STU / BARRY GLOBAL CONFERENCE:
"RECONNECTING HUMANS, HEALTH & HABITAT"
A landmark collaboration between St. Thomas University and Barry University law schools has been leading the way examining law and governance engaged in earth-centered initiatives. Recent ecological disasters have raised the general public’s awareness of the critical issues as the international community is expressing a deep concern about the private and public sector needs to address the deterioration of marine life and the planet.
Tuesday, July 13, the two law schools hosted a conference on “Ecological Integrity: Reconnecting Humans, Health and Habitat,” with world-renowned environmentalist and Right Livelihood Award (the “alternative to the Nobel Prize”) winner Dr. Vandana Shiva, joined by Dr. Mira Shiva, to be held at Miami’s Sofitel Hotel.
Dr. Vandana Shiva discussed ecological integration and the urgency of protecting the earth’s biological diversity in the context of small-scale organic agriculture. She is the founder of Navdanya (www.navdanya.org) and the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. Physician, public health activist and chairperson of Health Action International Asia-Pacific Dr. Mira Shiva – also director of The Initiative for Health Equity and Society – explored links between ecological integrity and public health issues affecting vulnerable populations. Other environmental personalities from academia and non-profit circles participated in the conference along with STU faculty and centers’ directors like Sister Patricia Siemens, OP, Esquire, STU champion for the Center of Earth Jurisprudence, Mary Munson, Law School professor Alfred Light, Dr. Mary Carter Waren and Anthony Vinciguerra. Panelists included Dr. Mahadev Bhat, Associate Professor of Florida International University who oversees the Agroecology Program; Leonie Hermantin, Deputy Direcor of the Lambi Fund (on rebuilding Haiti); and Susan Luck, founder and president of the Earth Rose Institute.
For additional information on the CEJ, call 305.474.2488 or contact crauseo-danclair@stu.edu.