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Címzett e-mail címe: Feladó e-mail címe: Feladó neve: Üzenet: Kedves Barátom! Látogass el a http://Bocs.Hu - Fenntartható Civilizáció Portálra! Érdemes! Cikk: 2003 "Alternative Nobelpreise" 2003 Right Livelihood Awards (RLA) to Pioneers for a Saner World. (RLA Press Release, Stockholm 2.10.2003 ) The 2003 Right Livelihood Awards go to individuals and organisations from New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Egypt working for disarmament, justice, partnership and environmental sustainability. The 2003 Right Livelihood Honorary Award honours New Zealand's former Prime Minister David Lange, whom the Jury recognises "for his steadfast work over many years for a world free of nuclear weapons". Four recipients share the 2003 Right Livelihood cash Award of SEK 2 million: Walden Bello and Nicanor Perlas from the Philippines play crucial and complementary roles in developing the theoretical and practical bases for a world order that benefits all people. The Jury honours Bello and Perlas "for their outstanding efforts in educating civil society about the effects of corporate globalisation, and how alternatives to it can be implemented". The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (South Korea) has since 1989 worked successfully to make Korean economic development more just, inclusive and democratic. The Jury commends "the rigour with which it has developed and disseminated its wide-ranging reform programme, based on social justice and accountability and the skill with which it is now applying the same values to promoting reconciliation with North Korea". SEKEM (Egypt) shows how a modern business can combine profitability and engagement in world markets with a humane and spiritual approach to people and respect for the natural environment. The Jury sees in SEKEM "a business model for the 21st century in which commercial success is integrated with and promotes the social and cultural development of society through the "economics of love'". Further details about the work of these recipients is given on a separate datafile. Founded in 1980, the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the Swedish Parliament and are often referred to as "Alternative Nobel Prizes". They were introduced "to honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today". Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish-German philatelic expert, sold his valuable postage stamps to provide the original endowment. Alfred Nobel wanted to honour those whose work "brought the greatest benefit to humanity". Von Uexkull felt that the Nobel Prizes today ignore much work and knowledge vital for our world and future. * * * A Press Conference with the recipients will be held in Stockholm on Thursday, December 4th. The award presentation ceremony in the Swedish Parliament will be held on December 8th. . NB. German Press: All recipients will be in Berlin December 9th to 12th. Contact: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Rosenthaler Str. 40-41, D-10178 Berlin, Tel. 0049-30-28534-0, Fax -108, e-mail: info@boell.de For further information and photos of the 2003 Award recipients, including contact addresses: Kerstin Bennett, Administrative Director Right Livelihood Award, Stockholm Telephone: +46 (0)8-702 03 40 Fax: +46 (0)8-702 03 38 E-mail: info@rightlivelihood.se Internet: www.rightlivelihood.org ------------------------------------------------------------- The RLA-laureates 2003 - detailled portraits: DAVID LANGE (Honorary Award) -- New Zealand David Lange was born in 1942 and practised as a lawyer before being elected to the New Zealand Parliament. He is known as the New Zealand Prime Minister whose government, in 1984, passed legislation which banned nuclear-powered and armed vessels (including aircraft) from New Zealand (NZ) territory, and promoted the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. The US reacted to this policy against weapons of mass destruction by cancelling all defence exercises, cutting intelligence sharing and demoting NZ from ally to "friend", effectively making the ANZUS security alliance inoperable. David Lange personally defended the policy and promoted nuclear disarmament nationally and internationally. He spoke extensively around the world, including an address to the Conference on Disarmament and the UN General Assembly. In 1985 he won a debate at the Oxford Union against the US fundamentalist Christian Rev. Jerry Falwell, arguing in the affirmative that "nuclear weapons are morally indefensible". This was televised throughout the US along with other interviews for various TV programmes. He became the champion of peace groups around the world and spoke at many peace conferences. He joined Parliamentarians for Global Action delegations to world leaders to discuss key disarmament issues. To their credit, subsequent New Zealand Governments have persevered with the anti-nuclear policy, which remains in place today. Lange told his story about the policy in his book, "Nuclear Free: The New Zealand Way", published in 1990. The nuclear-free policy was not a one-off for Lange. Back in 1975 he defended peace activists in the courts, after they were arrested for protesting against the visits of nuclear powered and armed warships entering Auckland. As Prime Minister he also negotiated a settlement with France, brokered by the UN Secretary General, as compensation after the French government admitted that its secret service agents had detonated a bomb which sank the Greenpeace Flagship "Rainbow Warrior" in Auckland harbour in 1985, killing one person. In 1991 he sent a statement about the importance of "demonstration as an instrument of international political betterment" to be read at the trial of New Zealander Moana Cole during her trial in the US for action taken against US bombers during the Gulf War. He travelled to Iraq in 1999 negotiated and gained the release of NZ hostages. He was an advocate for the World Court Project and wrote the foreword for the booklet outlining the case. The Project resulted in the qualified judgement of the World Court in 1996 that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is against international law. Most recently Lange was emphatic in his support for the current NZ Prime Minister, Helen Clark, when she criticised the US over the Iraq War. Contact Details: Rt Hon David Lange PO Box 59120 Mangere Bridge Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Tel work: +64 9 622 0382 Fax: +64 9 622 0382 E-mail: lange@hudcorp.co.nz ------------------------------------------------------------ WALDEN BELLO -- Philippines Walden Bello is one of the leading critics of the current model of economic globalisation, combining the roles of intellectual and activist. As a human rights and peace campaigner, academic, environmentalist and journalist, and through a combination of courage as a dissident, with an extraordinary breadth of published output and personal charisma, he has made a major contribution to the international case against corporate-driven globalisation. Bello was born in Manila in the Philippines in 1945. He was studying in Princeton for a sociology Ph.D in 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos took power, and plunged into political activism, collecting his Ph.D, but not returning to the university for another 20 years. Over the next two decades, he became a key figure in the international movement to restore democracy in the Philippines, co-ordinating the Anti-Martial Law Coalition and establishing the Philippines Human Rights Lobby in Washington. He was arrested repeatedly and finally jailed by the US authorities in 1978 for leading the non-violent takeover of the Philippine consulate in San Francisco. He was released a week later after a hunger strike to publicise human rights abuses in his home country. While campaigning on human rights he saw how the World Bank and IMF loans and grants were supporting the Marcos regime in power. These provided the material for his book "Development Debacle" (1982), which became an underground bestseller in the Philippines and helped create the citizen's movement that eventually deposed Marcos in 1986. After the fall of Marcos, Bello joined the NGO Food First in the USA, and began to expand his coverage of the Bretton Woods institutions, in particular studying the "newly industrialised countries" of Asia. His critique of the Asian economic "miracle", "Dragons in Distress", was written six years before the financial collapse that swept through the region. His recent work has been criticising the financial subjugation of developing countries and promoting alternative models of development that would make countries less dependent on foreign capital. In 1995, he was co-founder of "Focus on the Global South", of which he is now executive director. Focus seeks to build grassroots capacity to tackle wider regional issues of development and capital flows. When the Asian Financial Crisis struck two years later, Focus played a major role advocating a different way forward. Bello argues that "what developing countries and international civil society should aim at is not to reform the WTO but, through a combination of passive and active measures, to radically reduce its power and make it simply another international institution co-existing with and being checked by other international organisations, agreements and regional groupings'. It is in such a more fluid, less structured, more pluralistic world with multiple checks and balances that the nations and communities of the South will be able to carve out the space to develop based on their values, their rhythms, and the strategies of their choice." At the abortive WTO meeting in Seattle in 1999, Bello played a leading role in the teach-ins around the protest events and was later beaten up by the Seattle police. He was detained again by the Italian police at the 2001 G-8 summit in Genoa. Bello played a leading role in elaborating the strategy of the South at the recent Cancun WTO summit - which derailed the meeting in the face of US/EU intransigence. He has also played a leading role as an environmentalist, and is former chairman of the board of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. His 1998 book "A Siamese Tragedy", documenting the environmental destruction of Thailand, became a bestseller there and won praise from former Thai Prime Minister Anand Oanyarachun. It received the Chancellor's Award for best book from the University of the Philippines (2000). Bello has campaigned for years for the withdrawal of US military bases in the Philippines, Okinawa and Korea, and was instrumental in setting up the Council for Alternative Security in the Asia-Pacific in 1997 and the South Asian Peace Coalition in 2000 - both dedicated to denuclearisation and demilitarisation, and a new kind of security plan based on meeting people's needs. After September 11 2001, he was a leading voice from the South urging the USA not to resort to military intervention - which he believed would exacerbate the problem - but to tackle the root causes of terrorism in poverty, inequality, injustice and oppression. In March 2002, he led the peace mission to the southern Philippine island of Basilan. He also led the peace mission of parliamentarians and civil society leaders to Baghdad in March 2003 in a last-ditch effort to prevent the US invasion. Bello's current roles include: National Chair Emeritus of Akbayan, one of the fastest growing parties in the Philippines. Professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines. Executive director of Focus on the Global South. Visiting Professor in Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. Board member of Food First, the International Forum on Globalisation, the Transnational Institute and the Nautilus Institute. Bello has won praise for his writing, as the author or editor of 11 books on Asian issues and a range of articles, notably "American Lake: The nuclear peril in the Pacific" (1984) (co-authored with Peter Hayes and Lyuba Zarsky), "People and Power in the Pacific" (1992), "Dark Victory: The United States and Global Poverty" (1999), "Global Finance: Thinking on regulating speculative capital markets" (2000) and "The Future in the Balance: Essays on globalisation and resistance" (2001). He won the New California Media Award for Best International Reporting in 1998. The Belgian newspaper "Le Soir" recently called Bello "the most respected anti-globalisation thinker in Asia". Contact details: Walden Bello Focus on the Global South (FOCUS) c/o CUSRI, Chulalongkorn University Bangkok 10330 THAILAND Tel: 662 218 7363/7364/7365/7383 Fax: 662 255 9976 E-mail: admin@focusweb.org Internet: www.focusweb.org --------------------------------------------------------- NICANOR PERLAS -- Philippines Nicanor Perlas was born in 1950, and graduated with highest honours in agriculture from Xavier University. He gave up his masterís degree after being drawn into the struggle against the Marcos-promoted Baataan nuclear plant in 1978 and had to leave the Philippines after organising a conference to expose its dangers. After the fall of Marcos Perlas was able to return to the Philippines, founding the Centre for Alternative Development Initiatives (CADI). He became a consultant to the Aquino Government on the troubled nuclear power plant, and contributed to the decision to mothball it, despite it being very near completion, and having cost $2.1 billion. At the same time he engaged in a campaign against the abuse of pesticides, founding the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. This (and very often Perlas personally) gave training and technical assistance in 23 provinces in the Philippines. Perlas also became a member of the government's Pesticides Technical Advisory Committee, which eventually banned 32 of the most damaging pesticides and caused the government to invest $ 760 million in integrated pest management, which trained more than 100,000 farmers. For this work Perlas won the Global 500 Award from UNEP, and one of the TOFIL Awards to outstanding Filipinos, both in 1994. In the substantial press coverage that accompanied these awards, Perlas was often referred to as "a farmer" and his work with CADI still helps farmers to shift away from chemical-intensive agriculture. By this time Perlas was already one of the Philippines' environmental leaders. He had set up student environmental groups and his work on nuclear power and sustainable agriculture had given him a national profile. He was one of the Philippines' NGO delegation to the 1992 Earth Summit. He later became heavily involved in the post-Rio process in the Philippines, not least through the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), of which he has been Civil Society Co-Chair, and helped to formulate and implement at the local level Philippine Agenda 21 (PA21). Later in the 1990s he became Co-Chair of the Green Forum of environmental groups, and he has been a member of Mikael Gorbachovís Commission on Globalisation. Perlas explicitly sought to use PA 21 as a counter-weight to the trade liberalisation that was being pushed through the Uruguay Road of the GATT, in what he described as a "creative response to the challenge of Èlite globalisation." A major practical expression of the PA 21 approach is the micro-credit initiative Lifebank, of which Perlas is a Board member. Lifebank has so far reached 15,000 families. Perlas has evolved a "tri-sector" approach to policy-making, which he calls "threefolding": "In social threefolding the three global powers - government, representing political concerns, business, representing economic concerns, and civil society, representing cultural concerns, can come together, where appropriate and feasible, to join efforts in solving major world problems." This is the subject of Perlas' most recent book, "Shaping Globalisation: Cultural Power and Threefolding", (2000). These ideas are said to have been important in the process that led to the toppling of President Estrada in 2000. Perlas took the book to the "State of the World Forum 2000", and has co-founded two networks to take the ideas forward globally: "GlobeNet 3" and the "Global Institute for Responsible Leadership", which seeks to promote innovative thinking and collaboration across traditional boundaries - departments, organizations, sectors, and cultures. For the past five years Perlas' focus has almost exclusively been on social movements and their power to change the world. He counts as one of his major achievements that, with Walden Bello, he convinced the Philippine NGO scene in 1996, through major talks, the formation of networks and a big civil society conference that the issue for the future of the Philippines, is the value system underpinning globalisation. Perlas warns that the developments we are facing demand a deeper, ethical and spiritual response: we face a system not just a management crisis. Thus he asks how our sense of identity and humanity will be affected by current technological advances (in genetic engineering, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence) which could lead to the proliferation of half-human half-machine "silicone beings" in the near future. Contact details: Nicanor Perlas Center for Alternative Development Initiatives Unit 718 Cityland Megaplaza Garnet rd cor. ADB Avenue Ortigas Center, Pasig City, 1605 Metro Manila PHILIPPINES Tel work: +63 2 687 7481 Fax: +63 2 687 7482 Email: cadi @info.com.ph Internet: www.cadi.ph ---------------------------------------------------------- CITIZENS' COALITION FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE (CCEJ) -- South Korea The CCEJ is a Korean citizens' movement working for economic justice, environmental protection, democratic and social development and reunification of the divided Korean peninsula. Founded in 1989, it was Korea's first fully-fledged citizens' organization and is now one of its most influential. It has 35,000 members and 35 local branches, and its work is carried out by about 50 staff nationwide, with the guidance and support of about 150 specialists who serve on the 17 subcommittees of the Policy Research Committee. The subcommittees cover subjects such as Banking, Local Autonomy, Finance and Taxation and Welfare. The founding principles of CCEJ were that it should 1) be led by ordinary citizens, 2) use legal and non-violent methods, 3) seek workable alternatives, 4) speak for the interests of all people regardless of economic standing, and 5) work to overcome greed and egoism in order to build a sharing society. Its methods consist of research and development of policy alternatives, and lobbying for their enactment into law; public education and consensus-building through seminars, conferences, public hearings and discussion meetings; keeping the media informed about citizens' concerns through press conferences, interviews and constant information-sharing; signature campaigns and rallies; publications; and organization of members for special activities. The most recent development is the establishment of CCEJ Inernational to work for the realization of economic justice on the global level. Despite the broad scope of this citizens' movement, it has been able to accomplish significant results in a relatively short time. Among other achievements it has: Successfully got a law enacted to prevent rampant real estate speculation and promote housing stability for renters and urban poor people (1989-90); Led a successful campaign for establishment of the 'real-name system' for all financial transactions and property registration (overturning the practice of using false names to avoid taxation) (1993); Proposed the following additional legislation for political and economic reform and got it passed by parliament: · a law to democratize government administration and make it more transparent; · a freedom of information act; · amendment of election laws related to political funds and political party operations. Organized a nationwide 'People's Coalition to Protect Agriculture', a network of 190 organizations, which pressured the government to slow its agricultural market opening in order to protect farmers' minimum survival (1993-94); Inaugurated and continuously leads a Citizens' Legislative Movement to monitor parliament and lobby for reform legislation; Successfully mediated civil society conflicts (for example, one between Korean traditional medicine practitioners and western-medicine pharmacists in 1993); Established the Right Farming Cooperative, a network of organic farmers, which aims to promote wider production and use of organic produce, by linking producers and consumers, compiling textbooks and other publications, launching a 'Save our soil and water' campaign and holding various special events; Established the Urban Reform Centre, which carries out a public education program for the purpose of creating sustainable cities; Worked continuously for economic reforms, especially for reform of the chaebol (giant family-owned business groups which dominate the Korean economy), tax reform, establishment of corporate ethics and improvement of labour rights; Played a key role in the establishment of the local autonomy system, i.e. the restoration of local democratic structures; Organized the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Forum...for the purpose of identifying problems in the region...and in particular to challenge the dominant development model and work to replace it with 'people-centered, community-centered and life-centered' development. In addition it: Was the first organization to call public attention to the situation of foreign migrant workers in Korea and propose legislation for their protection; Operates the Anti-Corruption Center, which investigates citizens' reports on business and government irregularities and has worked to clean up corruption in the judicial system; Carries out a broad and active environmental protection movement through the local CCEJ branches and in cooperation with other Korean and international environmental organizations; Works to educate the public for reunification of divided Korea, especially through the 'Reconciliation Academy', a lecture series on North Korean realities and desirable reunification policies; In 1999 CCEJ also spun off its "Center for Environment and Development" to become the independent "Citizen's Movement for Environment Justice". The CMEJ aims to bridge the gap between social and environmental groups in the Korean NGO movement; its rationale is that social and environmental problems must be treated as one continuum if real solutions are to be found. It is also setting up an 'Environmental Justice Forum' to conduct research, to work to get its findings adopted and to hold monthly meetings with other Korean environmental organisations. In 2001 CCEJ established the 'Best Foreign Corporation Award', to be awarded to the trans-national corporation which scored highest on criteria of law observance, ethics and achievement. On the Korean reunification, CCEJ's Position is as follows: North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons must not be allowed to be a reason for war. All peaceful means are required to solve the nuclear issue, but no military sanctions should be allowed. Humanitarian aid should go on. South Korea should maintain its policy of reconciliation and co-operation with the North and seek to persuade the North without abandoning talks. Contact details: Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice Soh Kyung-suk Pierson Bldg. 2nd Fl., 89-27, Shinmoonro 2-ga Jongro-gu, Seoul 110-761 KOREA REP. Tel work: +82 2 757 7380 Fax: +82 2 757 7382/3 Email: mmm@ccej.or.kr Internet: www.ccej.or.kr -------------------------------------------- SEKEM / DR. IBRAHIM ABOULEISH -- Egypt Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish was born in Egypt in 1937. In the year 1956, at the age of 19, he began his studies in chemistry, medicine at the University of Graz, Austria, receiving his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1969. Thereafter he then engaged in pharmaceutical research, taking on the position as Head of Division for pharmaceutical research until 1977. In 1975, on a visit to Egypt together with his family, he was overwhelmed by the country's pressing problems in education, overpopulation and pollution. His admiration for his country led him to establish in 1977 a comprehensive development initiative, which he called SEKEM. The Innovation: SEKEM is establishing the blueprint for the healthy corporation of the 21st century. Taking its name from the hieroglyphic transcription meaning 'vitality of the sun', SEKEM was the first entity to develop biodynamic farming methods in Egypt. These methods are based on the premise that organic cultivation improves agro-biodiversity and does not produce any unusable waste. All products of the system can be either sold or re-used in cultivation, thereby creating a sustainable process. Background: Egypt's problems are interrelated and include overpopulation, environmental degradation, inadequate education and health care. Agriculture involves 40% of the workforce and remains the least developed sector of the economy. Cost of agricultural production has increased while the resource base has shrunk. Today, Egypt has become one of the world's largest importers of food. Because the country's problems are interrelated, SEKEM has built a thriving social and cultural base to address Egypt's crumbling health, educational and cultural preservation capacities. Strategy: SEKEM is formed by three closely interrelated entities: The SEKEM Holding Company comprising six companies, each responsible for an aspect of SEKEM's business value proposition, the Egyptian Society for Cultural Development (SCD), responsible for all cultural aspects, and the Cooperative of SEKEM Employees (CSE), responsible for human resource development. Working together, they have created a modern corporation based on innovative agricultural products and a responsibility towards society and environmental sustainability. The six companies of Sekem Holding Company are: ATOS - produces and markets phyto-pharmaceuticals and health products; LIBRA - works with farmers to cultivate fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs; HATOR - produces and packs fresh fruit and vegetables from Libra; CONYTEX - manufactures and sells organic textiles to local and export markets; ISIS - production of processed organic foodstuffs; SEKEM - prepares and pre-processes herbs and spices. SEKEM has grown exponentially in the last decade to a nationally renowned enterprise and market leader of organic products and phyto-pharmaceuticals. It has established reliable links with European and U.S. customers in the export trade. Moreover, 55% of its sales are domestic - an essential element for SEKEM's long-term sustainability. Its strong commitment to innovative development led to the nation-wide application of biodynamic methods to control pests and improve crop yields. However, SEKEM's most important impact on Egyptian society has generally and most probably been achieved through the Egyptian Biodynamic Association (EBDA), an NGO established in 1990 as a means of conducting R & D into biodynamic agriculture in Egypt and training framers in its methods. In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, SEKEM deployed a new system of plant protection in cotton, which led to a ban of crop dusting throughout Egypt. By 2000, according to UN and FAO reports, pesticide use in Egyptian cotton fields had fallen by over 90%, while prior to the ban 35,000 tons of chemical pesticides were sprayed yearly. Furthermore nearly 80% of Egyptian cotton was being grown organically and average annual yields had increased by nearly 30%. The SEKEM "mother farm" and processing facilities are located on 300 hectares of land near the town of Belbeis, 60 kms from Cairo. After the successful implementation of the biodynamic method in this area, other farmers, stunned by the results, started to cooperate with SEKEM. Today, approximately 800 farmers from Aswan to Alexandria are applying the international guidelines for biodynamic agriculture on 8,000 hectares. In 1990 SEKEM facilitated the establishment of the Center of Organic Agriculture in Egypt (COAE) as a regulatory and certification body, according and adhering to DEMETER guidelines and the European Regulations for Organic Agriculture. The SCD is SEKEM's way of reaching out beyond its commercial activity in pursuit of its goal to contribute to ìthe comprehensive development of Egyptian societyî. It employs approximately 200 people in four main domains of activity. A kindergarten, primary and secondary school, and a special needs education program for the children of employees and the neighboring community. A work-and-education program for children from poorer families in need of further income, a vocational training center, literacy classes and a training institute for adults. A Medical Center providing modern medical services and an outreach program, treating 30,000 people yearly from the general vicinity. An Academy for Applied Arts and Sciences to promote scientific research in the areas of medicine, pharmacy, biodynamic agriculture, sustainable economics and arts. A number of its social initiatives in the arts and other fields contribute to the development of Egyptians, raising their self-esteem and promoting mutual respect. In addition, increasingly Egypt's younger generation seeks to pursue tertiary education. In response, SEKEM is founding a private University offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in arts, science and technology. Today, 2,000 people work in SEKEM. Revenues have grown from 37 million Egyptian pounds in 2000 to 100 million in 2003. In 1997, Sekem was awarded ISO 9001 certification, was selected "World Wide Project" of the Hannover EXPO 2000, and in 2002, it secured a loan from the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank. Through cooperation on projects with sister organizations in Germany and the Netherlands, SEKEM has received support from institutions such as the European Commission, Ford Foundation, USAID, and the Acumen Fund. SEKEM is increasingly seeking to share its experience and acquired knowledge with other countries (including India, Palestine, Senegal and Turkey), and has a partnership for this purpose with the "Fountain Foundation" in South Africa. In an article, which appeared in "Business Today Egypt", the Sekem Group was described as "an economic powerhouse", but the Group differs from most companies in various aspects: The training of its employees in social awareness and creative arts, as well as professional skills "to awaken a person's senses, encourage creativity, and foster a sense of social responsibility and ethical awareness." Employees are organized in a 'co-operative of SEKEM employees'. Its management of the value-adding chain from the farmers to the consumers based on partnership and transparency, an approach SEKEM calls the 'economics of love'. There is also a deep aesthetic commitment. In 2000 the "Cairo Times" wrote: "Aesthetically speaking, it is almost eerily organized and clean for a farm. The same kind of pastel-colored buildings that comprise the company's administrative center are strewn around the farm, connected to each other by neat paths lined with flowerbeds and trees. Beyond the central square fields of swaying grass and fragrant herbs give the impression that one has reached the gates of paradise." Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish is clearly an important leadership figure in SEKEM. He was elected as one of the distinguished Social Entrepreneurs by the "Schwab Foundation" to participate within the renowned "World Economic Forum". Increasingly though leadership seems to be passing to the next generation. The Managing Director of the SEKEM Group is his son Helmy Abouleish, born in 1961. Notwithstanding the influence of modern science, Dr. Abouleish, who has always been a Muslim, is at pains to stress the consistency of SEKEM's approach with Islam: "All the different aspects of the company, whether the cultural ones or the economic ones, have been developed out of Islam. We believe that it is possible to derive guiding principles for everything from pedagogics, to the arts, to economics from Islam." Contact details: SEKEM Intiative Ibrahim Abouleish 3, Belbeis Desert Road POB 2834 El Horreya Cairo EGYPT Tel work: +20 2 656 41 24 Fax: +20 2 656 41 23 Internet: www.sekem.com -----