At the end of 2015, the Earth Charter Netherlands network organized a youth event entitled “Journey of the Universe Cinema” to showcase the Journey of the Universe film and guide participants in interactive workshop exercises and discussion. The project received financial support from The Valley Foundation and the Thomas Berry Foundation. A special Journey of the Universe Cinema was organized in A Lab in Amsterdam and welcomed 55 participants plus another several organizers and special guests.
The goals of the project were as follows:
1. Organize an intimate and enticing screening of the film “Journey of the Universe” for strategically selected young people in The Netherlands
2. Harvest insights on how viewers are moved by this film, towards new perspectives and action.
3. Stimulate guests to replicate similar screenings in their networks.
4. Generate a toolbox that will facilitate the organization of further screenings of the film.
The organizers were very happy with the outcome as the project turned out to be very inspiring, dynamic, and potentially very effective. Based on the experiences and insights, the organizers designed the Toolkit as one of the concrete outcomes of the project.
Here are a few statements from participants:
“I now know where I stand in the midst of this enormous universe.”
“It was so nice to inspire each other, I will go home with a warm and satisfied feeling.”
“I am very grateful for being part of this evening.”
“The combination of film and workshops was very appealing, I discussed it with many people.”
Earth Charter Netherlands encourages others to also organize a Journey of the Universe Cinema with friends or other members of your network. The Toolkit can help (Download here: JotU Toolkit), but in case you have further questions, please write to nederland@earthcharter.org or visit the facebook page.
