Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, 17 – 19 July 2015

“Climate change-induced disasters bring “indescribable miseries”

So warns Fr Edu Gariguez, a keynote speaker from the Philippines at this weekend’s annual conference of the National Justice and Peace Network.  He will urge action on destructive extractive industries and climate change as a way to build peace in today’s world.  “For the Church, climate change is an urgent issue that is clearly related to our Christian responsibility to care for the Earth and to care for the poor and vulnerable in our midst” and he adds that “Pope Francis’ Laudato Si is very clear about this”.

The Filipino priest and environmental activist and a British lecturer in peace studies are amongst the keynote speakers at this year’s annual conference of the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales. It will be held at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, from 17-19 July 2015 and around 300 justice and peace activists from the Catholic dioceses of England and Wales are booked in.

Pat Gaffney, the general secretary of Pax Christi will chair the conference.

‘The Things That Make for Peace’ recognises that poverty, injustice and environmental destruction are both causes and consequences of conflict, so that all the issues that we engage with across the J&P network have their part to play in building a peaceful world. This conference will seek to identify the real threats to human security and how we can work together to create a world without war.

Speakers:

Fr Edu Gariguez, is a Filipino religious leader and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2012, for voicing protests on behalf of indigenous communities against large scale mining projects in the Philippines. He is the current Executive Secretary of National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), the advocacy and social development arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.  He is a big supporter of the new papal encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ and has recently been involved in rallies to endorse it and protests against Filipino government plans to build more coal fired power stations in the Philippines.

Professor Paul Rogers, School of Social and International Studies, University of Bradford. Paul works on trends in international conflict, including the politics of energy resources use and impact of climate change on international security. He will speak on ’A Century on the Edge: From Cold War to Hot War 1945-2045’. See his weekly analysis on international security at www.opendemocracy.net.

Making peace in the community: Three women’s perspectives. Fiona Mwashita from Zimbabwe, who is Progressio’s Southern Africa sub-regional Manager, Sr Maire Hayes who works in inter-faith community building in Luton and Lorraine Dinnegan who works in London with young people involved in violence.

Rev Dr Martin Poulsom SDB, a senior lecturer at Heythrop College, will provide theological reflections on the inputs.

Workshops include: Arms Trade, Mediation, Nonviolence, Young People and Militarisation, Participatory  Budgeting, Austerity and Conflict, Climate and Conflict, Racial Justice, Climate Change and Development, Refugees, Inter-religious Dialogue, Welfare not Warfare, Nuclear Morality, European Union a force for peace?, Families and J&P.

There will be a programme of activities for children and young people, and a Just Fair with information and resources from many organisations.

A few spaces are left at the conference. Phone Conference Administrator Ann Kelly on 020 7901 4864 or admin@justice-and-peace.org.uk

Media contact: Ellen Teague  07956 317 338

Phone line at the conference for media interviews: 01773 526016/7