10 October 2025
What does it mean when the earth is the home of your ancestors, where people lived from what the land provided for generations? What might the earth look like if we allowed her time to heal, by replanting her with respect for how she once was? Is a peaceful relationship between earth and humanity possible?
From war, conflict and forced displacement to ecocide
In times of war and conflict, it is not only people who are affected — the landscape also suffers. Plants, trees, and entire ecosystems are damaged or disappear entirely. This gathering invites you to reflect together on the forgotten ecological consequences of a colonised view during violence and oppression.
We explore the connections between climate justice, war, and decolonisation, and ask questions such as:
- What is the impact of war on nature?
- How can we understand ecological destruction as part of colonial history?
- What does restoration mean, when both people and ecosystems need space again to heal?
Using examples from South Africa — including Cape Town and its unique plant biodiversity — and the ecocide in West Papua, we link historical events such as the colonisation of South Africa in 1652 and the forced removals of 1952 to present-day ecological damage. We also reflect on the 1962 transfer of West Papua from the Netherlands to Indonesia and the arrival of Papuans in the Netherlands in the years that followed.
We will pause to consider how hard-to-reach areas, rich in valuable nature, are often destroyed or replaced without knowledge or recognition. These places are frequently forgotten. And how restoration and recognition — for both people and nature — are essential to achieving real climate justice.
As global conflicts rise and environments are increasingly destroyed, the scale of ecological loss also grows. This gathering also considers situations where war, genocide, and ecocide are intertwined. These stories compel us to rethink how we define loss, how we imagine repair, and how we centre justice — for both people and the planet.
About Imagine Peace:
Imagine Peace invites to reflect on, recognize and connect to what it means to live in a world where peace is not unimaginable. The content focusses on current themes related to world citizenship and world cultures.
