Press Releases

September 27, 2002
Can We Save The Planet and Who Wants To?

A View of the UN World Summit on Sustainable Developement at Southampton College

Contact:
Patricia Conway
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Kathleen Modrowski, Director of the North American Center of the Friends World Program at Southampton College, will present a talk entitled "Can We Save The Planet and Who Wants To?" on Tuesday, October 8 at 9:00 p.m. in the College's Duke Lecture Hall.

Modrowski attended The World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa this past summer as a delegate of A People's Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE). Her discussion will focus on her personal perspective of the Summit, focusing on government leaders and their national delegations and the Peoples' Development Forum.

"I chose the title of the talk "Can We Save the Planet and Who Wants To?" because it responds to the sense of urgency that set the tone of the participation of members of civil society," said Modrowski. "People from non-governmental organizations, associations, interest groups, businesses and non-affiliated citizens expressed the sentiment that urgent issues, such as the reality of global warming, depleting water, over-consumption of non-renewable resources, HIV/AIDS, the situation of indigenous peoples, women, children, etc. were not being responded to by governments. The "Who Wants To" part of the talk refers to the variety of stakeholders or people concerned with the accomplishments of the Plan of Implementation of the Johannesburg Summit."

Along with a power-point presentation and slides, Modrowski plans to discuss such topics as who has a voice at the Summit, how decisions are made, and if ordinary citizens can influence the future. For further information on the talk, please call Dr. Modrowski at (631) 287-8468.