Pilgrimage
St Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle
Pilgrimage Proposal for Scotland
Andrew Patterson, Dane Sherrard and Richard Frazer have been invited to attend a conference that will launch the Green Cities Pilgrimage Network – A New Global Network of Green Pilgrim Cities of All Faiths.
The Network will inspire Pilgrims to:
- prepare mindfully for their pilgrimage…
- walk lightly and travel responsibly in the spirit of their faith…
- choose sustainable tourist agencies…
- eat and drink sustainably and ethically…
- minimise their waste and water use…
- dispose of their rubbish… and pick up after others…
- support a fund to green the city they are visiting…
- help local people in ecologically sensitive activities…
- share the art of green pilgrimage with the people they meet on the way…
- bring greener ideas for living home with them…
The Network will inspire Pilgrim Cities to:
- receive and accommodate pilgrim visitors sustainably…
- green their religious buildings, energy, infrastructure and open spaces…
- safeguard and celebrate their wildlife and parks…
- create a green pilgrim fund…
- create ‘green maps’, highlighting the environmental projects,
- achievements and opportunities for volunteering in their cities…
- bring faiths and local authorities together to create sustainable cities…
- provide clean, accessible drinking water …
- improve sanitation for pilgrim routes and destinations…
- work with tour operators, airlines and other transport providers to provide carbon neutral travel…
- spread greener living habits among their own population…
- be proud of their status as Green Pilgrim Cities, and publicise it…
- celebrate their pilgrims and green their faith festivals …
- work with, and support, each other in greening initiatives…
How will it work?
Most faiths have now identified their pilot cities. Plans to green these cities will be drawn up by each local faith community, in cooperation with the local authority, mayor or city council, starting with the question: “What would your city be like if it were a sustainable green city?” Faith leaders will commit to work with their own pilgrim cities and will also join a network to share information, support and technical knowledge. ARC will create a guidebook on how to be a green city, using examples from these pilot cities and elsewhere.
The first pilgrimage cities
Some of the pilot Green Pilgrim Cities are:
- Amritsar for Sikhs
- Assisi for Catholics
- Cities in Braj for Hindus, still to be confirmed
- Etchmiadzin for Armenian Orthodox Christians
- Jerusalem for Jews, Christians and Muslims
- Trondheim for Norwegian Lutherans and other Christians
What does a Positive Footprint Involve?
A positive footprint requires pilgrims to leave every place more beautiful than it was when they arrived. On a simple level that can involve taking away your own litter and other people’s; trying to avoid buying bottled water; choosing tourist agencies with a sustainable ethos; eating food that is local, organic and free-range; buying only sustainably sourced souvenirs; walking rather than driving.
On a more ambitious level it can involve engaging voluntarily with social and ecological programmes during your pilgrimage; financially supporting programmes to improve the city environment and biodiversity; sharing ideas and inspiration with other pilgrims and city residents; returning home with a greater sense of awe and wonder at the natural environment, and breathing life into that feeling, by doing something active to protect your hometown.
Seeking partnerships
The network will only work if it engages secular partnerships as well as faith partnerships. From transport providers to solar power experts to local NGOs, local authorities, academic institutions, environmental organizations and other stakeholders will be encouraged to come into discussion and partnership with religious groups to promote all aspects of greening pilgrimages. It is vital for the Mayor and City Council in each city to commit to the goals of the network. One of the network’s first secular partners is ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, an international association of more than 1100 local governments in 68 countries taking responsibility in creating a sustainable society.
Getting Scotland involved
Andrew, Dane and Richard will do the following things prior to their attendance at the conference which is to be held at Assisi in early November 2011:
- They will encourage the Church of Scotland to endorse this global initiative and seek to work with other branches of the Christian Church in Scotland to learn about and share in the aims of GPCN
- They will seek the support of the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and National Park Authorities to endorse and support this initiative
- They will work with and consult other interested groups and individuals to promote this initiative as an encouragement to plans for developing a network of readily accessible pathways around Scotland some of which are linked to sacred sites. eg Core Path Planning (being undertaken by local authorities and National Park Authorities) and Scottish Churches Rural Group (also supporting pilgrimage). There are many others too.
- They will begin to develop a vision for (initially) three GPC’s in Scotland; one village, one town and one city. At present, we hope to encourage the people of Luss, Edinburgh and St Andrews to become Scotland’s first GPCs. The initial proposal is to present this idea to the respective local authorities. Before the November conference, Dane will seek to secure the support of the authorities at Luss and Richard will approach Sue Bruce, Chief Executive of Edinburgh City Council and The Rt Hon George Grubb, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
- They will prepare banners to take with them for a procession through the streets of Assisi. One will be a banner from Luss, possibly a Scottish saltire or the flag of the Church of Scotland and a further banner made at Greyfriars Kirk that will present a map of Scotland with a series of pilgrim destinations across Scotland that roughly describes the shape of the Saltire.
- They will prepare a brief theological statement of support for greening pilgrimage
Longer term Outcomes might include:
- The creation of a guide book to the pilgrim paths and destinations of Scotland with a brief historical sketch, a description of the route and some prayer and meditation guides to enable the walk to be undertaken mindfully
- The creation of education and study material for schools, church groups and others in order to learn about Scotland sacred places
- Developing eco-tourism businesses with a focus of green pilgrim tourism
- The development of a number of local businesses/social enterprises providing accommodation, transport, refreshment along the routes
