Jointly Venturing - Let's Talk World Citizenship

Meditators of the World Unite! You Have Nothing to Left Lose But the Illusion of Your Separateness! Today's episode explores the thousands of years old practice of meditation. Why do it? What will it allow you to experience? And how does meditation relate both to political activism and psychotherapy? How would more meditation and more meditators assist in bringing us all - all 8 billion of us - closer to the oneness world that would surely emerge on a planet of world citizens? We're pretty confident that the closer we get to a unified world, the more meditators there will be out there. In Episode 32 of Jointly Venturing - Let's Talk World Citizenship we speak with meditation practitioner and teacher Eyal Lang from Melbourne, Australia deep in the second major COVID-19 lockdown since March 2020. Eyal has been a committed meditator since 2014 and now teaches meditation to beginners who are interested in pursuing this ancient practice designed to calm the mind, bring peace to the soul and ever-deeper understanding of the delusions of separateness that are still so common in normal life for most people. Eyal is both a great human being but an excellent teacher as well, and if you'd like to be directly in touch with him to discuss meditation and how to get started, please go to www.eyallang.com and have a look around. Thanks so much Eyal - hope we can do it again soon! Happy listening everyone! *** Eyal Lang has been on a six-year journey where he has been deeply exploring the practices of Western Mindfulness and Eastern Meditation to understand the nature of the mind. He’s immersed himself in several extended trainings, retreats, and workshops. This includes over three years of study and practice with his current teacher, Senior Meditation Master and Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, Daniel P. Brown PhD. He is currently studying and practicing the ancient wisdom teachings of Mahamudra and Dzogchen from the Kagyu, Nyingma and Bon Tibetan traditions. His passion for meditation has led him to study teaching and become a fully certified member of the Meditation Association of Australia. His professional training includes 100 hours of Professional Instruction with Dr. Dan Brown and a Certificate in Meditation Teacher Training from the Melbourne Meditation Centre. He has also nourished his curiosity for understanding the nature of the mind by studying behavioural sciences and psychology at Monash University. His intention as a meditation teacher is to guide people on their journey to understand and organise their mind to create a more positive way of being.

Among other things, this episode includes a run across Australia, biking through snow in the Yukon and a grizzly bear attack - wheeww! We've all heard the old adage "Think Globally, Act Locally" and besides those adventure stories, today's episode focuses precisely on that; how can we be world citizens and simultaneously work locally for a better world for everyone? In Episode 31 we speak with Gregory Heming about his life and work in Canada to transform the locales where he has lived into better communities built on the foundations of compassion, equality and respect for the environment. We hope you will enjoy this episode. Drop us a line and suggest future themes. Have a look at www.onenessworld.org for all episodes of Jointly Venturing - Let's Talk World Citizenship. Gregory's bio follows below. Thanks Gregory! *** Gregory Heming is a Municipal Councillor in Annapolis County, NS. He holds a PhD in Ecology with post-graduate studies in religion and philosophy, and has spoken, written and published on economics, environment, and public policy. He is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Local Prosperity. Over the course of the last 30 years Gregory has devoted much of his time to participating in processes and procedures that promote a dialogue on the inter-connectedness of environment, economics, rural community development and politics. He has done so as a journalist, academic, published author, community activist, businessman and elected representative. Gregory has written, lectured and published over 250 essays, papers, presentations, and journalistic columns most of which have dealt directly with the notion that ‘economy and ecology are integral partners in civic life’ and they are best understood and delivered through what he calls place-based education. He has served as President, Environmental Education Association of Yukon, and as Regional Editor, Northern Affairs, Environmental Education and Communication Newsletter. Gregory currently serves as chair of the Annapolis County Economic Development Committee. He is a member of the Club of Rome, serves on Fundy Energy Research Network socio-economic committee, and is on the board of directors of the National Farmers Union-New Brunswick. He has been a strong and consistent voice for a new economic model based on steady-state economics and a more enlightened and restorative approach to business. The Centre for Local Prosperity initiates conversations intended to encourage communities to begin a shift toward an economy that is properly scaled for the place. It is our hope that such a dialogue will result in real action for change by creating a new climate for change. The Centre takes pride in working alongside community groups, businesses and governments to identify opportunities and assess the risks in making the shift to a new economy. We are prepared to hold workshops, conferences, and targeted discussions on topics as far ranging as local currency, climate-change, restorative business modelling, living wage, affordable and efficient housing, local energy production, food & community hubs, entrepreneurial start-ups, transportation, arts & culture and social and economic justice. Over time, the Centre envisions the crafting of a new narrative: a language that invites a balance between a culture of economic development and the preservation and restoration of natural systems. History demonstrates that vision without enlightened action is destined to lie fallow. Our hope is to discover an older grace and intelligence that binds us together in ways we could never have imagined. Once discovered it becomes the new social, economic and political narrative that restores the commons, elevates the notion of fairness, and sets a higher standard by which all progress is to be measured. www.gregoryheming.org

If you've ever wondered how much can one person do to bring about international justice against the world's dictators, the three parts of Episode 26 will provide some amazing answers. Tonight we talk again with a very special guest: international human rights lawyer and 'dictator hunter' Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch. Reed famously once said, and we para-phrase "If you kill one person, you go to jail, if you kill 40 you are put in an insane asylum, and if you kill 40,000 you get a safe haven with your bank account in another country." How sadly true this is. Reed has dedicated his entire working life to the pursuit of human rights, with the past two decades or so focused on bringing former heads of state and political leaders to justice for crimes committed while they were in power. Following the first part of Episode 26 where Reed outlined the efforts to hold former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet to justice when Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998 for crimes committed during his vicious reign that lasted from 1973-1990, tonight's episode switches continents and moves to Africa. Part 2 of Episode 26 tells the remarkable story of a two-decade long quest to bring one of Africa's worst dictators to justice for his crimes. With the backing of the United States, Hissène Habré seized power in the impoverished nation of the Republic of Chad in 1982 and ruled until 1990 when he was forced to flee to Senegal. Reed and a group of Habré''s victims faced countless obstacles in their search for accountability but refused to give up, and as a result Habré was sentenced to life in prison in 2016. He is now behind bars in a Dakar prison. Reed has been involved in many other cases concerning crimes committed by political leaders, and in the final part of this series, we will discuss his ongoing work to end impunity and bring dictators to justice, as well as his thoughts on the future of international criminal justice, where we stand in the fight for human rights, and who might be the next dictator to be brought to court. Jointly Venturing would again like to thank Reed for joining us in Episode 26! *** Reed Brody is Counsel for Human Rights Watch, where he works alongside atrocity victims who are fighting for justice. His advocacy with the victims of the exiled former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré – who was convicted of crimes against humanity in Senegal – and in the cases of Augusto Pinochet and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier has been featured in five films, including “The Dictator Hunter.” He currently works with victims of the former dictator of Gambia Yahya Jammeh. He wrote four Human Rights Watch reports on U.S. treatment of prisoners in the “war on terror” and the book “Faut-il Juger George Bush?” Before joining Human Rights Watch, he led United Nations teams investigating massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo and monitoring human rights in El Salvador, and he helped to prosecute human rights crimes in Haiti. He coordinated the 1997 International Commission of Jurists report “Tibet: Human Rights and the Rule of Law.” In 1996, he was expelled from Indonesian-occupied East Timor. At the 1993 UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, he coordinated lobbying for 2,700 NGO representatives and helped negotiate the creation of the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His 1984 investigation uncovered atrocities by the U.S.-backed “contras” against Nicaraguan civilians and led to a halt in U.S. funding. In 2016, he represented US journalist Amy Goodman to dismiss criminal charges for reporting on an attack against Native American-led anti-pipeline protesters at Standing Rock, North Dakota. In January 2017, he was elected to the International Commission of Jurists.

Episode 30 - The Man Behind the Podcast: Who is Scott Leckie? By Brian Gorlick This episode is a little different. The tables are turned on Scott Leckie, who this time will be the interviewee. Guest host Brian Gorlick, an old friend, international jurist and university instructor and former UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) official, will be asking the questions. From his early days running track in Southern California and Oregon, to establishing and leading not-for-profit NGOs working on international housing rights and evictions, and forced displacement and climate change, Scott shares details of his globe-trotting journey, work and vision as a human rights expert, activist, writer, lecturer, teacher and thinker. As the founder of Oneness World, Scott remains a unique voice who takes his work to promote and protect human rights and world citizenship and how to save the planet, very seriously. But he does so - always - with a jolly mind and sense of humour. This Grateful Dead aficionado and international human rights lawyer and Director and Founder of Displacement Solutions (www.displacementsolutions.org) is on a quest to change your mind. Especially those in positions of power. To ensure the commonality and potential of the global human community and Mother Earth can live in sustainable peace and harmony for generations to come. Sounds lofty and idealistic and kind of interesting? It is. Tune in!

Today we speak with Alaskan Robin Bronen about her vital work in addressing the severe climate crisis unfolding throughout the Arctic region where temperatures recently reached 38C in a region that is meant to stay frozen all of the time! Though often ignored by much of the world, what happens in the Arctic will affect us all. As permafrost melts, as pack ice melts, as glaciers melt, not only does human habitation become increasingly difficult, but this is accompanied by the release of massive quantities of methane gas which is a far worse contributor to worsening climate change than CO2. Thousands of Alaska's indigenous residents are facing the prospect of permanent relocation, and resultant landlessness and homelessness with only sporadic government support to these increasingly vulnerable populations. Episode 29 is a wake up call for everyone, everywhere, so please listen closely and determine how best you can help to stop these horrible developments. Jointly Venturing again would like to thank Robin for today's episode and for her amazing work on behalf of the people of the Arctic and beyond. We dedicate Episode 29 to the indigenous people of Alaska and throughout the Arctic who by no fault of their own stand to lose everything as climate change threatens their very existence. Robin Bronen lives in Alaska, works as a human rights attorney and has been working with Alaska Native communities since 2007 on the issue of climate-forced relocation. She is a senior research scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology. She is also the cofounder and executive director of the Alaska Institute for Justice, a non-profit agency that is the only immigration legal service provider in Alaska, houses a Language Interpreter Center, training bilingual Alaskans to be professional interpreters, and also is a research and policy institute focused on climate justice issues. She worked with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to implement President Obama’s Climate Change Task Force recommendation to address climate displacement. She works as an expert on climate-forced planned relocations as a member of the advisory group for the Platform on Disaster Displacement, an international consultative process intended to build consensus on the development of an international human rights and protection agenda addressing the needs of people displaced in the context of natural hazards, including the effects of climate change. Her research has been featured in the Guardian, CNN, and others and she regularly presents her research at conferences focused on climate change adaptation, disaster relief reduction and climate change and population displacement. The Alaska Bar Association awarded her the 2007 Robert Hickerson Public Service award and the 2012 International Human Rights award. The Federal Bureau of Investigation awarded the Alaska Institute for Justice the 2012 FBI Director’s Community Service award, the International Soroptimist’s awarded her the 2012 Advancing the Rights of Women award and Victims for Justice awarded her the 2014 Advocacy Award.

We all know of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestine, but how much do we really know about the origins of how Israel came into being? Do we really understand the ideological struggles within Judaism in the century prior to the establishment of Israel or the ethnic cleansing that accompanied the violence by Zionists in 1947 and 1948 - so painstakingly documented by Israeli author Ilan Pappé in his 2006 book 'The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine'? Does the Occupation of Palestine date from 1967 as is commonly characterised, or does it date all the way back to the founding of the state of Israel? Was Israel really built partially on the land on which some 531 Palestinian villages once stood? Why are there more than 7 million Palestinian refugees in 2020? Do these refugees - like all refugees - have a right to return and a right to restitution for their properties? These and many other themes are addressed in Part 1 of Episode 28 where we discuss the origins of Israel until 1967 with scholar and human rights advocate Joseph Schechla. Since 2000, Joseph has coordinated the Cairo-based global and Middle East/North Africa programs of the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) of Habitat International Coalition. The Coalition was founded at Habitat I, in Vancouver (1976) as the civic movement supporting and further developing the UN Habitat Agenda. HLRN, as a structure of HIC, develops capacity of civil society organizations to specialize in economic, social and cultural rights advocacy, particularly the habitat-related human rights to adequate housing, water and land, and apply human rights methodology in research and advocacy, including participation in UN mechanisms and forums, especially the UN Human Rights System. Joseph has lived and worked in the MENA region for 25 years. He also has represented OHCHR in Palestine and Tunisia, and recently concluded a multi-agency project to develop a handbook for “Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the Pinheiro Principles in the Middle East and North Africa.” Speaking to Jointly Venturing from Cairo, Joseph outlines in detail the origins of Israel and how and why so many refer to Israel as an Apartheid State. Part 2 of Episode 28 will outline developments in historic Palestine from 1967 until the present day - so stay tuned. Thank you again to Joe for his extraordinary work in support of occupied peoples everywhere and for his compassion and dedication to justice for everyone affected by occupation or oppression. His work is truly that of a world citizen! This episode mentions a number of important books which provide insights into the discussion. These are: Pappé, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oxford: One World, 2006); Berger, Elmer. The Jewish Dilemma: The Case against Zionist Nationalism (New York: Devin-Adair, 1945); Fischbach, Michael R. Records of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugee Property and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003); McCarthy, Justin. The Population of Palestine: Population History and Statistics of the Late Ottoman Period and the Mandate (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990).

In today's episode we take an historical tour through the countries of Central America in an attempt to find the origins of today's multiple crises in the region and what can be done - in the spirit of world citizenship - to find a more peaceful, rights-affirming and prosperous way forward. Hint: Meddling in your weaker neighbour's affairs is not part of the cure! In Episode 27 we are delighted to talk with international human rights lawyer Grahame Russell of Rights Action (www.rightsaction.org), a non-profit agency that funds grassroots social justice movements in Guatemala and Honduras. Grahame has worked for decades in Central America and brings a vast knowledge of the region to today's episode. He forcefully argues that there are clear and unique reasons why Costa Rica stands out so dramatically as the success story of the region, and why countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and others continue to struggle with so much violence, hardship and social crisis and human rights violations. Delving into issues as diverse as the nefarious role of the United Fruit Company, the ongoing impacts of the Monroe Doctrine, repeated invasions of countries in the region by the United States, assassinations of local human rights advocates and the positive role of grassroots organising as a key remedy for the problems facing this region, Episode 27 will be of interest to world citizens everywhere. Jointly Venturing would again like to thank Grahame for joining us in Episode 27, and hope to welcome him back again soon to discuss related themes in the Dominican Republic and the wider Caribbean.

Episode 26 (Part 1) - Bringing Down the Dictators - Starting with Pinochet If you've ever wondered how much can one person do to bring about international justice against the world's dictators, Episode 26 will provide some amazing answers. Tonight we talk with a very special guest international human rights lawyer and 'dictator hunter' Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch. Reed has dedicated his entire working life to the pursuit of human rights, with the past two decades or so focused on bringing former heads of state and political leaders to justice for crimes committed while they were in power. In tonight's episode 26 Reed outlines the effort to hold former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet to justice when Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998 for crimes committed during his vicious reign that lasted from 1973-1990. With strong backing by the United States, Pinochet led a violent coup d’état against the democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende on 11 September 1973. Reed played an instrumental role in holding Pinochet accountable for the thousands of murders and disappearances that occurred during his regime, and in this episode he discusses the details of what it took to bring the dictator to justice. Reed has been involved in many other cases concerning crimes committed by political leaders, and in Parts 2 and 3 we will discuss his work in bringing former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to justice, as well as his ongoing efforts to hold dictators to account wherever they may be. Jointly Venturing would again like to thank Reed for joining us in Episode 26 and look forward to Parts 2 and 3 in the coming weeks.

Episode 25 - Can Courtrooms Help in the Fight Against Climate Change? How much can the world's judges and courtrooms help us to prevent worsening climate change and repair the damage that has already been done? This and other questions are what we address today in Episode 25 as we discuss the role of courtrooms in addressing climate change with a judge that has written some of the best judicial decisions to date on climate change issues. New Zealander Bruce Burson has issued knowledgeable and persuasive decisions that delve deeply into precise what rights people may or may not have to seek asylum because of the effects of climate change. Speaking in his personal capacity from the outskirts of Auckland, New Zealand, Bruce is the Manager of the Refugee and Protection Stream at the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal. His world-renowned decisions in the Teitiota and AC Tuvalu Cases are cited throughout the world as some of the leading judicial reviews of how climate change issues can be addressed in the world's courts of law. If you would like to read these and other decisions, please have a look at: https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/IPT/RefugeeProtection/. Jointly Venturing would again like to thank Bruce for joining us in Episode 25 and wish him all the very best in his work for the Tribunal!

If you're a refugee fleeing persecution or disaster and can't or don't want to cross an international border, you are what the UN calls an internally displaced person, or IDP. The governments comprising the UN refused for decades to focus on the rights of IDP's, and remarkably it took until the late 1990s before a degree of structural attention began to be given to the brutal human suffering and displacement endured by the world's ever growing internally displaced population. In 2020, more than 50 million people are classified as IDPs, with a majority of these fleeing acute and slow onset natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes, volcanos, landslides, tsunamis and increasingly the ever-worsening effects of climate change. Conflicts still displace millions across the globe, but clearly disasters and climate change are the main drivers of internal displacement and the loss of homes and lands today. Speaking to us from Davao City in the Philippines, Episode 24's very special guest is the UN's point person on IPDs, Cecelia Jiminez-Damary, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. Cecelia's decades-long human rights career places her in a solid position to advocate on behalf of the growing segment of humanity that has been forced by circumstances beyond their control from their homes, and she has already accomplished much since her work commenced in 2016, often against all odds. Her mandate has taken her to some of the most dangerous conflict hotspots across the globe in her (unpaid!) quest to provide support to this highly vulnerable group of our fellow humans. Working in Iraq, Libya, El Salvador, Sudan and beyond, Cecelia shares some incredible stories of human suffering and human resilience. If you would like to know more about Cecelia's work, you can go to the following UN website which contains all of her reports and background on her mandate: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/IDPersonsIndex.aspx Thanks again to Cecelia for joining us for Episode 24 and congratulations on an amazing effort in what is surely one of the world's most difficult jobs!

When you hear the term 'World Government', how does it make you feel? Afraid, hopeful, neutral? Well, for many people around the world there is no greater threat, no event more to be avoided, than the spectre of world government or a planet of global democracy where all were equal participants in choosing a government that quite literally represented the interests of everyone. In today's episode we speak with long-time international peace and security and human rights advocate and analyst Frederick John Packer who is the Neuberger-Jesin Professor of International Conflict Resolution at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa in Canada. In this conversation John and Scott delve deeply into the many real (and not so real)hurdles in place that will need to be overcome if the quest for a unified global polity is to ever come to fruition. Taped during the height of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the world, Episode 23 asks whether now is the time for all of us to no longer accept things as they are and begin to jointly venture to build the much brighter future all of us know in our hearts is possible. In so doing, all of us can bring Planet Love just one step closer. Happy listening and please visit www.onenessworld.org for all other information on our work not to mention how to procure your very now World Citizen hoodie and coffee cup! See you all again real soon!

In Episode 22 we speak with advisor to the Government of the Marshall Islands, Guillaume Charron of Independent Diplomat. The 70,000 people of the Marshall Islands are already grappling with the increasingly severe consequences of climate change which sometimes sees ocean waves washing over the entire width of some atoll. Independent Diplomat has worked with the government for the past decade to ensure that the interests of this small island nation are adequately addressed by the international community. Home to the infamous Bikini Atoll and still grappling with the fallout and radiation resulting from 67 above ground nuclear tests by the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, today the Marshall Islands are contemplating their uncertain future. In today's episode we explore Guillaume's work with the Marshall Islands sole diplomat based in Europe, the very real daily struggles with rising seas and how the future might play out for this highly vulnerable island nation. We dedicate this episode to the people of the Marshall Islands in their quest for a sustainable and bright future!

In Episode 21 we speak at length with renowned chef and Masterchef Star Simon Toohey about his journey from the home kitchen to cooking for the world. Simon's extraordinary cooking skills are on show right now on the Australian version of the popular TV show Masterchef, and what he is able to do in the kitchen is truly something amazing to behold. Simon's work with the Sustainable Earth Network on Youtube has brought incredible food stories to the world at large, and he is currently planning to open two new restaurants in India this year or next in both Jaipur and Varanasi which we know will be huge hits! He is deeply passionate about addressing global crises such as climate change through changing the way people grow food, the way they cook it and they way they eat. His expertise in cooking mouth-watering vegan and vegetarian dishes has shown the world how to enjoy nature's treats in the best and most sustainable way possible. Enjoy these audible treats friends!

In today's episode - Episode 20 - we speak to Peter (Pece) Gorgievski who is one of the co-founders of Global Dialogue Foundation (GDF) and Unity in Diversity. GDF is a not-for-profit organisation which works in the field of citizen diplomacy. The foundation's work is based on promoting dialogue across its outlined Sectors and Sub-Sectors and its efforts are focussed on overcoming barriers which exist among people in their hearts, souls and minds. GDF uses dialogue as a tool for improving living conditions and to promote people getting to know each other. In doing so, getting to know planet Earth as a global village and as a collective home for which all will care about. But also, so that peoples ideas, dreams and projects will be focussed towards an improved and inclusive manner of life - building universal brotherhood and a culture of peace, while sustaining the Earth as a unique planet and the only collective home in this reality. In his role as Chairman and CEO, he leads a global network of organisations and individuals who work together to promote dialogue and understanding among people of different cultures and backgrounds. Since 2010, Peter has focussed on bringing people together on an ongoing basis in local communities around the world and establishing projects which support the integration of all peoples with mainstream society, while each maintains their own unique cultural identity and heritage. Peter has travelled the world presenting the Unity in Diversity project, and has been working in collaboration with the UN Alliance of Civilizations since GDF’s inception. He shares his passion for contributing to building a world based on inclusive societies and a culture of peace. Peter is also a director of a private company based in Australia involved in import and distribution. He is married and has 3 children, aged 21, 19 and 16. And in case you were wondering, Peter sold everything he owned - a house, savings and most material possessions to get GDF off the ground in 2010. How's that for personal commitment to build a better world? How much would you be willing to give up to create the better world we all deserve? Enjoy and stay in touch!

Today we are talking with international tax lawyer Dino Faronato about the exciting issue of tax and tax havens. How is it that ordinary middle class taxpayers commonly pay a far higher percentage of personal income tax than many of the world's biggest corporations? Why, despite some new restrictions, are tax havens allowed to flourish across the world and holding some 8% of all household wealth, often out of reach of the world's tax authorities. Can we imagine a different world whereby tax matters became truly global in nature? Is it realistic to imagine a system where tax havens no longer existed and all taxable income was actually taxed at a reasonable rate bringing in trillions of additional revenues to tackle some of the world's most intractable social problems? Might we ponder the establishment of a new global social fund that enable every single human being to contribute some small amount into a worldwide fund dedicated to improving slums across the world? These and other issues are addressed in Jointly Venturing Episode 19. Let us know what you think - info@onenessworld.org.

In today's podcast, we are on the line with Beirut, speaking with Middle East expert Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj. Having lived most of his life in Aleppo, Syria, Aziz brings an extraordinary degree of insight and analysis to the history of the world's most unstable region, what has caused these multiple crises and what the future may hold; and the news is not good. If regional solutions for the simultaneous crises of ongoing conflict, growing poverty, persistent drought and climate change and even looming famine are not found soon, the changes brought about by the Arab Spring beginning in 2011 will pale in comparison in terms of regional instability. In Episode 18 we also explore how the features and foundations of world citizenship can provide the basis for a very different - and better - future for all the people in the Middle East and beyond. OMAR ABDULAZIZ HALLAJ is a consultant on urban planning, development and local governance. He is co-founder and advisor for the Syria Project at the Common Space Initiative in Beirut, where he is engaged in facilitating various dialogue and research projects for peace building and recovery planning in Syria. His professional and published research covers institutional, financial and political aspect of the urban built environment; housing, land and property (HLP); and the war economy. Formerly, he was the CEO of the Syria Trust for Development, and served on the boards of several NGO’s, and public commissions. In 2007, Mr. Hallaj was the recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture as team leader of the Shibam Urban Development Project (GIZ). He subsequently served on the master jury and the steering committee of the Award.

As Australian bushfires continue to rage, in Episode 17 Scott talks with Monash University law professor Daniel Fitzpatrick about the state of our 'planet of slums', how we got here and where we might turn to build the structures needed to bring about the Planet Love we all surely wish for. We cover everything from the colonial background of today's property law, how climate change is going from bad to worse and end by discussing a vision of world far fairer, far more peaceful and kind than where we find ourselves today. Enjoy listening and join us again next week when we talk world citizenship with Syrian refugee Aziz Hallaj from Aleppo. Wherever you are - have fun jointly venturing!

Today's podcast addresses the question of land in Myanmar - Whose land belongs to whom? How safe is land against land grabbing? And what - after the recent involvement of both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court - should be done to ensure the housing, land and property rights that belong to everyone in Myanmar? Much of today's discussion focuses on the incredible ease by which the powers that be are allowed, and indeed, facilitated by law, to grab land from ordinary people in the country. In all countries, the act of compulsorily acquiring land is highly regulated and something which rights-respecting governments are often reluctant to invoke except in exceptional circumstances when all other viable alternatives have been pursued. In general terms, the housing, land and property rights of affected persons and communities are often at the centre of proposed projects involving land acquisition and project evaluation processes, and active efforts are often undertaken by the relevant state authorities to avoid acquisition and resultant resettlement if at all possible, and when no other option exists, to ensure the full protection of relevant human rights norms. As this episode reveals, such points of view - even with the recent adoption in May 2019 of a new Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Law - are almost entirely absent from the both the legal framework and practice of those engaging in the massive land confiscation epoch through which Myanmar is now passing and which it has experienced for decades. Indeed, if anything, measures to ensure that land confiscation in Myanmar is not carried out are almost universally absent when land is sought by others than those owning it, working it or residing upon it. Within the country, in fact, every act of land confiscation, acquisition, grabbing and expropriation in Myanmar can be assessed against what is allowed under international law and in the overwhelming majority of cases - including those that have taken place subsequent to the so-called political reform process underway since 2011, and following the 2015 win by the National League for Democracy - are structurally inconsistent with the norms expected of a country that has ratified human rights treaties protecting basic HLP rights. As we discuss, a recent report finds that the vast majority of all acts of land grabbing (including those acts of confiscation carried out under the Land Acquisition Act (1894), recently replaced by a new, but certainly not dramatically improved, land acquisition law) violate basic international norms governing these matters, and many constitute internationally wrongful acts. Episode 16 begins with an examination of how land confiscation takes place in the country, the scale of the practice, the methods used, who actually benefits from these practices, and how the legal system of Myanmar actually promotes what are, inter alia, illegal acts under international law. For the remainder of the discussion, we outline a legal roadmap of constructive, specific and actionable recommendations designed to build an entirely new vision of housing, land and property rights in the country which is fundamentally different from how these issues are treated today in contemporary Myanmar.

Today's episode of Jointly Venturing is about how YOU can help change the world today by supporting a project to provide free, permanent housing to some of Bangladesh's most vulnerable families who have been displaced by climate change. In this episode we speak with Arif Rahman and Mohammed Shahjahan of Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) from Chittagong, Bangladesh about their work with the One House, One Family at a time project (OHOF) which provides homes for some of the country's most disadvantaged families from southeastern Bangladesh. In collaboration with Displacement Solutions, OHOF has raised funds from private individuals over the past two years sufficient to construct eight new homes. In 2020, a third phase of OHOF will take effect during which time funds will be sought to build a further 12 homes by the end of the year. Former UNHCR official Brian Gorlick also appears in Episode 15. Brian recently visited the first homes built by OHOF and spoke extensively with the families now residing there. If you would like to participate directly in solving climate displacement in Bangladesh through the OHOF project, please feel free to write us at either info@onenessworld.org or info@displacementsolutions.org and we will explain how to deposit your contribution into the OHOF account, 100% of which we go to Bangladesh to construct new homes during phase 3 of the project. We are also, of course, happy to answer any questions you may have about OHOF. If we all work together, we can solve climate displacement, so let's get started!

On 23 November 2019 the 200,000 people of the island of Bougainville will vote in a referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea. The independence vote is the culmination of decades of struggle, hardship, brutal oppression and the continuing resilience of the people of the Bougainville to finally achieve a political resolution to longstanding instability and crisis. In Episode 14 we speak at length to one of the world's truly incredible humans, Bougainvillian Mike Forster. Mike, a cocoa farmer, surfer, guitarist and all around bon vivant, was thrust into the world of diplomacy as he tried to end a brutal war that cost the lives of more than 20,000 people - a full ten percent of the population. Although Mike is the most unlikely of diplomats, he surely must be one of the world's most successful diplomats raising an entirely unknown issue from obscurity to the highest levels of political attention within the UN, all of which formed the basis for the independence referendum. He tells an amazing tale that we hope all listeners will enjoy!