Dr. Iyad Abumoghli, Director of UNEP Faith for Earth, will speak in the second plenary on the theme of "Identity" under the title of "How diversity can be harnessed for the common good", scheduled on 7 Sept 2022, 9:00am-10:30am.
His intervention will focus on:
- Why has the United Nations Environment Programme developed and launched a strategy for engaging with Faith and religious actors?
- What are the common religious values concerning sustainable development and protection of nature? Give us a few examples.
- How can religious actors connect protection of the environment and peace building?
This Plenary seeks to ask the question: how does intersectionality and the issue of ‘super-diversity’ work in practice in the context of our modern world? Coined by sociologist Steven Vertovec in 2007, the term ‘super-diversity’ now generally refers to a heterogenous society characterised by high levels of complexity. As a theory and as a framework, intersectionality helps to explain how social identities work on multiple levels to create layers of inequality that structure the relative positions of individuals in society.
Building on these insights, the main goal of this Plenary would be to have the right tools to talk about and with people of different and overlapping identities, as well as to appreciate the complex but important role intersectionality plays in forging social cohesion. That is, only by understanding complex interconnections and interdependencies between individuals and social systems can we increase our social capital and create opportunities for individuals in society to form deep bonds across differences, towards a common good.
This is within the broader remit of the three plenary sessions which cover, respectively, the three large themes of Faith, Identity and Cohesion. It both contributes to the wider conversation and helps to set the stage for the succeeding breakout sessions which will address contemporaneous issues like technology and social cohesion.
Other Speakers:
- Professor Ashiwa Yoshiko [Professor of Anthropology and Global Studies; founding director of Institute for the Study of Peace and Reconciliation, Hitotsubashi University];
- Dr Iyad Abumoghli [Director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Faith for Earth Initiative];
- Mr André Azoulay [Senior Adviser to King Mohammed VI]
- Moderator: Asst Professor Jack Meng-Tat Chia [Assistant Professor of History and Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore].
Stay updated with further information here
