I have been having such an amazing time in Abu Dhabi for the UN Habitat World Urban Forum. It was an adventure to get here (my flights were delayed coming out of Pittsburgh, so I had to fly into Dubai and then drive to Abu Dhabi in early hours of the morning). It was worth it, though, to make it to Abu Dhabi in time for the Urban Shalom Forum for Christian leaders that I helped to organize with the Urban Shalom Society leadership team.
Recent Bakke Graduate University DTL grad Jacob Bloemberg kicked off the Urban Shalom Forum with the official launch of his new book, Love [Your City], which is a resource stemming from his innovative dissertation at BGU. I was excited to be with him during this important book launch. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in how churches can make a meaningful impact in the city.
At the Urban Shalom Forum, leaders gathered from many different parts of the world to join the dialogue on how Christians can participate in God's redemptive work in cities. We had several keynote presentations, and then we organized into working groups on topics including theology of the city, healthy cities, community development, children and youth, arts and culture, urban poverty, economic justice, environment, urban design and resilience, good governance, and smart cities. The Urban Shalom Society has been organizing around these key issues for the past couple of years at UN Urban Thinkers Campuses for faith leaders, and this gathering of leaders contributed mightily to the content that we'll be providing to the United Nations on the best thinking of faith leaders in the work of urban transformation.
After a successful day of engagement with global Christian leaders at the USF, we rejoined the next morning to pray for our time together at the UN Habitat WUF 10 gathering. Our team has been preparing for at least a year to engage with the policy making and civic society goals of the New Urban Agenda that will be discussed at WUF.
One of the Directors of the Urban Shalom Society, Dr. Chris Elisara, happens to be a film maker. He worked closely with the WUF 10 organizers to prepare an Urban Cinema booth in the main convention area. He's excited the showcase important video stories of people who are making a difference in cities.
Our group gathered together for the opening ceremonies of WUF 10 that included meaningful urban talks from the President of Afghanistan, the Prime Minister of Fiji, and the Executive Director of UN Habitat. It was exciting to join a gathering of 18,000 people for such a historic event.
After the opening ceremony, I toured the many displays that countries and cities from around the world had put together in the main exhibition hall. There are so many innovative things taking place around urban planning and policymaking. There were also many interesting things to experience. I just had to have my picture taken with this incredible bird that friends from the Abu Dhabi exhibition had brought.
I've had the privilege of working with many leaders from Nigeria and Kenya in recent years. So, I was excited to spend time with leaders here in Abu Dhabi who are doing transformational work in megacities like Lagos, Nigeria (soon to be a city with more residents than any other city in the world with potentially 50 million people) and Nairobi, Kenya, where I'll be for an urban immersion from May 1-10 of this year.
In the afternoon of the first day of WUF 10, our Urban Shalom Society leadership team helped to organize our first of three significant interfaith gatherings with the goal of sharing our best work on what faith groups are doing to transform cities with the United Nations. Our first event was a Faith and Urban Resilience Research Workshop where global faith leaders shared presentations on The Heartware of Sustainability in Asia, Being Poor and Trusting in God, Participatory Action Research, The Role of the Urban Church, The Vital Role of Faith Communities in the Lives of Urban Refugees, and Violence and Spirituality in Latin America. I was greatly encouraged the learn more about the important work that faith communities are doing in taking on complex challenges in urban environments all over the world.
All in all, these first couple of days in Abu Dhabi have been fruitful. With the world urbanizing at such a rapid rate, it is important for people of faith to put together our best thinking and actions at systemic and policymaking levels. We must remain engaged at the grass roots, life on life levels. But, we must also engage in advocacy in places of power. It is possible, and, indeed, it should be ordinary, for faith leaders to engage individually and systemically with complex urban challenges.
Recent Bakke Graduate University DTL grad Jacob Bloemberg kicked off the Urban Shalom Forum with the official launch of his new book, Love [Your City], which is a resource stemming from his innovative dissertation at BGU. I was excited to be with him during this important book launch. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in how churches can make a meaningful impact in the city.
At the Urban Shalom Forum, leaders gathered from many different parts of the world to join the dialogue on how Christians can participate in God's redemptive work in cities. We had several keynote presentations, and then we organized into working groups on topics including theology of the city, healthy cities, community development, children and youth, arts and culture, urban poverty, economic justice, environment, urban design and resilience, good governance, and smart cities. The Urban Shalom Society has been organizing around these key issues for the past couple of years at UN Urban Thinkers Campuses for faith leaders, and this gathering of leaders contributed mightily to the content that we'll be providing to the United Nations on the best thinking of faith leaders in the work of urban transformation.
After a successful day of engagement with global Christian leaders at the USF, we rejoined the next morning to pray for our time together at the UN Habitat WUF 10 gathering. Our team has been preparing for at least a year to engage with the policy making and civic society goals of the New Urban Agenda that will be discussed at WUF.
One of the Directors of the Urban Shalom Society, Dr. Chris Elisara, happens to be a film maker. He worked closely with the WUF 10 organizers to prepare an Urban Cinema booth in the main convention area. He's excited the showcase important video stories of people who are making a difference in cities.
Our group gathered together for the opening ceremonies of WUF 10 that included meaningful urban talks from the President of Afghanistan, the Prime Minister of Fiji, and the Executive Director of UN Habitat. It was exciting to join a gathering of 18,000 people for such a historic event.
After the opening ceremony, I toured the many displays that countries and cities from around the world had put together in the main exhibition hall. There are so many innovative things taking place around urban planning and policymaking. There were also many interesting things to experience. I just had to have my picture taken with this incredible bird that friends from the Abu Dhabi exhibition had brought.
I've had the privilege of working with many leaders from Nigeria and Kenya in recent years. So, I was excited to spend time with leaders here in Abu Dhabi who are doing transformational work in megacities like Lagos, Nigeria (soon to be a city with more residents than any other city in the world with potentially 50 million people) and Nairobi, Kenya, where I'll be for an urban immersion from May 1-10 of this year.
In the afternoon of the first day of WUF 10, our Urban Shalom Society leadership team helped to organize our first of three significant interfaith gatherings with the goal of sharing our best work on what faith groups are doing to transform cities with the United Nations. Our first event was a Faith and Urban Resilience Research Workshop where global faith leaders shared presentations on The Heartware of Sustainability in Asia, Being Poor and Trusting in God, Participatory Action Research, The Role of the Urban Church, The Vital Role of Faith Communities in the Lives of Urban Refugees, and Violence and Spirituality in Latin America. I was greatly encouraged the learn more about the important work that faith communities are doing in taking on complex challenges in urban environments all over the world.
All in all, these first couple of days in Abu Dhabi have been fruitful. With the world urbanizing at such a rapid rate, it is important for people of faith to put together our best thinking and actions at systemic and policymaking levels. We must remain engaged at the grass roots, life on life levels. But, we must also engage in advocacy in places of power. It is possible, and, indeed, it should be ordinary, for faith leaders to engage individually and systemically with complex urban challenges.
1 comment:
Bryan, this is so exciting to get to see you at the conference and to represent Bakke Graduate University as well. I would love to see the videos you mentioned about people making a difference in their cities. I hope they are made available after the conference. Don't forget about the power of business to affect this important conversation!
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