03 November 2010

Conference on Youth and Ethical Education 2010

Youth and Ethical Education – a one day dialog in Prague, Czech Republic

"Now that we have learned to fly in the air like birds and dive in the sea like fish, only one thing remains – to learn to live on earth like humans."
--George Bernard Shaw

The main objective of the conference is to answer the question: "What is ethics and how can it grow and develop in children, and in people in general.” The conference will examine this from various perspectives, including an exploration of “ethical education” as a formal subject in schools. The planned outcome of the conference is a strengthening of the awareness, in youth and the general public alike, of the field of ethics and its practical applications:

Ethical Values
Physical Health
Family Life
Spiritual Dimension of the Human
Economic Values
Protection of the Nature and Environment
Search for Truth and Goodness as a Part of Human Nature

Organized by the Sri Swami Madhavananda World Peace Council, the Youth Union of Yoga in Daily Life, the National Agency for European Educational Programs, and the Yoga in Daily Life Society.

Program:

Friday, December 3

18:30 Official opening of the conference
Concert of Colors

Saturday, December 4

8.30 – 8.45       Introduction (Welcoming of the participants, conference objectives)
8.45 – 9.15       Ethical values – What are they? (Initial thoughts)
9.15 – 10.30    Presentations by experts
10.30 – 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 – 12.30 Panel discussion (Experts and young people)
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 16:00   Workshops

More info at http://konference.joga.cz/en

Summary of the Ceremonial Opening of the Conference:

The international conference on "Youth and Ethics Education" organised by the Sri Swami Madhavananda World Peace Council and the Youth Union of Yoga in Daily Life started on Friday evening, 3rd Dec. 2010, with a "Colourful Concert" , a cultural programme that reflected different streams of contemporary and traditional spiritual music.

Opening addresses were delivered by Ing. Roman Fuksa, president of the Yoga In Daily Life Society in Prague, and Ing. Marie Kousal..kov.., director of the Department of Schools, City of Prague, who greeted the conference and welcomed all participants to Prague.

Professor Jaroslav Vacek, the world famous indologist and linguist, pointed out the significance of the Indian heritage for ethics and spirituality in our modern world.

Ing. Lenka Henebergova, director of the National Agency for European Educational Programs, explained the importance of the conference for Czech schools, where just recently a new subject ...Ethics... was introduced into school curriculum. The conference and its workshops demonstrating examples of good practice in introducing Ethics into schools is a great inspiration for many teachers and school principals.
After these speeches, His Holiness Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, initiator of the conference, addressed the audience with an appeal to foster relationships between parents and children - parents should hold their children in their lap, and not their laptops. He also explained that with the development of spirituality, ethics develops automatically, too.