30 years 'Alternative Nobel Prize'

Press Release

30 years 'Alternative Nobel Prize'

"Wake-up Call"

Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award to convene in Germany this fall

"Changing Course - reclaiming our future " - Anniversary Conference in September to send a clear signal to society

From September 14th to 19th, some 80 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award - often called the "Alternative Nobel Prize" - will meet in Bonn, Germany, on the occasion of the prize's 30th anniversary.

Jakob von Uexkull, founder of the Right Livelihood Award, presented the motto of the upcoming gathering in a federal press conference in Bonn on April 30th: "Changing course - reclaiming our future". According to von Uexkull, "business as usual" is getting increasingly impossible, thus, the conference is meant to become an urgent wake-up call to profoundly shift our paradigms in favour of a secured common future.

The times of talking and patient warnings are over, von Uexkull said: "We have to act now, for our problems have never been as global as they are today and never has the urgency for fundamental change been bigger".

Monika Griefahn, Board member of the RLA Foundation, hopes that the Germans will seize the chance this conference will present, and continued: "It is rare that one single event offers such a magnitude of experts and stories that amaze, reassure and - in particular - inspire".

The general public will have many opportunities to meet the Laureates, said the Mayor of Bonn, Jürgen Nimptsch. The Laureates are scheduled for meetings and talks on two days:

On Thursday, September 16th, they will meet experts of scientific and political institutions in Bonn. On Friday, September 17th, they will visit schools, educational institutions, NGOs, churchly institutions and business ventures all over North Rhine-Westphalia.

Additionally, there will be a Youth Conference, and young scientists will pick up the topics from the conference when they meet at the Center for Development Research in Bonn in a joint venture with the Right Livelihood College.

Monika Hauser, representing the Laureates at the federal press conference, said: "I hope that this wonderful chance for intense networking with other laureates engaged in similar topics like me will lead to new synergies and will open new windows of opportunities."

The conference has its own website: www.reclaiming-our-future.org

The site features right now the first call for a change of course by one of the Award Laureates: an open letter on the hazards of geo-engineering by Pat Mooney.

This website will be built up further over the coming months to allow visitors from all over the world to follow and to discuss the conference topics.

Background

The Right Livelihood Award - The "Alternative Nobel Prize"

In 1980, the Right Livelihood Award was founded by Jakob von Uexkull. Since then it has become internationally recognized as an indicator for big global challenges. For three decades, the Award has been drawing attention to people who demonstrate that vision, courage and creativity can overcome seemingly insolvable problems.

The Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award are role models and catalysts of change. Very often they have put topics on the agenda long before others - and many of them have experienced the successes of their work. Already in 1984, Wangari Maathai, who later received the Nobel Peace Prize, received the Right Livelihood Award; in 2005, Maude Barlow received the Right Livelihood Award for her work for the fundamental human right to water - four years later, she was appointed Senior Advisor on this topic to the President of the UN General Assembly.

30 Years Right Livelihood Award

CHANGINGcourse - reclaiming our future

Some 80 Laureates are expected to convene in Bonn on the occasion of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation's (RLAF) 30th anniversary. Organiser are the RLAF and the City of Bonn. Co-organisers are the Foundation for Environment and Development NRW and the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn.

Among themselves, with experts from the region and the public, the Laureates will discuss a broad range of issues: How does a sustainable and just future for all people on the planet - North and South - look like? What are the trends we are currently following, where do they lead us and what kind of alternative scenarios exist in order to shift direction away from the collapse of our environment and economies and towards more justice and peace?

ENDS

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