Introduction

Since August 1998 Frances Edwards and John Clausen, Findhorn Foundation representatives at the UN Headquarters in New York, have been attending the weekly UN Department of Public Information/NGO Briefing sessions, as well as regular Values Caucus meetings and events, Spiritual Caucus meetings and meditations, the Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) Sustainable Development Committee meetings, and various other conferences and workshops at the UN.

John and Frances are on the Spiritual Caucus Coordinating Council. John is on the Values Caucus Council and the DPI/NGO Executive Committee Nominating Committee. John and Frances also coordinate a programme of informal meetings of Ambassadors to the UN with NGOs, on behalf of the Values Caucus. These meetings feature informal discussions on values important to their countries, including sustainable development, and exploring more effective ways for NGOs to collaborate with the UN and Member States.

Towards an enlightened partnership

On December 8, 1997 the Findhorn Foundation was approved for formal association with the United Nations, through the Department of Public Information, as a recognised Non-Governmental Organisation. This was the culmination of a series of official collaborations between the UN and the Findhorn Foundation.

The new status was also a sign of a great maturing of our community, which has been promoting principles of sustainable development as put forward by the major UN conferences of the last decade - including the environmental aspect of the Rio Earth Summit, the human settlements aspect of Istanbul, and the women’s aspect of Beijing - in an attempt to provide a contemporary and evolving model of sustainable living.

This association is a commitment on the part of the Findhorn Foundation 'to disseminate information and raise public awareness about the purposes and activities and achievements of the United Nations and issues of global concern' related to sustainability, environment, peace, shelter, and creation of a sustainable world.

Non-governmental organisations eligible for association with UN must share the ideals of the United Nations Charter, operate on a not-for-profit basis, and demonstrate an interest in United Nations issues. In addition, they must have a proven ability to reach large or specialised audiences with well-developed information programmes.

Our involvement with the United Nations occurs at a time when the global agenda has never been so varied, so critical and so complex. It is demanding new approaches, new visions and new commitments of the international community of NGOs. Whatever the field of service - human rights, humanitarian relief, sustainable development, international law, disarmament, poverty eradication, or peace education - NGOs' influence on the world scenario is uncontestable. Non-governmental organisations are creating new coalitions around emerging issues and are equipping themselves for a new global era of transcultural diplomacy.

The United Nations is also undergoing an unprecedented transformation. The organisation is reforming structures, management and priorities in a drive towards greater coherence, agility and unity.

The cooperation between the United Nations and the NGO community can provide a bridge for communication between the peoples of the world and the policy makers at the national and global levels. This cooperation has the potential to be a major vehicle for human evolution, as it supports the process of framing current issues within a context of global interdependence.

It is a great privilege and responsibility to be part of the larger action network which supports the process of implementing the principles
of the United Nations on Earth.

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Global partnerships - the way forward

Although our times are characterised by a division of the world into its separate, component parts, our generation has witnessed the emergence in society of a unique pattern of organisation common to all living systems: the network.

Nature is formed by networks. Molecules are atomic networks, cells are networks of molecules, organisms are networks of cells, ecosystems are networks of organisms, the planet is a network of ecosystems. Wherever there is life, there are networks. Since life began on earth, it has been evolving through networks.

As humanity moves forward to meet our current challenges, organisations such as the Findhorn Foundation and others who are finding ways to address global problems, are engaging in a network of global partnerships. What holds them together is not force, obligation, material incentive, or social contract, but rather shared values, trust and the understanding that some tasks can be accomplished together that could never be accomplished separately.

We are living in one of the most critical moments that the world has ever known. Within this situation are the seeds for its resolution, and a unique opportunity arises, for if the challenge is so absolute, the possibilities presented are then equally comprehensive.

The most comprehensive change we have seen thus far is a new consciousness emerging within the human community. We realise that only systemic approaches with a true spirit of global solidarity and connectivity are likely to address global sustainability questions, and that a culture of peace, localisation and partnership is really the only viable path forward.

Over the past year the Findhorn Foundation has strengthened and expanded its work via its education programmes and the world wide web to reach even more ordinary women and men who are engaged in a constructive process of personal and social change. Along with this the Foundation has continued to work in partnership with the United Nations, extending ecovillage and sustainability outreach education to new countries and groups and working within a widening network of new partners.

From the village council to the negotiating table of nations, this moment in history is calling forth the best and the strongest in each one of us. Together, we who are world workers, are reversing current trends in a suffering world. We are crafting strategies that are most likely to change the world for the better, as quickly and in as integrated a way as possible. The route we travel to reach our goals determines what life will be like once we get there; the route mirrors the goal and our actions today must embody the better world we want to live tomorrow.

The work of the Findhorn Foundation under the inspiration of the United Nations continues to be a practical response to the challenges we face, and is a beacon leading towards a global culture of peace and sustainability for our generation and many generations to come.

May East, Findhorn Foundation Trustee