an educational and activist NGO that works with the purpose of building a global culture based on non-violence, social justice and a deep respect for the planetary Community of Life and the Earth. We do this from three areas:
- Activism, which we have implemented in recent years through Extinction Rebellion, a social movement that puts pressure on governments and big companies for them to take measures against climate change and massive extinction of species.
- Education for Peace and Sustainability, where we cover a wide variety of topics.
- The Earth Stories Collection. This is a global project which arose from a PhD research made by Grian A. Cutanda, one of the founders of the Avalon Project. It consists on a compilation of myths, legends and folktales from all around the world specifically selected to provide a systemic, ecocentric and organicist worldview, and to illustrate the principles of the Earth Charter. These stories are compiled on an online platform open to everyone.
The Avalon Project has as its values system and worldview based on the Earth Charter, an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century.
Another characteristic of the Avalon Project has been our inner approach, what we have called the inner dimension of peace and sustainability. We have based this on disciplines and academic approaches such as Transpersonal Psychology and Transpersonal Education, Deep Ecology or Ethics of Care. Anyway, we could consider that our work on worldviews would also be a part of this inner dimension.
Our three main areas of work are.
- Deep Activism – it has its roots and motivations in deep experiences of the person, beyond the rational and ethical aspects of social, political or environmental action. In this way, it also includes affective, aesthetic and consciousness aspects. It is, in short, an activism that emerges from a deep empathy, from a deep compassion for all beings; not only humans, but all beings belonging to what the Earth Charter calls the Community of Life.
- Education for Peace and Sustainability – we think that education is an essential factor for social change, and that educating in social and ecological justice is fundamental to create a sustainable society. We have been doing social education for 18 years, working on issues of peace, social justice and sustainability. At a global level, we offer conferences and online courses in English and Spanish for everyone. Locally, we conduct lectures, workshops, nature immersion retreats, seminars, and educational programmes for universities.
- The Earth Stories Collection (TESC) – this is a global project in which we work in partnership with the Earth Charter Secretariat, at the United Nations’ University for Peace, in Costa Rica. and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF), in Edinburgh. TESC is a repository of myths, legends, fables and folktales from all around the world capable of transmitting a systemic and ecocentric worldview and illustrating the principles and values of the Earth Charter.
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