The world's religions have a critical role to play in shaping environmental ethics for a sustainable future for the planet. It was in this spirit that a series of 10 conferences on "Religions of the World and Ecology" was held at Harvard University. The primary aim of the series was to link scholars in the academic study of religion with the people, projects and institutions that are bringing about ethical change with regard to the environmental crisis.

Three culminating conferences, held in 1998, extended the dialogue into four other disciplines concerned with the environment: science, economics, education and public policy. At a United Nations press conference, followed by a symposium at the American Museum of Natural History, the Forum on Religion and Ecology (FORE) was launched.

FORE believes that the moral force of the world's religions is needed to help shape environmental policies and to mobilize people to help preserve the environment. Toward that end, FORE is focusing on three strategic objectives: research, education and outreach. The Forum is grounding a field of study in religion and ecology within the academic context; it is publishing curricular materials for classroom use and making available information that will be useful to religious communities. It has supervised the publication of a 10-volume series of books available from Harvard University Press. The books, based on the Harvard conferences, identify the resources of the world's religions for valuing and protecting the natural world.

The leaders of the Forum also served as guest editors of the Fall 2001 issue of Daedalus, The Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The theme was: Religion and Ecology: Can The Climate Change?

The V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation provided funding for the Harvard conferences and books as well for FORE operations.

The FORE issue of Daedalus is available at: www.amacad.org/publications/fall2001/fall2001.aspx

For more information visit: www.environment.harvard.edu/religion