CEPA Environment Month Events

The Centre for Poverty Analysis is celebrating “Environment Month” this June. In line with our environment, climate change and poverty thematic, the focus will be on reinforcing and elaborating on the link between environment and poverty, and finding ways to use evidence to incorporate environmental factors into development agendas.

This year, CEPA intends to initiate dialogue on the next phase of the Millennium Development Goals and how they can incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals. This debate has gathered momentum, particularly in the run-up to the United Nation’s post-2015 agenda that includes calls to integrate social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainable development (coming out of the Rio+20 Conference) in to the next global developmental framework.

In the spirit of thinking about development in a holistic manner, and incorporating alternative means of communication, we have planned a mélange of events which incorporate art, video, dance and online interaction to explore issues of sustainable development, as well as draw focus to the fragility, beauty and balance of nature.

From June 10th – July 5th, we will display selected artwork by Anoma Wijewardena from her collection Deliverance, which explores the connections between climate change, water and humans, using mixed media, science and poetry; from June 12th -14th, we will screen select episodes of BBC’s Planet Earth, an award-winning documentary series that takes a “definitive look at the diversity of our planet”; and on June 28th, CEPA invites you to our 49th Open Forum, titled Making Sustainability the Next Metric: the post 2015 development agenda, which will feature a panel discussion with several leading thinkers and policy makers. The Open Forum will be immediately followed by a dance performance – CICADA, by the Natanda Dance Company, that elaborates on the delicate balance of natural systems. The dance of the CICADA aims to invoke in you a poignant perspective on the balance of the environment and its connections in individual and communal lifestyles, and national and global development trajectories.

Throughout the month of June, we invite you to participate in these events and look forward to your engagement in the discussions.