Earth Charter Initiative Handbook

World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) in the 1980s, as well assenior adviser to the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Developmentin 1992. He was also the first executive director of the Earth Charter Initiative back in 1994. Mr. Sahnounstudied first at the Sorbonne University, in Paris, and than at New York University, where he received his B.A.and M. A. degrees in political science.Kartikeya Sarabhai (India)Centre for Environment Education (CEE)Thaltej Tekra380 054 Ahmedabad, IndiaKartikeya V. Sarabhai is the founder and director of the Centre for Environment Education(CEE), a national institution engaged in promoting environmental awareness and conservation as well aseducation for sustainable development. Starting small in Ahmedabad in 1984, CEE today works at thenational and international level with a staff of over 200 professionals and 40 offices across India, as well as inAustralia and Sri Lanka. In 2005, CEE received the Global award for Outstanding Service to EnvironmentalEducation from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Mr.Sarabhai alsoset up VIKSAT, an NGO working towards people’s participation in natural resource management, as well asSundervan, a nature discovery centre.Mr. Sarabhai has served on several committees of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministryof Human Resource Development, Government of India. These include greening India’s formal educationsystem and initiatives for biodiversity education. Mr. Sarabhai has long been associated with IUCN, andwas the chair of South and South-East Asia, IUCN Commission on Education and Communication. Heis currently vice-chair of the Indian National Commission. Mr. Sarabhai was instrumental in initiatingSASEANEE, the South and Southeast Asian Network for Environment Education. He was a member ofthe Indian delegation to UNCED at Rio and WSSD at Johannesburg and was co-author of India’s reportfor UNCED. He has been closely associated with communication initiatives of UNEP, especially thoseconnected with Ozone. Under his leadership CEE organized the first International Conference of the Decadeof Education for Sustainable Development in January 2005. Mr. Sarabhai received the Tree of LearningAward from The World Conservation Union in 1998 in appreciation of his contributions to the field ofenvironmental education and communication. In 2005, The Indian Institute of Human Rights presented Mr.Sarabhai with the World Human Rights Promotion Award.Tommy Short (United States)Chairman and Co-FounderEarth Council Alliance1220 Rosecrans St., #418San Diego, CA 92106 USATommy Short is chairman of Earth Council Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering asustainable global society based on the principles of the Earth Charter. He is an international business man andphilanthropist who has long supported sustainability projects around the world. In the past two decades, he hastravelled extensively in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, working with local communities and organizationsto identify and fund projects that support the environment, youth, and the arts. As co-founder and chairman of|60|Earth Charter InitiativeHANDBOOK