International Forum on Interfaith and Transcultural Peacebuilding 2025
On October 23 and 24, 2025, online
Mission 21 invites you to the third International Forum on Interfaith and Transcultural Peacebuilding on October 23 and 24, 2025. The theme of the two-day online conference is «Peace on Earth. Peace with the Earth».
The forum enables participants to embark on a fascinating journey on the topic of «Peace on earth, peace with the earth». A journey to discover peace and environmental justice through the eyes of different religions and cultures. A journey that offers inspiration to tread new paths to peace.
Soon the time will come!
Keynote speakers
Debjani Bhattacharyya
Debjani Bhattacharyya is a Professor of the History of the Anthropocene at the University of Zurich and a non-residential fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she was an Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies at Drexel University. Her research explores the question of how legal and economic structures shape our understanding of environmental change and how these impact on our reaction to the climate crisis.
Samsul Maarif
Samsul Maarif is the head of the Center for Religious and Crosscultural Studies at the Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. He teaches indigenous religions, focusing on topics such as decolonization and planetary communities and art and religion. He advocates for engaged religious studies and has been involved in coalitions for social activism on freedom of religion or belief, environmental movement, and others.
The event is open to the public and free of charge. It will take place online on «Zoom».
Languages: English and Spanish, each with simultaneous translation, AI-generated subtitles in various languages.
Thursday, October 23, 2025, 15:00-20:00 CEST (with break)
Friday, October 24, 2025, 13:00-17:00 CEST (with break)
Peace on earth - peace with the earth
Spiritualities and cultures on environmental justice and peacebuilding
Peace is a fragile plant. People and communities around the world are aware of how much it needs to be protected and nurtured. On the one hand, it is about peace between societies and nations, which is all too often violated. But it is also about peace with the earth, which is consumed, damaged and exploited without respecting its integrity and without considering the impact of this exploitation on present and future generations.
"The earth is what we all have in common."
Wendell Berry
"We are not the only kind of we."
Eduardo Kohn
"As long as he does not extend the circle of his compassion to all living beings, man himself will not find peace"
Albert Schweitzer
Thursday, October 23, 2025, 3:00 - 5:45 p.m. CEST - Session 1
Peace, Justice and the Environment Through Religious and Cultural Lenses
A new climate for peace: postcolonial history and environmental justice
Debjani Bhattacharyya (India/USA/Switzerland)
Debjani Bhattacharyya is a Professor of the History of the Anthropocene at the University of Zurich and a non-residential fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she was an Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies at Drexel University. Her research explores the question of how legal and economic structures shape our understanding of environmental change and how these impact on our reaction to the climate crisis.
How Spirituality Informs Earth Care
Neddy Astudillo (Venezuela/USA)
Neddy Astudillo is an Eco-Theologian and Presbyterian Pastor and coordinator of the Climate Justice & Faith Certification program at the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. She has long advanced environmental justice and eco-theology across the Americas.
Peacebuilding, Education and Environmental Protection by and With the Youth
Haruna Zagoon-Sayeed (Ghana)
Haruna Zagoon-Sayeed is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana and Executive Director of the Baraka Policy Institute. His work spans education, religion, youth development, international affairs, and peacebuilding.
Indigenous People and Resistance Spirituality
Jenne Jessica Revanda Pieter (Indonesia)
Jenne Jessica Revanda Pieter is an ordained minister of the Protestant Church in the Moluccas, Indonesia, and serves as a lecturer at the Faculty of Theology, Christian University of Indonesia. Her work focuses on theology, ecology, and advocacy for Indigenous communities.
Detailed program Thursday (Session 1)
Debjani Bhattacharyya
A New Climate for Peace: Postcolonial History and Environmental Justice.
Neddy Astudillo: How Spirituality Informs Earth Care
Haruna Zagoon-Sayeed: Peacebuilding, Education and Environmental Protection by and With the Youth
Jenne Jessica Revanda Pieter: Indigenous People and Resistance Spirituality
Thursday, October 23, 2025, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. CEST - Session 2
Broadening the Horizons of Peace and Environmental Justice
Ecumenical Perspectives on the Climate Crisis, Disability and Public Engagement
Anjeline Okola Charles (Kenya)
Anjeline Okola is a Quaker and a disability and development practitioner. She is currently the Programme Executive for the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (WCC-EDAN).
Indigenous Wisdom and Spiritualities and the Reclaiming of Rights of Land
Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt (Canada)
Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt is a member of the Mushkegowuk-Cree community and has obtained a PhD focused on Indigenous feminism. She has working for diverse projects by Indigenous organizations, activism, youth work, and reconciliation initiatives.
Participants in the panel discussion
Sofía Nicolasa Chipana Quispe (Bolivia)
Sofía Nicolasa Chipana Chispe is a member of the Andean Theology and Pastoral Community and the Community of Indigenous Wise Women and Theologians of Abya Yala. She is Aymara and shares her paths with communities that seek to create bonds based on relationships of correspondence.
Julio Cesar Mejía Tapia (Peru)
Julio Cesar Mejía Tapia is a legal advisor to the network of women leaders defending water and Lake Titicaca, a consultant, researcher and head of the Institute of Law, Social Participation and Environment (IDEPAM) of the network known as Eco Legistas and the Pasión Constitucional initiative.
Keshoe Isaiah Kilerai (Kenya)
Keshoe Isaiah Kilerai is a youth climate and environmental champion from the Maasai community in Kenya. He is a Kofi Annan Changemaker and the founder of The New Lion Project, which empowers Indigenous youth to influence global policies through storytelling, advocacy, research, and grassroots projects.
Meera Baindur (India)
Meera Baindur is a philosopher, educator, and interfaith scholar. She is an Associate Professor at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. Her work bridges environmental ethics, Indian philosophical traditions, and feminist thought, with a strong engagement in interfaith dialogue.
Engagement in interreligious dialog.
Detailed program Thursday (session 2)
Ecumenical Perspectives on the Climate Crisis, Disability and Public Engagement
Indigenous Wisdom and Spiritualities and the Reclaiming of Rights of Land
How can insights from religions and cultures be translated into action for peace on and with the earth?
Sofía Nicolasa Chipana Quispe (Bolivia)
Keshoe Isaiah Kilerai (Kenya)
Julio Cesar Mejia Tapia (Peru)
Meera Baindur (India)
Friday, October 24, 2025, 13:00-14:00 CEST - Session 3
Revisiting Anthropocentrism and Positioning New Ecologies
Religious Ecology: Indigenous Practices and Intersubjective Relationships
Samsul Maarif (Indonesia)
Samsul Maarif is the head of the Center for Religious and Crosscultural Studies at the Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. He teaches indigenous religions, focusing on topics such as decolonization and planetary communities and art and religion. He advocates for engaged religious studies and has been involved in coalitions for social activism on freedom of religion or belief, environmental movement, and others.
Detailed program Friday (Session 3)
Samsul Maarif
Religious Ecology: Indigenous Practices and Intersubjective Relationships
Friday, October 24, 2025, 15:00-17:00 CEST - Session 4
Discovering Peace Through the Lenses of Nature’s Agency and Rights
When Rivers Speak: Indigenous Wisdom and How It Pushes the Boundaries of Human-Nature Relationships Towards Inclusive Peace
Stephanie Boyd (Canada/Peru)
Stephanie Boyd has been living and working in Peru as a filmmaker, journalist and educator since 1997. She co-created the Media that Matters initiative with several Peruvian nonprofit film collectives and is a board member of the Peru Support Group.
When the Rivers Claim Justice: Expanding Law From Indigenous Water Values and Non-Western Human-Nature Relations
María Ximena González-Serrano (Colombia/Switzerland)
María Ximena González-Serrano is a Colombian lawyer, activist, and socio-legal researcher. For over fifteen years, she has worked with grassroots communities on collective strategies to defend territories and rivers from extractive economies and toxic flows.
Detailed program Friday (session 4)
Stephanie Boyd: When Rivers Speak: Indigenous Wisdom and How It Pushes the Boundaries of Human-Nature Relationships Towards Inclusive Peace
María Ximena Gonzales-Serrano: When the Rivers Claim Justice: Expanding Law From Indigenous Water Values and Non-Western Human-Nature Relations
Offers a collaborative space to reflect on the gained insights and explore next steps for joint action.
For questions
Monika Di Pietrantonio
Responsible for administration of educational offers
Tel: +41 (0)61 260 22 67
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