Debat med kenyansk nobelprismodtager: Sammenhængen mellem miljø, demokrati og fred

Time: Wednesday July 6, at 15 – 16 hours

(NEW) Venue: University of Copenhagen, Ceremonial Hall (Festsalen), Frue Plads, København K.

Host: Sustainability Science Centre, University of Copenhagen

Time: Wednesday July 6, at 15 – 16 hours

(NEW) Venue: University of Copenhagen, Ceremonial Hall (Festsalen), Frue Plads, København K.

Host: Sustainability Science Centre, University of Copenhagen

Wangari Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She was the first East-African woman to obtain a doctorate degree.

In the 1970s, Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights.

Through the Green Belt Movement she has assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms and on schools and church compounds. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”

In December 2002, Professor Maathai was elected to the Kenyan parliament and was subsequently appointed as Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife; a position she held between January 2003 and November 2005.

Wangari Maathai serves on the boards of several organizations including the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation, the Chirac Foundation, Discovery Channel’s Planet Green, the Oslo Award, the Congo Basin Forest Fund, the Crop Diversity Trust, World Learning International, Green Cross International and National Council of Women of Kenya.

Professor Maathai’s lecture will be followed by a panel debate with the following panelists:

* Mike Speirs, Senior Advisor, Technical Advisory Services, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
* Jens Emborg, Assoc. professor, Forest & Landscape, University of Copenhagen.
* Vibeke Vindeløv, Professor, Department of Law, University of Copenhagen.
* Tony Simons, Director General of World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), Kenya.

Each panelist will have five minutes for an intervention after which the wider audience will have the opportunity to take part in the debate.

Introduction: Dean Per Holten-Andersen, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen will host a reception for Professor Wangari Maathai after the debate.

The lecture and debate will be in English.

Participation is free of charge. Sign up before July 5 at 15 noon at the this link

ABOUT THE SUSTAINABILITY LECTURES
Copenhagen Sustainability Lectures 2011 is a lecture series aiming to create attention and visibility of the challenges of global sustainability.

Danish and foreign speakers will visit University of Copenhagen to focus on a broad array of topics concerned with sustainability, pass on their experiences, and give their opinions on how to approach the challenges we are facing now and in the future.

Further information:
Dorthe Hedensted Lund, phone: 35 33 16 97

More about Wangari Maathai on
http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/w.php?id=59