Editors: A complete schedule is posted at: .
A national and international group of scholars, business leaders, diplomats and politicians will gather at the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder School of Law April 7-8 to examine the roles played by environmental non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations in shaping domestic and international policy and law.
The symposium, titled "Cartography of Governance: Exploring the Province of Environmental NGOs," will feature Timothy Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation and former U.S. Senator from ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ as keynote speaker, and Jayantha Dhanapala, undersecretary of the United Nations, among many others.
The symposium will begin by tracing the manner and extent to which business, NGOs and globalization are changing the geo-political and socio-economic boundaries of national and international governance.
"We have witnessed a striking increase in the national and international power and influence of the nonprofit sector in government and in corporate decision-making," said Professor Lakshman D. Guruswamy, organizer of the symposium and law school faculty member who teaches international and environmental law.
"NGOs and private corporations have filled the vacuum created by shifting boundaries in the domains once occupied by the public and government sector," he said. "Domestically these changes have, to a large extent, been caused by the downsizing and outsourcing of many government functions."
Two central questions will be examined. One is whether NGOs and market forces have gone too far in diminishing the role of the public sector and the national state. The second is whether a prevailing faith in the increasingly important roles played by business and NGOs is misplaced.
The symposium will undertake four case studies and will attempt to identify the functions that each sector is best suited to perform. Participants also will examine the role played by NGOs in addressing the issues of genetically modified organisms, dams, wildlife species and indigenous peoples.
Other participants in the seminar will include Ralph Peterson, chairman and CEO of Ch2 M Hill; Ambassador Hasmy Agam, permanent representative of Malaysia to the United Nations; Rebecca Goldburg, senior scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund; and a number of environmental scientists, lawyers and policy makers.
ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ President Elizabeth Hoffman will open the symposium April 7 at 8:30 a.m., followed by the keynote address by Wirth. Dr. Carlson Thies, associate director for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, is tentatively scheduled to deliver the closing address at 4 p.m. the next day.
The symposium is co-sponsored by the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ School of Law, the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Environmental Program and the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy, a student publication of the law school.
Cost for the symposium is $150 for the regular registration fee and $100 for non-profit members. It is free to ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ students, faculty and staff. There are 10-12 general continuing legal education credits pending.
For more information call (303) 492-2265, or visit the Web page at .