West Zone Ecology Workshop at Vinayalaya, Mumbai – 11th / 12th April 2024

The Jesuit West Zone Ecology Platform held a Workshop at Vinayalaya, Mumbai on the 11th and 12th of April, with 38 participants, including Jesuits, Religious Sisters and Lay Partners. Fr. Joseph Nazareth from Goa, Fr. Antony Suresh from Gujarat, Fr. Siju Varghese from Pune and Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas from Bombay formed the organizing team. The workshop started with an early morning Eucharist celebrated by the host Provincial, Fr. Anil Pereira s.j. and followed by a whole morning of Ignatian Spirituality led by Fr Luke Rodrigues s.j. and Wendell D’Cruz s.j. The afternoon session was devoted to “spiritual conversations” in the 4 network groups, resulting in the formulation of a goal for each network which was shared in a Plenary Session. The day ended with fellowship and a relaxed dinner together.

The next day began with an early morning Eucharist celebrated by Fr. John Kennedy, the South Asian Conference Ecology Coordinator. The two morning sessions were the most crucial for our workshop, in which each network group identified 2 concrete projects each, to be pursued for the next 3 years. We therefore have 8 projects that we have committed ourselves to, in an inter-network and inter-Province collaborative manner. These will be presented to the Provincials of the 4 Provinces and to the larger Eco-Jesuit teams.

The 8 Projects proposed are:

Communication, Advocacy and Research – CARE:

1. Promote Natural Farming for sustainability through soil analysis, preparation and use of natural fertilizers using indigenous sources, analysis of the quantity and quality of the produce, soil analysis after the use of natural fertilizers and dissemination of the collected information to promote NF.
2. Work at conscientisation for the Elimination of the use of Fossil Fuels: collection and analysis of the available material, preparation of study material for use on different platforms like schools, parishes etc and dissemination of this information through workshops and media platforms.

Renewal Energy Network – REN:

1. Adopt Solar energy in all our Jesuit Institutions in the West Zone, with the goal of reaching full dependence on green energy within 3 years, as a demonstration of this possibility for the larger community.
2. Acquire and encourage the use of bio-gas plants for households in the rural areas, including our own institutions, as a replacement for imported LPG or firewood (using the expertise gained in Belgaum).

Spirituality, Education, Awareness and Lifestyle – SEAL:

1. Create leaders through an Eco Club in each Jesuit School, that will network with other Schools intra-Province and inter-Provinces.
2. Form an effective Eco Group in every Jesuit Parish that will network with other Parishes, Social Centres and with Schools across the Zone.

Agriculture and Natural Resource Management – ANRM:

1. Create a model village in each Province in the West Zone based on the SDGs 1-6, 12 and 13.  It includes conservation and regeneration of natural resources, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, of indigenous medicines and of alternative energy, with research and documentation related to NRM. In the next six months each Province will identify the village (preferably a marginalized community) and conduct a baseline survey. 
2. Create a Model Slum in an urban area of each Province.

For these 8 Projects, every Province will own up responsibility for their implementation in the entire Zone, through active communication and sharing of expertise and funding sources. Each Province will have a coordinator for each Project, so that the 4 coordinators can be in active communication.

The need for collaboration with other NGOs working in the same area was also highlighted, as Jesuit efforts will prove too small for such a large task in India. The sharing of resource funding contacts was also agreed upon, so that sufficient finance could be raised.

Finally, it was agreed that documentation on what the Eco Jesuits do and the presentation of this to the public at the Zonal, National and International level is a priority. To this end, the Solar Dashboard already hosted by Alumni of the Bombay Province was commended: https://ecosjwestzone.org/solar-dashboard/. A website to present the work of the West Zone would be investigated into and a contribution of data from each Province for periodic updating of the website was agreed upon.

The Workshop presented the participants with sufficient time to enter into a discernment of what God’s Spirit is leading the West Zone Provinces to commit to, with practical projects to be achieved in the next 3 years.

Frazer Mascarenhas S.J.
West Zone Eco-Coordinator.