ASSISI (A Strategic, Systems-based, Integrated Sustainability Initiative)
Nobel Prize winner, Al Gore endorses Catholic Earthcare's ASSISI
At a meeting in Sydney on 14 July, Catholic Earthcare's executive director, Jacqui Remond briefed Mr Gore on Earthcare's mandate from the Australian Bishops' to affect an 'ecological conversion' to an environmentally sustainable church in Australia.
Ms Remond said Earthcare's ecological sustainability model 'ASSISI' (A Strategic, Systems-based Integrated Sustainability Initiative) was now being piloted in Catholic schools and parishes in NSW and Queensland, in the Franciscan congregation in Australia and New Zealand, and in St John of God hospitals.(PDF 456KB).
Story by Dan McAloon
ASSISI
ASSISI (A Strategic, Systems-based, Integrated Sustainability Initiative) constitutes the Australian Catholic Bishops' sustainability initiative. It is a new, ongoing, large-scale intervention developed by Earthcare. It provides a theological, spiritual and practical base for implementing Earthcare's ecological vision for Catholic schools, parishes and church communities, agencies and congregations. It is a useful model and a roadmap for the way to achieve ecological sustainability for the Catholic Church in Australia.
The overarching aim of ASSISI is to provide a foundation for and a pathway to best practice in achieving ecological sustainability in Catholic schools, parishes, church agencies and organisations and congregations in Australia. The definition of ecological education which has been put forward for Catholic schools is relevant and appropriate for all Catholic organisations and agencies: a life-long process of recognising values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and appreciate the inter-relatedness of all creation, and to know of creation as a gift from God which requires equitable sharing and right relationship. It also entails practice in decision making for living a life that is ecologically and ethically sustainable.
The approach we take in achieving our aim is not one based on compliance with externally imposed models and frameworks. The 'learning communities' approach involves a co-created process that enables organisations to work meaningfully with broader sustainability frameworks and make autonomous decisions appropriate to their own context and that link with their strategic intent. This enables the ecological conversion required for full ownership and embedding of ecological sustainability into all aspects of organisational life in the context of, and in collaboration with, the broader community.
Earthcare has embarked on a strategic partnership with Carbon Systems Australia to institute a system across the whole Catholic Church in Australia, in order to measure, track and report on energy, water and carbon performance on an ongoing basis. The Energy and Carbon Intelligence System (ECIS) is a low cost automated data collection tool for tracking, monitoring, benchmarking and reporting each Catholic organisation's ecological footprint. This provides essential information for decision making and driving reduction programmes.
Jacqui Remond, Director of Earthcare, is assisted by Megan Seneque in program design and facilitation. This is a long term approach, inspired by Catholic teachings, values and beliefs. It is aimed at developing, implementing and monitoring the processes needed to facilitate the development of a spirituality of communion that is at the heart of achieving ecological conversion and ecological sustainability in the Catholic Church in Australia.
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