Forum on Religion and Ecology

The Forum on Religion and Ecology "is the largest international multireligious project of its kind. With its conferences, publications, and website it is engaged in exploring religious worldviews, texts, and ethics in order to broaden understanding of the complex nature of current environmental concerns.

"The Forum recognizes that religions need to be in dialogue with other disciplines (e.g., science, ethics, economics, education, public policy, gender) in seeking comprehensive solutions to both global and local environmental problems.

"Forum Coordinators: Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Yale University."

"Institutional support for the Forum includes: The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, the Germeshausen Foundation, the Kendeda Sustainability Fund, the Thomas Berry Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation."

"The Forum arose out of a series of ten conferences on the world’s religions and ecology held at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School from May 1996 to July 1998. This series explored the diverse manner in which religious traditions view nature and construct symbol systems and ritual practices relating humans to nature. You can learn more about the conference series by visiting our archival website [The papers from these conferences are being published by CSWR and distributed by Harvard University Press in several volumes. In addition to the book series, a journal relating to the issues of religion and the environment entitled, Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, is also avaliable. You can find out more about the Forum’s publication efforts by visiting the Publication Section of our website.]

"Three culminating conferences in the autumn of 1998 brought representatives of the world’s religious traditions into dialogue with scholars in five additional disciplines—science, ethics, economics, education, and public policy—that also work with environmental issues. The first of the culminating conferences was held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts. in September 1998 [see archival website]. In October of 1998, at the request of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), a press conference and symposium reporting the findings of the conferences was held at the United Nations (UN). The formation of the Forum on Religion and Ecology was announced at the UN press conference at that time."

Steering Committee
Accessed January 2009:


 * Coordinator, Mary Evelyn Tucker 		Yale University
 * Coordinator, John Grim 		Yale University
 * Michael McElroy 	 	Harvard University Center for the Environment
 * Tu Weiming 	 	The Harvard-Yenching Institute
 * Richard Clugston 	 	Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE) of the Humane Society of the United States
 * Thomas Berry 		Fordham University, emeritus

Contact

 * Web: http://fore.research.yale.edu/index.html

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Forum on Religion and Ecology: Advisory Board of Area Specialists for the Forum