UN-Habitat, World Urban Forum 12 (WUF12), will be assembling around this time next year… November 4-8, 2024. Mark your calendar and begin making plans. I am hoping to convene – or co-convene – two gatherings in Cairo, Egypt to coincide with WUF12.
First, I’m gearing up to co-convene some of kind of a multifaith meet-up so that people who are seeking to mobilize grassroots people of faith toward collective and personal experimentation unto the SDGs as a faithful expression of their respective religion or spiritual tradition can connect with each other, encourage each other, learn from one another and share ideas/best practices. I’m convinced it is vital that religious people and leaders from every fatih tradition around the world, search their respective sacred texts, wisdom teachings, practices, rituals, values, narratives, etc. for places of resonance with the Sustainable Development Goals. Together the religions of our world have local grassroots groups of people gathering in nearly every village and neighborhood on the planet.
An estimated 80-85% of the world’s population claim a religious identity. Suggesting that at about 8 out of 10 people on the planet – working in every public and private sector imaginable – have some kind of faith-rooted motivation. This 80-85% of people have purchasing power, voting power, a measure of influence impacting decisions being made in their homes, in their communities, in places of work, and in their governments. If we can help them more clearly see the deep connections between their religion and the SDGs, we can tap into a powerful motivator. It’s vital we proactively activate and resource these local communities of faith, so they can guide their members to modify their values, decision making, and practices unto a more sustainable future for all, as a faithful expression of their deepest held convictions. Here’s a link to a prior post highlighting the SDGs.
Second, I’m also hoping to co-convene a gathering of people practicing across Christian traditions who are seeking the flourishing of their local neighborhoods by serving and collaborating unto the SDGs as a faithful way of loving God by loving their neighbors and their neighborhoods. Personally I sense that the 17 SDGs are a very helpful secular articulation of what Jesus referred to as the “Kin-dom of God” or the “Kin-dom of Heaven.”
I’ll post updates here and on my “socials” as plans for these convenigs come together. The WUF
Peace, dwight
