October Conference

Our first Interfaith Earth Network Conference was held on October 28-29, at the Urban Ecology Center. It was a huge success with over 80 participants.

As youth and adults gathered on Sunday afternoon, they spent time browsing the exhibits of our “Green Partners,” organizations working toward sustainability. They included the following:

• Healthy Communities Project
• Sierra Club
• The Park People of Milwaukee
• Friends of Milwaukee Rivers
• Milwaukee River Work Group
• River Revitalization Organization
• Groundwork Milwaukee
• America’s Outdoors
• National Park Service

Next, there was a keynote with the executive director of the Urban Ecology Center, Ken Leinbach, who set the context for our series of conferences that bridge faith and ecology.

The young people gathered together for a special session with our Green Partners. They created their own community, and participated in a “KWL” process, identifying what they already Know, what they Want to know, and at the end of our time together, what they had Learned. They also met with Dr. Bob Pavlik, who introduced them to the “Living Machine,” a process that cleans gray (waste) water in four days by flowing it through a series of three tanks that house certain plants, snails and fish.

Meanwhile, the adults chose from among these workshops:

• Sustainability Efforts and the City of Milwaukee with Ann Beier
• What Earth has Given: Sustainable Places of Worship with Marty Kleiber
• Fresh Water Great Lakes Resources with Danni Gendelman
• A Tour of the Urban Ecology Center

Youth and adults re-gathered for an interfaith panel presentation with the following speakers:

• The Catholic perspective, with Robert Shelledy of the Office of Catholic Social Action
• The Muslim perspective, with Huda Alkaff, Founder of the Islamic Environmental Group of Wisconsin
• The Jewish perspective, with Daniel Weber, scientist at the Great Lakes Water Institute

After a shared supper, youth and adults attended one more round of workshops. Their choices included the following:

• Take Action; Putting Your Own Ideas to Work for Positive Change, with Chris Beimborn
• The Natural Step Process, with Greg David
• Letters from the Future, using the Interactive Box and Ecosphere, with Bob Pavlik
• What Earth has Given: Sustainable Places of Worship with Marty Kleiber
• A Fundamentally Spiritual Exercise, with Tom Kubala

The next day, 30 participants returned to take a closer look at the way their faith impels them to make their congregations “Green Congregations.” The reflection and planning process was led by Linda Graebner-Smith, founder of Co-Create.