Photo credit: Francis Photography on Visual hunt
PUBLIC DECLARATION
As representatives of the International Ecopsychology Society we would like to express our position towards important events relating to the socio-environmental crises that is currently emerging globally.
We are facing environmental catastrophes such as fires in North America and the Amazon and social uprisings that have expressed outrage about the development model in countries such as Chile and Ecuador. In different communities it is becoming evident a need for profound changes in the way we relate to ourselves, with others and with nature.
What is happening on the planet today are symptoms of a deeper crisis of perception that is based on the principle of separation, from which we have built a civilization based on competition, individualism and exclusion. As humanity we have stopped wondering about the profound purpose of our species and life on the planet, instead harnessing an exploitative attitude that places pressure on people and other species.
We all live on a false and disturbing notion of progress that sacrifices the planet, and consequently future generations, all for the sake of profit. It is not surprising that anxiety and dissatisfaction is normalised in different countries and continents: people are reaching the limit of tolerance with the uncertainties that the current economic models represent. This, according to the 7° principle of ecopsychology where Theodore Roszak says: «Whatever contributes to small scale social forms and personal empowerment nourishes the ecological ego. Whatever strives for large-scale domination and the suppression of personhood undermines the ecological ego. Ecopsychology therefore deeply questions the essential sanity of our gargantuan urban-industrial culture, whether capitalistic or collectivistic in its organization. But it does so without necessarily rejecting the technological genius of our species or some life-enhancing measure of the industrial power we have assembled. Ecopsychology is postindustrial not anti-industrial in its social orientation. »
We are facing the emergence of a new social paradigm, which demands new forms of education, organization and understanding of the relationships between human beings and nature, and eco-psychology guides us in this task.
Ecopsychology is a transdisciplinary field of research and development which promotes the well-being of human beings while considering health and sustainability. It gives us an approach to understanding and healing human nature, based on the crucial fact that people are inseparable from the rest of nature and are nourished by a healthy and reciprocal interaction with the entire web of life. It recognizes the intimate connection that exists between our psychological well-being and the quality of the relationships we cultivate with our social and natural environment. Its purpose is the expression of human nature and the awareness of being part of the web of life.
As members of the IES, we repudiate every act of violence that violates the human rights of all peoples and the rights of Mother Earth.
We promote a culture of peace, cooperation, good living, and the care of life, people, communities and the entire planet, as principles of the relationship between the Human Being and Life.
We are aware of the value of ecopsychology to create an ecosystem awareness of the processes of transformation, healing and social change necessary to ensure a prosperous world for future generations. Through our representatives and associates we weave a support network for the presence of ecopsychology in the event of crisis through healing and eco-psycho-social regeneration.
International Ecopsychology Society
October 2019
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