EMES Annual Meeting 2020
Friends participating at the EMES Annual Meeting in May 2020 used their experience of life during the Covid-19 pandemic to consider ways of working together towards a more just and resilient society and to respond to and address concerns about a changing planet.
You can read a summary of the meeting here, which includes links to the main presentations and minutes. You can read a short statement here that we prepared to share with Friends that gives a sense of the spirit of the event.The original theme for the meeting was “Heeding the prophecy of our sons and daughters, daring to dream dreams and see visions” (Joel 2:28). The speakers and facilitators for the main non-business sessions together, Lindsey Fielder-Cook (Representative for Climate Change, Quaker United Nations Office Geneva), Faith Biddle (Sustainability and Communications Officer, FWCC World Office) and Maud Grainger (Faith in Action Tutor, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre) all concentrated on issues related to sustainability and climate change.
Lindsey Fielder Cook identified challenges and opportunities that she has noticed during her work on climate change. She drew on our experience of life during the Covid-19 pandemic and gave Friends hope that they can live with compassion and courage as we try to live sustainably. She encouraged Friends of different generations to work together, with older generations supporting younger generations.
Faith Biddle introduced the FWCC World Office’s work on sustainability that has been ongoing for over a decade and highlighted current developments including a network of Young Friends so that they can share climate stories, build community and work in together.
Maud Grainger facilitated a session on the Loving Earth project that freed Friends to make artistic responses to environmental breakdown and the need for urgent actions in response. After a guided meditation and during small group discussion participants created individual artworks that might form the basis for textile panels to be added to a travelling and online exhibition.
The EMES Annual Meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Paris and was moved online in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown situations that were imposed in many countries. Preparation for the Annual Meeting involved a lot of intensive work from the EMES staff team and the Executive Committee who are all volunteers from around the Section.
Essential business was completed across Meeting for Worship for business sessions held on the Zoom platform. Much thought went into adapting those sessions from being in person to online and EMES hopes to share this experience in the coming weeks. Key business included the appointment of Michael Eccles (Britain Yearly Meeting) as the new EMES Executive Secretary, noting the 2019 accounts and approval of the revised 2020 budget. Other key appointments included Peter Spreij (Netherlands Yearly Meeting) to immediately serve as Assistant Treasurer and Will Haire (Ireland Yearly Meeting) to serve on the Executive Committee from 2021. Jez Smith (Switzerland Yearly Meeting) was welcomed as the new Assistant Secretary.
Despite, or because of, the unusual circumstances of the Annual Meeting, more Friends were able to attend than had been expected to be present in Paris and around 60 people attended across Friday and Saturday 1-2 May. Participants connected from right across the Section, including as far west as Lisbon and as far east as Moscow. During different parts of the event there were also participants from the US, Australia and an international member living in Africa.
The venue in Paris was due to be the Centre d’Accueil Enclos Rey, where a deposit had already been made. An arrangement has been made with the centre to move the booking to 6-9 May 2021 without a financial loss for EMES.
The full summary of the Annual Meeting is available in the link above.
