Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Host International Summit on Environment and the Arts

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will host the second Halki Summit in Heybeliada, Turkey. The summit, to be held June 8-10, is a gathering of activists, scientists, journalists, business leaders, theologians, and academics engaging and working across intellectual boundaries to bring the global environmental discussion to a new and richer place.

Halki Summit II, organized by Ecumenical Patriarchate and Southern New Hampshire University, will focus on “Theology, Ecology, and the Word: A Conversation on the Environment, Literature and the Arts.” Summit participants will discuss the relationship between nature and art. Keynote speakers include renowned literary critic Terry Eagleton, acclaimed American author Terry Tempest Williams, celebrated political economist Raj Patel, award-winning environmental photographer James Balog, and esteemed theologian-apiculturist Timothy Gorringe.

“Any real chance of reversing climate change and the depletion of the earth’s resources requires a change in values and belief systems,” said Fr. John Chryssavgis. “This gathering seeks to bring that dimension of culture change more firmly into the larger international dialogue on sustainability. Our hope is that the participants will leave resolved to include the ethical and spiritual dimension of environmental sustainability in their work going forward.”

Summit participants, including President Paul LeBlanc and several representatives of Southern New Hampshire University students, will seek to discern the literary and philosophical roots of our concern for a balanced and sustainable environment.

Following a pioneering legacy of international and interfaith gatherings, this second summit builds upon a successful first event held in 2012, which featured primatologist Jane Goodall, activist Bill McKibben, and scientist Amory Lovins.

To learn more, visit www.halkisummit.com.