I had a few brief reminders that today is an American holiday, Independence Day, even though I am living outside the country. The sound of a firecracker outside in Costa Rica brought about memories of past years celebrations. My boyfriend wished me Happy 4th of July this morning, as he was leaving to fly back to the states. And there was brief mention of the holiday today at the University, from the North American students. But all in all, enthusiasm for this national holiday was generally neutral among the UPeace students. For the Environmental Security Program in particular, it was just another day thinking about how we can make the world a better place. Our multinational group spent the day creating a normative governance framework for environmental security.
As we were refining our own definition of environmental security, we came across a statement from the Institute of Environmental Security that "the environment is most transnational of transnational issues," which reminds us of the global importance of the environment. Solving transnational environmental problems requires thinking as global citizens who share the earth, rather than just in our own country's national interests. Yet additionally we recognize a strong sense of the importance in integrating local community initiatives to the global framework. If you are wondering, what our definition for environmental security was, here it is:
Environmental security is defined as the condition in which the integrity of the environment is maintained or enhanced through the active and meaningful participation of government, the private sector, civil society and individuals to enable the sustainable functioning of the economy and social well-being for present and future generations, thereby ensuring human security, human rights and peace.
So, while I did not celebrate the U.S. national holiday today, I do feel that I was able to do something productive as a global citizen of the earth.
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