A Symphony of Transformation - Human Forum 2008

Dear friends of the Alliance we must inform you that sale of tickets for the Human Forum in Costa Rica is closed as we have exceeded the venue capacity. Keep connected to our website for news and audio visual postings from the Forum. Thanks for your understanding and support.

Podcasts of the Human Forum event will be available on this site from end March. Also, please note that our next Human Forum will be in Barcelona on 7th to 9th November 2008. Please check our events page in coming weeks for further details.

San Jose, Costa Rica, March 11-13, 2008

"Scaling-up connectivity of the emergent new world order"

The Human Forum; a gathering of Humanity

"At this moment, nothing is more important for healing the world than to link all those who believe that we must set forth a new narrative and create a new world where hope, social justice, peace, and a sense of the sacredness of life prevail. For this, we need to form a critical mass of humanity that influences change at a global scale, to bring together the inner streams of sensitive human beings" - Deepak Chopra

Every year since 2003

Leaders from all walks of life have been quietly meeting at the Human Forum of the Alliance for a New Humanity. On previous years the Forum has brought together Nobel Prize winners Rigoberta Menchu, Betty Williams, Oscar Arias and Al Gore, noted writers like Antonio Skarmeta and Sergio Ramirez, film makers like Shekhar Kapur, entertainment personalities likeQueen Latifah, Ricky Martin, environmentalists like Ashok Khosla, inspired social workers like Mae Chee San Sanee from Thailand, educators like Satish Kumar from Schmacher College, corporate leaders like Ray Anderson economists, social scientists like Jim Cliffton CEO of Gallup and Paul Ray, economists leading anti-poverty campaigns like Jeffrey Sachs, inspired women for change like Marianne Williamson and Lynn Twist , journalists like Roberto Savio founder of Inter Press Service and Ignacio Ramonet Director of Le Monde Diplomatique.

They have been joined by numerous others well known and less well known, individuals, organizations, agents for change in all spheres of human transformation. From Kiej de los Bosques, transforming the livelihoods of Mayan women, to global organizations like CARE, to Chat the Planet communicating the young of the world, the All Palestine’-Israeli Radio bringing news of peace by young people caught up in an world of war, and many other extraordinary organizations like Heifer International, Trickle-Up, and Iniciativa Comunitaria. Organizations and individuals who are making a difference in the world, in and outside, of public knowledge.

Why do they all come to this human gathering? To strengthen their resolve to change the world. To declare their humanity and invite others to do so. To learn from each other’s best practices and forge new imaginative partnerships for action. To create a human network for change. To give testimony to the greatness of the human heart and its potential for transformation. To recognize and celebrate the oneness of all life.

This Year the Human Forum 2008 will be in San Jose, Costa Rica, March 11-13th

Leaders, networkers, change agents, philanthropists, will again come together. This time to explore, how to scale up and synergize the global transformation movement.

A pre-Forum business round table; doing great while doing good

The meeting will be preceded on 10th and 11th by a special business roundtable led by Jeff Dunn former president of Coca Cola for the Americas and Richard Barrett corporate transformation leader and author of Liberating the Corporate Soul; Building a Visionary Organization. The participants in this small roundtable would join the Human Forum on the 11th and share their collective and individual vision.

The Human Forum 11, 12 and 13th

The Forum will be inaugurated the evening of the 11th by the President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias and by the President of the Alliance Deepak Chopra at the National Museum of Costa Rica where in 1949 the abolition of the army of Costa Rica was proclaimed.

The Forum will continue 12 and 13th, at the Real Intercontinental in Ezcazu, will be structured around interactive conversations. These will explore a shared vision, the actions being taken towards its attainment, the commitments and inner changes necessary to align ourselves with the change we are seeking, and the tools, actions and next steps that would enable synergies and networks to scale up the transformation movement.

The interactive dialogs will be led by panels formed by inspiring authors and speakers Marianne Williamson, and Deepak Chopra, Malaysian consumer protection and environmental leader Anwar Fazal, historian and philosopher Richard Tarnas, author and co-producer of PBS award winning documentary Sam Keen, British movie producer, scriptwriter and humorist,John Cleese, social and environmentally responsible investment leader Alisa Gravitz, father of the children of the streets of Bogota, (Papa) Jaime Jaramillo, innovator in deliberative democracy, public administration, and organizational development founder of America Speaks, Carol Lunkensmeyer, world renowned concert pianist and visionary advocate for the arts in education Lorin Hollander, author and corporate transformation consultant Richard Barrett, recipient of the Sasakawa Environmental Award and President of the Club of Rome Ashok Khosla, promoter of alternative technologies founder of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative at the United Nations University in Japan Gunther Pauli, human rights advocate and President of the Institute for Noetic Sciences James O´Dea, author and founder of the Omega Institute, Stephan Rechtschaffen, Gestalt therapist and theoretician President and CEO of the Esalen Institute, Gordon Wheeler and many others (see under special guests and contributors for names and short bios).

Creative component

The event will be interspersed with artistic performances culminating in a concert the eveing of the 12th at the National Theater of Costa Rica with the participation amongst others of Salman Ahmed, Nile Rodgers, Mozella, Lorin and Tara Hollander, Lisa Sokolov, Daniel Kelly, the juvenile Symphonic Orchestra of Costa Rica, and Eric Benet.

Post Data

The Forum will close officially with a reception on the evening of the 13th. On the 14th there will be a facilitated morning session to fine tune the charts and follow steps for the partnerships, networks and commitments for synergy arrived at during the sessions. Also on the 14th a separate meeting of global transformation movements convened by the Club of Rome and the World Political Forum will be pursuing a round table of how best to integrate these international movements.

The Forum will have simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish.