What was it all about?
The leading question was: how can religion and those academic disciplines devoted to the study of religion (humanities and social sciences, including theology and religious studies) contribute to the radical repositioning of the relation between human beings and nature, in view of the growing criticism on the Anthropocene and the urgency to recover the human bond with the natural world?
Four different events answered these questions. More about these events can be found at the bottom of the page, but just to refresh your memory, what were these events about?
Student event: The Existential Dimensions of Climate Anxiety - 13 maart
Which existential questions does our current climate crisis raise? What different perspectives do we see in dealing with climate anxiety and grief? 3D, New Connective and the School of Religion and Theology invited students to engage in a conversation about their way of dealing with the existential dimension of the current climate crisis.
Academic Conference: Interdisciplinary and Interreligious Perspectives on Sacred Nature - 29 maart
This symposium presented and discussed various interdisciplinary and interreligious perspectives on new (and old) forms of religion that consider nature sacred. Such new religious forms go by the name of 'ecodelic religiosity': forms of religiosity that aim to bring to light and embody our inherent embeddedness in ecological systems.
Public event: On Sacred Nature -30 maart
The famous religious studies scholar Karen Armstrong, Planetary Health professor Pim Martens and filmmaker Mark Verkerk were our guests on 30 March. We brought them into a conversation about the notion of 'the sacred' and the importance of this notion in thinking about climate change and the future of our planet.
Fragile Earth - A Mass for the Universe - 15 april
How do we express our care for the planet in an enduring liturgical form? A performance of Antjie Krog's poem Fragile Earth, with spoken word, music, dance, and personal reflections. Surrounded by an exposition of the olfactory artist Claudia de Vos, the flavors of the earth have been enjoyed during a walking dinner.