GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL
and GREEN CROSS ITALY

with the
High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic; the patronage
of the Italian Presidents of Senate, Chamber of Deputies and of the Council of ministers.

The patronage of the Italian Ministry of Public Education, of Environment,
of Foreign Affairs, of Arts and Culture and of Agricolture; the Bolivian Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports; the Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy of Burkina Faso; the Ministry of Agricolture of the Czech Republic; the Hungarian Ministry of Environment, of Education, of Agriculture and Regional Development,
of Transport, Telecommunication and Water; the Russian Ministry of Education.

The patronage of the ANPA (Italian National Agency for Environmental Protection),
of the Russian Academy of Education, of the Russian Artist Union,
the Hungarian Institute for Environmental Management, the Hungarian Association for Environmental Education, and the Hungarian Agrarian Chamber

In collaboration with
FAO, UNESCO
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

in the frame of the initiatives that are being carried out in support of the
EARTH CHARTER
supported by
the EARTH COUNCIL and GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL

LAUNCHES
the Third International edition of the
Annual Contest
IMAGES FOR THE EARTH
for the school year 1999-2000

reserved to all pupils of primary, secondary and high schools, private and public, for the school year 1999-2000.
This initiative gives the teachers the chance to plan educational multidisciplinary paths so to deepen the environmental issues provided by the ministerial programs. This edition's theme is:

This Land is my Land !

The land we own or farm,
as nature we live along with
every day, does not belong to us.
We have borrowed it from our sons.
And we must give it back to them.
Protected, improved, enriched.

Old saying taken up by
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

1. CLASSES AND SECTIONS OF THE CONTEST
Three classes have been established for the contest:

1. primary school pupils;
2. secondary school pupils;
3. high school pupils.

2. CONTEST ADMISION
All the pupils of private or public schools, of every order and grade, may take part in the respective age group of the contest with an individual or a group work.

3. PARTICIPATION MODALITIES
It is possible to participate with drawings that can be realized with any technique and material will be able to use up to 5 plates of the size of maximum 50x70cm. Captions are admitted, (anyway, we suggest the use of natural and/or recycled materials).

IMPORTANT: All the information necessary to identify the participants must be enclosed to the works: name and complete address of the school, name and surname of the teacher that has coordinated the work, the subject teached, the list of the students that have taken part in the work.

4. PRESENTATION DEADLINES
The first three winners of each national category must be sent to the following address:

Green Cross Italy
"Images for the Earth" Contest
Via Flaminia 53 - 00196 Roma
The final deadline for forwarding works is fixed on June, 30, 2000.
Works delivered after June 30, 2000 will not be considered.

5. EXAMINATION OF THE WORKS THAT REACHED US
All works will be examined by a commissions made of experts chosen by Green Cross Italy. The examining Commissions' decisions are unquestionable.

6. NATIONAL PRIZING
The national prize ceremonies and national prizes are organized by the national Green Crosses.

7. INTERNATIONAL PRIZING
The international prize ceremony will take place in September 2000. All information concerning the participation to the ceremony will be communicated to the interested persons.
Prizes consists in $2,000 for first place winners, $1,500 for second place winners and $1,000 for third place winners. All winnings must be allocated in projects of environmental preservation and recovery, concerning the winners' territory and possibly linked to the annual theme of the contest.
Presented works will not be returned.
A certificate will be assigned to each winner.
All rights on works are reserved by our organizations. In case of use, concerned persons will be previously informed.

8. THEME

A) DEFINITIONS and DESCRIPTIONS
Ecosystem: every system where there is an interdependence and interaction between living beings and their physic, chemical and biological environment; between biotic (living components) and abiotic (non-living components) world. Ecosystems have very variable dimensions, which go from the planet to small rock aggregates. And in each ecosystem the nutritional substances and matter continuously move from one component to another.

Every ecosystem is an open and self-organized system, and can therefore maintain itself only through continuous exchanges with the outside. In the presence of these fluxes, the system structures itself in a complicated plot of relationships that connect all its parts, according to the evolution lines that time to time prize one species rather than another, depending on the abilities that they have of making the most of the environmental conditions that they find inside the ecosystem itself, and eventually of changing such conditions to their own advantage.

An ecosystem is not simply a portion of space made to host life and vital processes, but a
whole of relationships or, if you prefer, the result, in continuous becoming, of the relationships between all components, biotic and abiotic, that contribute to define the system itself.

Nature is an ecosystem, a continuous and wonderful eco-dynamic becoming.

B) MAN
Man, meant as human species, is itself nature, and he is, with all its influences on the environment, part of the ecosystem. Just because he tries to make the most and to change part of the environment he lives in, does not mean that man is an outside specie of the ecosystem, as also this behavior is one of the possible relationships that constitute and that contribute to determinate the evolution path.

It is impossible that man, as he is part of nature, does not modify his environment. But it is true that technology has given man the ability of acting in times that are no more comparable with those that scan biological processes. This gives the possibility to place ourselves over and outside the self-regulation mechanisms of the ecosystem with the consequence of human interventions that many times are destructive.
The awareness of this reality must not transform into hope of a return to a sort of "natural balance" that ruled in the past; that past is only one of the many states, all equally possible, reached by the evolutionary process, that well knows human action.
The achievement of a new and healthy state implies the management of the ecosystem, and if necessary interventions on it that must not be retained an illicit and harmful intrusion of man in the environment, but as an imperative to follow with extreme attention and caution.

The topic of the contest may be developed studying the ecosystem-planet in its wholeness, or focusing on single ecosystems, or analyzing all or single causes that can block the fulfillment of a sustainable development able to guarantee an enduring future (as, for example, pollution in all its forms, the introduction of biotechnologies, waste management, soil modifications, the exhaustion of not renewable natural resources, the uneven distribution of wealth…).

The topic that has been chosen for this edition gives the teachers and the students the opportunity of choosing the approach that they retain more meaningful to face problems they believe most important and eventually of proposing a solution.

Using rhythms, techniques, categories of the realistic and/or fantastic narration, we request to treat the topic with the intention of getting to ecologically aware behaviors of a correct relationship with the environment and with the species that live in it, being aware that present and future generations "have the right to a intact and uncontaminated Earth, and to enjoy of it as a place of human history, of culture and of social links that assure the belonging of each generation and each person to the big human family" (Art. 1 Declaration of Rights of the Future Generations Cousteau/Unesco).

9.1 EARTH CHARTER

This contest is in the frame of the initiatives that are being supported by Green Cross for the fulfillment of the Earth Charter, aspired by the whole civil society since decades, that will contain the regulating principles of the relationships between states, communities, individuals and Nature.
At present Green Cross is working on a big international consultation campaign so to draft a text that will collect consensus in various circles and in different cultures.
This text, that is supposed to absorb all new knowledge on the interactions between environment and development, will be submitted to the general Assembly of the United Nations for approval, so to make it an integral part of their company chart.

9.2 THE EARTH CHARTER

Preamble

In our diverse yet increasingly interdependent world, it is imperative that we, the people of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations. We are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.

Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The well-being of people and the biosphere depends upon preserving clean air, pure waters, fertile soils, and a rich variety of plants, animals and ecosystems. The global environment with its finite resources is a primary common concern of all humanity. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust.

The Earth community stands at a defining moment. With science and technology have come great benefits and also great harm. The dominant patterns of production and consumption are altering climate, degrading the environment, depleting resources, and causing a massive extinction of species. A dramatic rise in population has increased the pressures on ecological systems and has overburdened social systems. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, corruption, crime and violence, and armed conflict deepen the world's suffering. Fundamental changes in our attitudes, values, and ways of living are necessary.

The choice is ours: to care for Earth and one another or to participate in the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life.

As a global civilization comes into being, we can choose to build a truly democratic world, securing the rule of law and the human rights of all women, men, and children. We can respect the integrity of different cultures. We can treat Earth with respect, rejecting the idea that nature is merely a collection of resources to be used. We can realize that our social, economic, environmental, and spiritual problems are interconnected and cooperate in developing integrated strategies to address them. We can resolve to balance and harmonize individual interests with the common good, freedom with responsibility, diversity with unity, short term objectives with long term goals, economic progress with the flourishing of ecological systems.

To fulfill these aspirations, we must recognize that human development is not just about having more, but also about being more. The challenges humanity faces can only be met if people everywhere acquire an awareness of global interdependence, identify themselves with the larger world, and decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life will be strengthened if we live with reverence for the sources of our being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in the larger scheme of things.

Having reflected on these considerations, we recognize the urgent need for a shared vision of basic values that will provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. We, therefore, affirm the following principles for sustainable development. We commit ourselves as individuals, organizations, business enterprises, communities, and nations to implement these interrelated principles and to create a global partnership in support of their fulfillment.

Together in hope, we pledge to:

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. Respect Earth and all life,

recognizing the interdependence and intrinsic value of all beings;

affirming respect for the inherent dignity of every person and faith in the intellectual, ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.

2. Care for the community of life in all its diversity,

accepting that responsibility for Earth is shared by everyone;

affirming that this common responsibility takes different forms for different individuals, groups, and nations, depending on their contribution to existing problems and the resources at hand.

3. Strive to build free, just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful societies,

affirming that with freedom, knowledge, and power goes responsibility and the need for moral self-restraint;

recognizing that a decent standard of living for all and the quality of relations among people and with nature

are the true measure of progress.

4. Secure Earth's abundance and beauty for present and future generations,

accepting the challenge before each generation to conserve, improve, and expand their natural and cultural heritage and to transmit it safely to future generations;

acknowledging that the benefits and burdens of caring for Earth should be shared fairly between present and future generations.

II. ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY

5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain and renew life.

Make ecological conservation an integral part of all development planning and implementation.
Establish representative and viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands, sufficient to maintain Earth's biological diversity and life-support systems.
Manage the extraction of renewable resources such as food, water, and wood in ways that do not harm the resilience and productivity of ecological systems or threaten the viability of individual species.
Promote the recovery of endangered species and populations through in situ conservation involving habitat protection and restoration.
Take all reasonable measures to prevent the human-mediated introduction of alien species into the environment.

6. Prevent harm to the environment as the best method of ecological protection and, when knowledge is limited, take the path of caution.

Give special attention in decision making to the cumulative, long-term, and global consequences of individual and local actions.
Stop activities that threaten irreversible or serious harm even when scientific information is incomplete or inconclusive.
Establish environmental protection standards and monitoring systems with the power to detect significant human environmental impacts, and require environmental impact assessments and reporting.
Mandate that the polluter must bear the full cost of pollution.
Ensure that measures taken to prevent or control natural disasters, infestations, and diseases are directed to the relevant causes and avoid harmful side effects.
Uphold the international obligation of states to take all reasonable precautionary measures to prevent transboundary environmental harm.

7. Treat all living beings with compassion, and protect them from cruelty and wanton destruction.

II. A JUST AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC ORDER

8. Adopt patterns of consumption, production, and reproduction that respect and safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.

Eliminate harmful waste, and work to ensure that all waste can be either consumed by biological systems or used over the long-term in industrial and technological systems.
Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy and other resources, and reduce, reuse, and recycle materials.
Rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as the sun, the wind, biomass, and hydrogen.
Establish market prices and economic indicators that reflect the full environmental and social costs of human activities, taking into account the economic value of the services provided by ecological systems.
Empower consumers to choose sustainable products over unsustainable ones by creating mechanisms such as certification and labeling.
Provide universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.

9. Ensure that economic activities support and promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Promote the equitable distribution of wealth.
Assist all communities and nations in developing the intellectual, financial improve the quality of life., and technical resources to meet their basic needs, protect the environment, and

10. Eradicate poverty, as an ethical, social, economic, and ecological imperative.

Establish fair and just access to land, natural resources, training, knowledge, and credit, empowering every person to attain a secure and sustainable livelihood.
Generate opportunities for productive and meaningful employment.
Make clean affordable energy available to all.
Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and respect their right to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.
Relieve developing nations of onerous international debts that impede their progress in meeting basic human needs through sustainable development.

11. Honor and defend the right of all persons, without discrimination, to an environment supportive of their dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being.

Secure the human right to potable water, clean air, uncontaminated soil, food security, and safe sanitation in urban , rural, and remote environments.
Establish racial, religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic equality.
Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands and resources and to their related practice of traditional sustainable livelihoods.
Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and judicial procedures, including redress and remedy, that enable all persons to enforce their environmental rights.

12. Advance worldwide the cooperative study of ecological systems, the dissemination and application of knowledge, and the development, adoption, and transfer of clean technologies.

Support scientific research in the public interest.
Value the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Assess and regulate emerging technologies, such as biotechnology, regarding their environmental, health, and socioeconomic impacts.
Ensure that the exploration and use of orbital and outer space supports peace and sustainable development.

IV. DEMOCRACY AND PEACE

13. Establish access to information, inclusive participation in decision making, and transparency, truthfulness, and accountability in governance.

Secure the right of all persons to be informed about ecological, economic, and social developments that affect the quality of their lives.
Establish and protect the freedom of association and the right to dissent on matters of environmental, economic, and social policy.
Ensure that knowledge resources vital to people's basic needs and development remain accessible and in the public domain.
Enable local communities to care for their own environments, and assign responsibilities for environmental protection to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.
Create mechanisms that hold governments, international organizations, and business enterprises accountable to the public for the consequences of their activities.

14. Affirm and promote gender equality as a prerequisite to sustainable development.

Provide, on the basis of gender equality, universal access to education, health care, and employment in order to support the full development of every person's human dignity and potential.
Establish the full and equal participation of women in civil, cultural, economic, political, and social life.

15. Make the knowledge, values, and skills needed to build just and sustainable communities an integral part of formal education and lifelong learning for all.

Provide youth with the training and resources required to participate effectively in civil society and political affairs.
Encourage the contribution of the artistic imagination and the humanities as well as the sciences in environmental education and sustainable development.
Engage the media in the challenge of fully educating the public on sustainable development, and take advantage of the educational opportunities provided by advanced information technologies.

16. Create a culture of peace and cooperation.

Seek wisdom and inner peace.
Practice nonviolence, implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict, and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve conflict.
Teach tolerance and forgiveness, and promote cross cultural and interreligious dialogue and collaboration.
Eliminate weapons of mass destruction, promote disarmament, secure the environment against severe damage caused by military activities, and convert military resources toward peaceful purposes.
Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by balanced and harmonious relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.

A New Beginning

As never before in human history, common destiny beckons us to redefine our priorities and to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of these Earth Charter principles, which are the outcome of a worldwide dialogue in search of common ground and shared values. Fulfillment of this promise depends upon our expanding and deepening the global dialogue. It requires an inner change--a change of heart and mind. It requires that we take decisive action to adopt, apply, and develop the vision of the Earth Charter locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Different cultures and communities will find their own distinctive ways to express the vision, and we will have much to learn from each other.

Every individual, family, organization, corporation, and government has a critical role to play. Youth are fundamental actors for change. Partnerships must be forged at all levels. Our best thought and action will flow from the integration of knowledge with love and compassion.

In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations and develop and implement the Earth Charter principles by negotiating for adoption a binding agreement based on the IUCN Draft International Covenant on Environment and Development. Adoption of the Covenant will provide an integrated legal framework for environmental and sustainable development law and policy.

We can, if we will, take advantage of the creative possibilities before us and inaugurate an era of fresh hope. Let ours be a time that is remembered for an awakening to a new reverence for life, a firm commitment to restoration of Earth's ecological integrity, a quickening of the struggle for justice and empowerment of the people, cooperative engagement of global problems, peaceful management of change, and joyful celebration of life. We will succeed because we must.