Dr. Henk Manschot, one of the coordinators of International Summer School on Human Development and Human Rights is worried to see the imbalance occurred between humanity and the earth. “Human being has taken in this earth more than the earth can provide; so, they are responsible for biodiversity extinct,” said the professor of humanities in Utrecht, the Netherlands, who have been involved in discourse of humanity and sustainable development throughout his academic career.
On the discussion that occurred at a quiet corner in WMM last week after he addressed a lecture of “Sustainable Development: Rethinking the Relationship between Ecology, Ethics and Pluralism”, he explicitly brought forward the gloomy fact of human population and consumption that rapidly eliminated the Earth’ ecology. “The total of humanity’s ecological footprints is estimated almost at 2.3 of planet Earth, we are rapidly growth from 1 billion in the 19th century to 6-7 billion now.” The quality of humanity, he asserted, is on its willingness to respectfully put the Earth at the centre of human life.
Started his ecological concern in 2004, Prof. Manschot who is also known as one of the key players in organizing the International Summer School proposed an idea of time diagnosis toward the humanity’s ecological footprint. The keenness of humanity should start to measure and diagnose how much the natural resources of biodiversity human had taken from the Earth. He opined that the answer of humanity toward this vexed question found in an effort to implement a clean technology, clear city-building, political will, and religious cosmology, from interpretation to action.
“Start to see water, trees, and a flock of Hummingbirds as not merely an instrument but a friend may be a very positive romanticism to me. Can I consider this as a new ethic?” said the Director of Kosmopolis Institute who just returned from a safari in Africa wilderness with his wife Agnes, with a slight smile. Imitating the spirited voice of US politician Al Gore who quoted a famous speech of Chief Seattle, leader of the Duwamish Indians, Prof. Manschot ended the chat that afternoon saying, “For the earth does not belong to man, it is man who belongs to the earth. Man does not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.” (Gie)

The opening ceremony of the International Summer School started at 9:40 am at the 5th floor of Pascasarjana building, Gadjah Mada University.
The summer school is a joint initiative of the University for Humanistic and Hivos as partners of the Dutch Humanist Alliance together with the Center for Religious & Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS) and the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS) in Bangalore, India. It is also in cooperation with the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) in Kampala, Uganda.
During the first day, the participants and lecturers were happy to meet each other doing some interesting activities. They enjoyed interpreting pictures related to Human Rights, Human Development and Pluralism as it is the main theme of the program.
There are 18 students participating in the said program who come from different backgrounds. There are four students from Holland, four from Uganda, four from India and six from Indonesia.
CRCS, as host, prepared all things in running the summer school which concludes on August 7, 2009. The lecturers and participants expressed their gratitude to CRCS for preparing and providing them all the needed materials for the said program. (JMI)

After a series of through selection, the committee of the International Summer School on Human Development and Human Right has chosen 6 applicants from Indonesia to participate this year on the subject of Pluralism and Development. This International Summer School will be held in Yogyakarta, by the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) UGM, on July 13, 2009 to August 7, 2009.
The chosen participants are Ayuandini Sherria Puteri (Program Director of the Association for Critical Thinking), Dalil Saherman (staff at the National Commission on Violence against Women), Siti Habibah Jazila (staff at IHAP Institute for Women’s Right), Pusvyta Sari (staff at the Foundation for Islamic and Social Studies), Ivana Prazic (PhD student, ICRS Yogyakarta), and Jimmy Marcos Immanuel (MA Student, CRCS UGM).
The other participants are coming from the Netherland, India, and Uganda. This event has been holding by The Kosmopolis Institute of the University for Humanistic Studies in the Netherland, in cooperation with Hivos and its partner for Pluralism Knowledge Program in India, Indonesia and Uganda.
On Friday morning, 17 April 2009, all of the Indonesian participants had held a meeting at CRCS Meeting Room. The meeting was led by Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, the Indonesia Regional Coordinator of this International Summer School concurrently the Executive Director of CRCS. The aim of the meeting purposely was to endow the participants with updated issues with regard to pluralism, human development, and human right by getting acquainted with each other.
At the end of the meeting, Siti Habibah, one of the participants, asserted that, “Gathering, discussing and learning together with others from different areas and cultural backgrounds would contribute the strategies I have been constructing to promote pluralism in multicultural societies.” (Gie)