Photo credits: Jonathan Blake and Jan Reynolds

For Love of Earth, A Celebration of the Earth Charter, September 9, 2001,
Shelburne Farms, Vermont

From 1999 - 2001 Sally Linder and I created the Temenos Books Project, as a way to introduce the Earth Charter, an international document outlining principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society (www.earthcharter.org).

We facilitated reflective gatherings where participants could make an image for a single page or full book workshops, to businesses, 50 Vermont schools and sustainability conferences throughout the state of Vermont. Simultaneously we planned for the largest Temenos gathering, For Love of Earth, A Celebration of the Earth Charter, where nearly 2000 people were introduced to the Earth Charter through music, visual arts, dance and guest speakers: Jane Goodall, Satish Kumar, Steven C. Rockefeller, Reverend James Morton, John Todd, Nancy Jack Todd, Stephanie Kaza, and Musician Paul Winter at Shelburne Farms in northern Vermont.

At the end of the day, the Ark of Hope (www.arkofhope.com), designed and painted by Sally Linder was unveiled as the holding place for the Temenos Books. Our intention was to deliver the books to the United Nations General Assembly as endorsement of the Earth Charter.

Two days later September 11, 2001 stunned the world. Hearing the news while cleaning up after our event, Sally Linder and three friends “grabbed by a powerful instinct” decided to walk the Ark of Hope with its cargo of Temenos Books 350 miles to the United Nations where they were exhibited in January 2002. The unexpected and remarkable journey resulted in The Ark of Hope traveling to four continents, with over 20,000 participants, including: Johannesburg, South Africa as part of the World Summit on Sustainable development, Bangalore India for the 2005 International Women’s Conference hosted by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and to the Netherlands where 8,000 children and Queen Beatrix participated as a symbol of the Dutch government’s endorsement of the Earth Charter. (www.earthcharter.org)