On September 14, 2026, URI Europe’s Earth Healing Interfaith Webinar Series brought together participants from different countries and backgrounds for a conversation on “Honoring the Rights of Nature,” led by Lauren Van Ham, URI’s Earth Restoration Coordinator.
Lauren introduced the growing Rights of Nature movement, which challenges us to see nature not simply as a resource to be owned or consumed, but as an integral part of a living system with rights of its own. She shared examples from around the world, including Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of nature’s rights, ecological initiatives in China, and community-led approaches in Kerala and Brazil.
From resources to relationships
The conversation explored an important question: What changes when we understand ourselves as part of nature rather than separate from it?
Participants reflected on Indigenous perspectives, sacred relationships with nature, and the ways religious and spiritual traditions can help nurture greater respect for the Earth. The group discussed incorporating nature-conscious practices into faith communities and exploring shared teachings across religions about care for the natural world.
Education also emerged as an important pathway for change. Participants suggested bringing conversations about ecosystems and the Rights of Nature into schools, universities, religious communities, and political spaces, while adapting approaches to different cultural contexts.
From conversation to action
The webinar also generated practical ideas for future collaboration. Participants proposed creating local discussion groups on the Rights of Nature and exploring the relationship between ecology and economy in a future session.
Lauren shared resources to help communities continue the conversation, including an introductory workshop on Nature’s Rights and Community Resilience and the Earth Restoration Conversation Guide, developed with the Center for Earth Ethics.
The webinar reflected the wider purpose of the Earth Healing Interfaith Webinar Series: to connect URI Cooperation Circles, partners, and individuals, strengthen relationships and learning, and turn conversations into opportunities for collaborative Earth-healing action.
The series continues on October 19, 2026, at 17:00 CEST, with Erena Rhose and Morgana Sythove leading a conversation on “The Plight of Europe’s Indigenous Peoples.”
The September gathering left participants with a simple but powerful invitation: to move from asking what we can take from the Earth toward considering how we can live in a more respectful and reciprocal relationship with the living world around us.
