On 1 September 2020, the Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development at Humboldt University Berlin and the PaRD Work-Stream on Water, Environment and Climate Action (WECARE) hosted a joint webinar on “Religious Communities and Ecological Sustainability in Southern Africa”, as a side event of PaRD’s 2020 Virtual Annual Forum. The event engaged global and local religious leaders, environmental activists, renowned climate experts, policymakers, and development practitioners in discussions on different aspects of the burning issues of climate change and environmental care. As a networking and knowledge sharing event, it raised awareness for the ecological situation and religious ecological actions of religious communities in Southern Africa and contributed to the increasing Southern African religious communities’ commitment and engagement for ecological sustainability.
One of the key follow-up initiatives is the publication of an edited volume. The webinar contributions will form core elements of the book. They are complemented by papers emerging from a joint initiative on religion and ecological sustainability by Humboldt University Berlin, Bread for the World and University of Pretoria. To further broaden the scope of the volume, we would like to open it up for contributions from PaRD members.
We therefore cordially invite PaRD members to submit contributions to the volume Religious Communities and Ecological Sustainability in Southern Africa and Beyond. The main emphasis of the book will be on Southern Africa, but contributions focusing on other contexts will be included as well to provide comparative perspectives. The volume is edited by Philipp Öhlmann and Juliane Stork (Humboldt University Berlin) and will be published in open access with an international publisher. It is conceptualized as a highly transdisciplinary book. The target audience will range from scholars, policymakers, NGO and FBO representatives, environmental activists to religious leaders. The intention is to create a collection of resources and best practices, particularly to foster and expand engagement with ecological sustainability by religious communities. Accordingly, contributors are free to choose the appropriate format for their contributions. Reflections from policy and practice, argumentative essays or research papers from natural science, social sciences, humanities, and theology are welcome.
If you are interested in contributing to the volume, please send an abstract to Philipp Öhlmann philipp.oehlmann@hu-berlin.de before 31 January 2021. Contributions will be assessed regarding their suitability on a rolling basis.
