Video games for climate action: winning solutions for the planet

Video games for climate action with special features, pop-ups, and real-life tree-planting opportunities embedded within beloved classics like PAC-MAN or Angry Birds, the gaming industry is working with the United Nations to engage audiences like never before and inspire a new wave of climate action.

Sometime before the COVID-19 pandemic, Cassie Flynn was heading to work on a rush-hour packed New York City subway train.

As the Strategic Advisor on Climate Change for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), she often used the monotony of the commute to think of innovative ways to get ordinary people involved in the climate fight, and on this day, she noticed everyone around her busy doing something on their phones.

“I was a bit cheeky, and I started looking at what people were doing and I kind of peeked over this woman’s shoulder and saw she was playing Angry Birds, and then I looked over and this other guy was playing Candy Crush. All of these people were playing games on their phones,” she recalled while speaking to UN News.

A lightbulb went off, and Ms. Flynn thought: “What if we could meet people there?”

“You know how in [some] games they have these 30-second ads that pop up? What if we could use that? Instead of it being an advertisement for another game or something else, what if this is where we could talk to people about climate change?”

And that’s exactly what she and her team at UNDP did.

UNDP – The mobile game Mission 1.5 by UNDP and partners allows users to vote on climate solutions and actions they wat to see happen

Influencing global policy by playing a mobile game

Ms. Flynn’s momentous subway ride gave birth to UNDP’s Mission 1.5 mobile game, which allows people to learn about the climate crisis and at the same time communicate to governments about solutions that could be put in place to tackle it – all while they’re exploring virtual universes.

“More people play videogames on their phones than they [listen to] music and [watch] videos combined, it’s just massive,” says the expert.

Thanks to an inter-agency effort and a partnership with a gaming company, UNDP’s game – which challenges users to make the right decisions to keep the world on the path to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees –went online at the beginning of 2020.

“Fast forward [to today], we have about 6 million people that have played the game so far in 58 countries, with a 50 per cent completion rate. So, when people start it, they really play it, which is something that we’re really excited about,” Ms. Flynn adds.

But it goes beyond educating the users on climate solutions in 17 languages; the game asks them to cast a vote about which strategies, in their opinion, would be more successful to tackle the crisis.

These answers have become the source for what is now known as the ‘People’s climate vote,’ the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted.

“We took data from about 50 countries, and we were able to use the samples to cover over half of the world’s population in terms of their thinking on how they should solve the climate crisis,” Ms. Flynn explains.

That information has now been shared and discussed by parliamentarians all over the world and during major international meetings, such as the recent G20 summit and the latest UN Climate Conference, COP26. The results were even included in the latest series of reports issued by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which are very influential for intergovernmental negotiations.

Unsplash/Onur Binay- A young man plays famous mobile game Crash Bandicoot on his smartphone.

Reaching new populations: The Playing for the Planet Alliance

Mission 1.5’s success is only the tip of the iceberg if we think about the reach of today’s video gaming industry, which stretches beyond our smartphones onto the screens of at least 3 billion people in the world – or 1 in every 3 people in the planet.

“The video gaming industry is probably the most powerful medium in the world in terms of attention, reach and engagement,” says Sam Barratt, UN Environment’s Chief of Education, Youth & Advocacy.

Mr. Barratt is the Co-Founder of the first-of-its-kind group of private video game sector organizations that have made commitments to help protect people and the planet, with the support of the United Nations.

Launched during the pivotal 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, the Playing for the Planet Alliance has made headlines in recent years for including commitments from some of the major names in the gaming industry, such as Microsoft, Sony and Ubisoft, as well as dozens of other well-known videogame studios.

Mr. Barrat was inspired by watching his son spend time exploring, playing, and socializing on these platforms, and seeing how the games created incentives to keep the players engaged.

“[It was] an industry that hadn’t really thought about what difference it could make”, he explains to UN News.

Courtesy: SIE – Snapshot of the game “Dreams” by Media Molecule and Sony which is participating in the Green Jam 2021

Less carbon footprint, more action

The alliance aims to work with these companies on two fronts: First, reducing the carbon footprint of their industries; and second, harnessing the power of their platforms to include messages or steps they might take related to climate action.

“We’ve built a really strong community of practice on this agenda. We’ve doubled in size – for now, at least over 40 studios – with more coming on board. The way I see our role [as United Nations] is that we’re facilitating leadership, we’re here to help the industry… but in the end, it’s a voluntary initiative where the kind of leadership that they show is determined by them,” Mr. Barrat explains.

Playing for the Planet also does a yearly ‘Green Game Jam’, which is an opportunity for videogame studios to get extra creative and integrate green activations within their popular games or create new ones.

This means including environmentally themed features and messages, educating users and inviting them to donate or to participate in UN conservation and restoration campaigns.

Courtesy: Ustwo Games – Cover of the game Alba, which teaches users about sustainability.

It’s not all fun and games

Over the past two years there has already been an array of cool initiatives and games that have made a difference outside of the screens.

For instance, different activations in games during the Jams have contributed to the planting of over 266,000 trees, with this number likely to increase.

Another remarkable example is the popular video game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure by the English studio Ustwo, which is a member of the Alliance.

The game features a girl protagonist who tries to prevent the construction of a resort on a beautiful Mediterranean Island. It teaches the importance of conservation and restoration to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS users, while devoting some of the proceeds from every download to support tree-planting as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Alba has so far led to a remarkable 1 million trees planted and 3 habitats restored, with this number set to grow.

During the last Green Game Jam in 2021, UN Environment invited participant studios to support campaigns such as Play4Forests, a petition to demand action from world leaders in protecting forests; and Glowing Glowing Gone, to accelerate ocean protection and climate action.

Studios with a combined reach of 1 billion players participated in the 2021 Jam, and they were able to engage 130 million players around the world with some 60,000 pledges signed for the UN campaigns, and $800,000 in donations to different charities working with environmental causes.

And of course, it was also fun. Just to give you a few examples:

PAC-MAN players were able to play a forest-themed ‘Adventure Mode’ with six stages, an album filled with collectibles and a skin [a download which changes the appearance of characters in the game] as the reward for the event completion.

Minecraft, a 3-D computer game where players can build anything, added an additional lesson plan on ‘Radical Recycling’ to player maps, and therefore was able to make a $100,000 donation to The Nature Conservancy.

Pokémon Go created the first-of-its-kind avatar item to give players a new way to voice their support for sustainability efforts.

Angry Birds fans were able to collect a special Mariner Hat Set for participating in a Sea Adventure, and the campaign reached over 280,000 people.

Meanwhile, for Anno 1800, a city-building real-time strategy video game, PC players usually grow settlements and create massive production chains in a world with infinite resources. This time, they learned how, in the real world, their decisions affect the environment and could end up destroying it.

Players start out on an untouched island with a small population and are required to create a sustainable city. If they don’t keep in mind the downsides of population growth and find measures to counter them, the island’s ecosystem and the city will ultimately collapse.

For example, building monocultures depletes island fertility, over-fishing destroys food supplies for future generations, and deforestation leads to deserted islands.

This last game initiative won the Jam’s UNEP’s choice award for 2021.

Courtesy: Ubisoft – Settlement in the PC game Anno 1800 supporting the Play4Forest UN campaign.

Decarbonizing the industry

Speaking about change in the real world, according to the latest report of the Playing for the Planet Alliance, 60 per cent of its members are now committed to becoming net zero or carbon negative by 2030 at the latest.

“So, we do know that for many gaming companies, most of the carbon is produced through games that play on devices. Mainly through mobile and all through other parts of that scope. But we still don’t have a full picture. We are working this year to get the whole industry to come up with a methodology so they can understand how they can recall that carbon impact,” Alliance co-founder Sam Barrat, explains.

He adds that while gaming seems to have a lesser carbon footprint when compared with other leisure activities, it all depends on how long users play and what media they use for it.

“When you’re playing on a CD ROM and playing that game a lot, the carbon consequence of its life cycle approach is less than streaming lots of small games,” Mr. Barrat says, highlighting that the Alliance is working together to figure out ways to measure their emissions better.  

Unsplash/Mika Baumeister – A young person holds a cell phone with the game Minecraft Earth.

Big companies are already starting to take the lead

Last year, Microsoft conducted a report that details the amount of energy in Watt-hours that mobile devices use while playing mobile video games in a 30-minute period of gameplay.

The previous study that was being used for calculation was from 2012, so this new dataset will allow companies to make more accurate calculations of gamers’ energy use through mobile gaming.

Meanwhile, Sony created a carbon footprint tool on the carbon impacts of the gaming sector and made substantial improvements in the energy efficiency of their Play Station 4 and 5 consoles. 

“We also recognize the impact we have on climate change as an industry – and we are taking steps to address it… We’ve achieved an estimated avoided energy use for PS4 and PS5 consoles of 57.4 TWh [Terawatt-hour] and 0.8 TWh respectively from energy efficiency improvements we’ve made to date, such as efficient chipsets, power supplies, and low power rest mode,” Ross Townsend, Sony PlayStation Corporate Communication Manager, tells UN News.

He adds that for this year’s Earth Day, Sony Interactive Entertainment invested in high-quality projects and was able to offset carbon emissions equivalent to 100 million hours of average console electricity during gameplay.

Gameloft, a giant mobile game developer, has also made moves to reduce its carbon footprint.

“We have the ambitious project to become Net Zero Carbon with a long-term work consisting in focusing on Scopes 1 [direct greenhouse emissions associated with fuel combustion] & 2 [Indirect emissions associated with electricity, steam, cooling etc.] and by reducing our energy and electricity footprint by 80 per cent and onboarding our providers in our decarbonization’s journey,” emphasizes Stephanie Cazaux-Moutou, Gameloft Communications Manager.

Videogames being the biggest entertainment industry, the impact is real: there is a room to lead rather than follow

Since 2019, the company is also reducing its business travel and compensating the remaining emissions.

Other Alliance members are also working on a new protocol to reduce the use of plastics within the industry to be launched sometime in 2022.

“Three quarters of the consumers around the world expect brands to be actively involved in solving social and environmental changes. Videogames being the biggest entertainment industry, the impact is real: there is a room to lead rather than follow,” adds Ms. Cazaux-Moutou.

Gameloft/Lotus – The racing electric car Lotus Evija as it appears in the green activation of videogame Asphalt 9.

Into the Future

The 2022 Green Game Jam has included the participation of over 50 studios that have been launching their activations since April, and has a focus on ‘Food, Forests and Our Future’.

Gameloft, for example, integrated into Asphalt 9, a key racing game, the opportunity for players to drive stunning electric cars, including the luxurious Lotus Evija, and race for the planet.

“Gaming is no longer solely for younger generations. Considering the adverse impact climate change will have on communities across the globe, it is important to educate, inspire and engage as many people as possible,” highlights Mr. Townsend from Sony, which is also participating in the latest Jam with their game “Dreams”, inviting users to create Sustainable Farming community games, and planting up to 130,000 real world trees.

Competing videogame companies working and learning together, and collaborating with each other, might have been hard to imagine a few years ago, but today, it is a reality.

Because the truth is, if we don’t come together to end the climate crisis, no one is going to be a winner.

“There’s a real opportunity here to use this for good and to help ignite conversations around some of the world’s challenges that people may want to be engaged with and talk about, but haven’t had the opportunity… I think through video games and through the gaming industry, we can reach entirely new populations and help to engage people in new ways that we haven’t been able to before,” highlights UNDP’s Cassie Flynn.

In 2022, Mission 1.5 will launch a new series of questions to include in the game, while the Alliance will be holding several events, including a virtual climate march and a Green Game Jam student edition.

“I think this medium has got unprecedented agency and influence in the world, and it’s very young and to some extent maybe misunderstood… we’ve got no choice but to work with this industry because their kind of ability to influence behaviour is potentially exponential,” concludes Mr. Barret.

Champions League: Madrid clinch the Decimocuarta (14th)!

Real Madrid overcame Liverpool in Paris courtesy of a goal from Vini Jr. to enhance their legendary status in Europe.

RM. The Decimocuarta (14th) Champions League has arrived, as Real Madrid enhanced their legendary status in the European Cup. The kings of the competition defeated Liverpool in Paris to cap a memorable campaign which has seen the side produce several epic moments that will be remembered for a very long time.

A goal by Vini Jr. in the second half decided an evenly matched final, with Courtois coming to his side’s rescue and the travelling Madrid fans driving their side on at the Stade de France.

The most repeated final in the competition’s history kicked off 36 minutes late due to access issues for supporters outside the stadium. Liverpool began on the front foot and looked to press high up the pitch, while Real Madrid sat deep and tried to play on the counter and get behind the Reds’ defence.

The early stages of the game saw the madridistas pinned back in their area and in the 16^th minute Courtois was called into action when he got down well to deny Salah. Jurgen Klopp’s men grew in confidence and Salah and Thiago both went close from the edge of the area, while Mané came within a whisker of opening the scoring when the Madrid shotstopper somehow turned his drive onto the post (21’).

🇧🇷 Vinícius Júnior writes his name into history 🙌#UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/0hGh9JFeUO

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 28, 2022

Madrid gradually managed to evade the Liverpool pressure and enjoy a bit more of the ball as the minutes ticked by. Vini Jr. continued to try his luck down the left-hand side, but without ever really troubling Alisson in the Liverpool goal. Up the other end, Salah’s headed effort found the gloves of Courtois once again (34’) and Henderson connected with a fierce drive from the edge of the box which flew well wide of the target (41’). Shortly afterwards, our team had the ball in the back of the net, but to no avail.

Valverde challenged for a ball alongside Benzema in the box and a deflection off Fabinho saw it fall back at the feet of the French forward, who swept it home past Alisson. The referee immediately turned to VAR and opted to chalk the goal off, meaning the match remained goalless at the break.

Photo:Antonio Villalba

VIDEO.0-1: Madrid clinch the Decimocuarta!

Madrid made the brighter start after the break as they asserted their tempo on proceedings and it wasn’t long before this approach reaped its rewards. Fede Valverde burst down the right and picked out Vini Jr. at the far post for the Brazilian to tap the ball into an unguarded net with 59 minutes on the clock. After having fallen behind, Liverpool pushed higher up the pitch and on 64’, a well-directed Salah effort drew a fine diving save from Courtois. Four minutes later, the Belgian shot-stopper once again came to the rescue to deny the Egyptian attacker.

As the contest entered the final stages, the outcome was still very much in the air. Liverpool continued to search for an equaliser, but Madrid had the chances to have put the result beyond the Reds’ reach.

Courtois pulled off another stunning save to deny Salah in a one-on-one and conserve the Whites’ lead. Ceballos and Camavinga, who were introduced to offer some fresh legs, could have both doubled Madrid’s money.

Meanwhile, Liverpool continued to hang balls up into the box, but there was no change to the scoreline. The final whistle was greeted with wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands. The club’s 14th European Cup crown brings the curtain down on an impressive season that has seen our team triumph in the Champions League, LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup.

(source)

Council of Europe finalizing stand on deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the end of April approved a Recommendation and a Resolution on the deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities. These are providing important guidelines in the process of implementing human rights in this field for the years to come. The senior decision-making body of the Council of Europe, the Committee of Ministers, as part of the final process now asked three of its committees to review the Assembly Recommendation and provide possible comments by mid-June. The Committee of Ministers is then to finalize its and thereby the Council of Europe’s stand on the deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities.

The Parliamentary Assembly reiterated in its Recommendation the urgent need for the Council of Europe, “to fully integrate the paradigm shift initiated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) into its work.”

Assembly Recommendation

The Assembly specifically requested support for member States “in their development, in co-operation with organisations of persons with disabilities, of adequately funded, human-rights compliant strategies for deinstitutionalisation”. The parliamentarians stressed this should be done with clear time frames and benchmarks with a view to a genuine transition to independent living for persons with disabilities. And that this should be in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 19 on living independently and being included in the community.

The Assembly secondly recommended the Committee of Ministers to “prioritise support to member States to immediately start transitioning to the abolition of coercive practices in mental health settings.” And the parliamentarians further stressed that in dealing with children, who has been placed in mental health settings, one has to ensure that the transmission is child-centred and human-rights compliant.

The Assembly as a final point recommended that in line with the unanimously adopted Assembly Recommendation 2158 (2019), Ending coercion in mental health: the need for a human rights-based approach that the Council of Europe and its member states “refrain from endorsing or adopting draft legal texts which would make successful and meaningful deinstitutionalisation, as well as the abolition of coercive practices in mental health settings more difficult, and which go against the spirit and the letter of the CRPD.”

With this final point the Assembly pointed to the controversial drafted possible new legal instrument regulating the protection of persons during the use of coercive measures in psychiatry. This is a text which the Council of Europe’s Committee on Bioethics has drafted in extension of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. The convention’s article 7, which is the main relevant text in question as well as its reference text, the European Convention on Human Rights article 5 (1)(e), contain viewpoints based on outdated discriminatory policies from the first part of the 1900s.

Prevention versus ban

The drafted possible new legal instrument has been severely criticized as despite its stated seemingly important intend of protecting victims of coercive brutalities in psychiatry potentially amounting to torture it in effect perpetuate a Eugenics ghost in Europe. The viewpoint of regulating and preventing as much as possible such harmful practices is in stark opposition to the requirements of modern human rights, that simply ban them.

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers following the receipt of the Assembly Recommendation communicated it to its Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO), for information and possible comments by 17 June 2022. It is noted that this is the very committee, though with a new name, that had drafted the controversial possible new legal instrument regulating the protection of persons during the use of coercive measures in psychiatry.

The Committee of Ministers also sent the Recommendation to the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) for comments. The CPT had earlier expressed a support of the need to protect persons subjected to coercive measures in psychiatry, as clearly these measures may be degrading and inhumane. It is noted that the CPT, like other bodies within the Council of Europe has been bound by its own conventions including the outdated text of the European Convention on Human Rights article 5.

The Committee of Ministers based on the possible comments from the three committees will then prepare its stand and a reply “at an early date”. It is to be seen if the Committee of Ministers will go beyond the outdated texts of their own conventions to actually implement modern human rights in all of Europe. Only the Committee of Ministers has the full authority to set the direction for the Council of Europe.

Resolution

The Committee of Ministers in addition to reviewing the Assembly’s Recommendation also took note of the Assembly’s Resolution, that address Council of Europe member States.

The Assembly is recommending the European states – in line with their obligations under international law, and inspired by the work of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – to implement human-rights compliant strategies for deinstitutionalisation. The resolution also calls on national parliaments to take the necessary steps to progressively repeal legislation authorising institutionalisation of persons with disabilities, as well as mental health legislation allowing for treatment without consent and detention based on impairment, with a view to ending coercion in mental health.

Russia: A Danish Jehovah’s Witness released after five years in prison

After five years spent in prison, Dennis Christensen was released this Tuesday 24^th May. He is expected to be deported to Denmark on Wednesday morning.

Dennis Christensen has served 5 years of his 6-year sentence. This is because his two years in pretrial detention counts as three years towards his sentence.

He was the first to be arrested and sentenced to prison following the April 2017 Russian Supreme Court ruling that liquidated the Witnesses legal entities. He has been in prison the longest, although in recent years others have been sentenced to longer terms, as much as eight years.

Dennis Christensen was born in Copenhagen (Denmark) in 1972 into a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In 1991 he graduated from the courses of carpentry and in 1993 he received a diploma of construction technician at the Higher School of Craftsmen in Haslev (Denmark).

In 1995 he went to St. Petersburg to volunteer in the construction of Jehovah’s Witnesses buildings in Solnechnoye. In 1999 he moved to Murmansk where he met his future wife Irina, who by then had become a Jehovah’s Witness relatively recently. They got married in 2002, and in 2006 decided to move south to Oryol.

On February 6, 2019, the Zheleznodorozhny District Court found Christensen guilty of extremism. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison to be served in a penal colony located in Lgov (Kursk region). On May 23, 2019, the Court of Appeal upheld this verdict.

Christensen Timeline

• May 25, 2017, he was arrested and detained when heavily armed police officers and Federal Security Service (FSB) raided a peaceful weekly religious service of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Oryol, Russia.
• May 26, 2017, he was ordered to be held in pretrial detention.
• February 6, 2019, he was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison.
• May 23, 2019, he lost his appeal.

2017 Russian Supreme Court Ruling

·         The April 20, 2022, Supreme Court ruling, albeit grossly unjust, simply liquidated all of the Witnesses’ legal entities, Local Religious Organizations (LROs), in Russia and Crimea, declaring them “extremist”. During the 2017 Supreme Court hearing, the Russian government claimed that individual Witnesses would be free to practice their faith. However, the government’s claim of allowing freedom to worship has been inconsistent with its actions.

o   Additional references (link1; link2)

Home Raids, Criminal Cases, and Imprisonment (Russia + Crimea)

1755 homes raided, almost one per day, since the 2017 Supreme Court ruling

625 JWs involved in 292 criminal cases

91 total in prison, over 325 have spent some time behind bars

o   23 convicted and sentenced to prison

o   68 in pretrial detention facilities awaiting conviction or have been convicted but awaiting results of first appeal

Longest, harshest prison sentence

§  Male: 8 years—Aleksey Berchuk, Rustam Diarov, Yevgeniy Ivanov, and Sergey Klikunov

§  Female: 6 years—Anna Safronova

§  In comparison, according to Article 111 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, grievous bodily harm draws a maximum of 8 years sentence; Article 126 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, kidnapping leads to up to 5 years in prison; Article 131 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, rape is punishable with 3 to 6 years in 

§  The terms escalated in 2021.  Previous years the maximum sentence was 6.5, but in 2021 it jumped to 8 years, as noted above

§  Number of prison sentences annually steadily increased: 2019-2, 2020—4, 2021—27

What sci-fi books should I read?

Sci-fi books: Speculative fiction has long attracted teens and young adults—the lure of the unknown and magic. From space opera to hard sci-fi, from military science fiction to post-apocalyptic and dystopian, and from magical realism to dragons, we know the stories we love and grew up on and those that enthrall readers today.

Guest blogger Judith Duckhorn

RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR TEENS

Teen readers will love these sci-fi and fantasy novels.

But who are your favorite authors? This is more important than the genre.

With any luck, your list is long.

With their marvelous imaginations, sense of humor, deep personal understanding of honor and hard choices, and adventurousness, these authors engage us in a way only a book can. Then they add scientific and technical knowledge to convince and often teach us.

If these qualities match your taste in reading, you will enjoy these truly stellar books and authors! This is not a complete list of young adult books (which would be impossible), but recommended books for teens and young adults and for those of us who are young-at-heart.

I love these books and these authors. You may already know some of them, but maybe I can introduce you to another winner or two with my book review.

WELCOME TO SCIENCE FICTION CLASSICS

I have been friends with the Gaiman family (the world-famous fantasy author Neil Gaiman) for many years. His spot-on truth about the term “classic” became crystal clear to me:

Neil had simply said that “books are special; books are the way we talk to generations that have not turned up yet.”

Simply said, but a profound datum for any author to know, isn’t it?

I want to start with a couple of my favorite science fiction classics, novels by L. Ron Hubbard and Orson Scott Card.

Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard wrote in the field of sci-fi and other fiction for decades. To celebrate 50 years with the muse, he delivered a knockout with his masterful 1,000-page novel: Battlefield Earth. I bought and read the book, and so did everyone in my household, from teens on up. It was abuzz with people reading it everywhere—busses, taxis, airplanes, libraries, and restaurants. Even one prominent politician declared that this sci-fi novel was his favorite book. It raced up the bestseller charts.

It is a saga of adventure, daring, and courage when man is an endangered species and the future survival of what’s left of the human race is at stake. A young hero rises from the ashes to unite humankind in a final quest for freedom that erupts across the continents of Earth and ultimately across the cosmic sprawl of the Galaxy. Truly epic sci-fi.

This year celebrates the 40th anniversary of this outstanding volume. Decade in and out, the publisher still receives letters detailing admiration for this imaginative story and thousands of reviews on Amazon and Audible (one of the best sci-fi audiobooks ever). In fact, I reread it this year, and it is even richer than I remembered!

Because it is so popular with teens and a perfect science fiction book for middle school, it is part of the accelerated reader program (AR 5.8 / 62 points, Lexile 780, GRL Z+). It has a lesson plan and a reading group guide available. You can read the first 13 chapters free or listen to the first hour of the audio to check it for yourself. I warn you, it is addictive.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I am very pleased to offer a salute to Orson Scott Card’s mind-boggling Ender’s Game. He followed up with a series of books to further his unique and stimulating world where children suddenly became the highlighted heroes and often the villains in a world of astounding new technology and fantastic, futuristic war. Excellent stuff, and another author who bears rereading and rereading.

In this one, our young hero (and I mean really young when his adventure begins) needs to overcome bullying in his family and onboard the space station when training. The peer pressure and Ender’s resilience in this hero’s journey are perfect for teens. They will be able to relate.

War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

One of my early favorites is H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, which I first heard dramatized as a play on the radio. When the librarian got me the book, I noticed it was first published in 1897. The librarian assured me that many 11 and 12-year-old readers pick it up when their teenage siblings bring the book home for their own reading. She called it “a perennial favorite,” that has continued to engage young readers!

This is a story of our planet being invaded by Mars. H. G. Wells does such a thorough job of putting you in the story, it sent people panicking in the streets when the radio show first ran. The Martians’ planet is becoming uninhabitable as their resources are dwindling, so they invade Earth with plans to take it over and make it their new home. Scary and engaging.

Dune by Frank Herbert

This story took me to a strange territory far across space. The hero is a teenager who inherits a tremendous responsibility due to a twisted enemy plan that his father, Duke Leto, falls prey to. It is a complex plot with a lot going on, but the integrity and honor of the hero and his family to set things right shines through.

Frank Herbert developed the story into a brilliant series of novels, followed avidly by readers around the world. There is a very recent remake of the movie. Awesome.

The world-building is vast, stretching across galaxies. The majority of the story is on the desert planet Arrakis (also called Dune) whose only valuable export is a drug know as “spice” or melange. It is a dangerous world where your body water needs to be preserved when outside. In addition to the dangers of the enemy factions who want control of the spice, there are also massive sandworms that can can destroy the spice mining facilities. It is so well written, you can feel the grit of living on a plant covered in sand.

But if you have not actually read the book, don’t cheat yourself of that experience, okay?

Star Wars by George Lucas

Star Wars should be mentioned here, but only because the storyline and characters created by George Lucas and ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster have become an epic franchise inspiring the love of science fiction in teens, young adults, and the rest of us for decades.

It was so stunning to see on the screen. The opening lines will remain with me forever, introducing a space opera story as coming to us from long ago in a galaxy far away. The public surrendered to this tale instantly. Now it is a “multimedia property” in the hands of dozens of writers and illustrators, including many Star Wars novels (great young adult sci-fi books).

Star Wars fanned the flames of sci-fi lovers!

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

One more? Fine.

In rounding out this collection of truly treasured classic sci-fi, the last story I want to mention would have to be Suzanne Collins for her astonishing trilogy, Hunger Games. It swept up a fan base around the world. This young adult book series bears the “YA” designation, but I know readers from 9 to 99 that are fans of these books.

In this dystopian story, our young hero Katniss Everdeen kicks off the action by volunteering in place of her younger sister in a cruel game where teens are pitted against one another to fight to the death (or nearly so). It is one of the top young adult books with good reason. Katniss has courage and strength and wants to survive. She is down to earth and relatable. The odds are impossible and the cast of characters memorable. It is a great escape.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

I wanted to add something more on Battlefield Earth.

I have seen evidence of the impact of this novel for years and years now. A high school teacher once told me that in her fourteen years of teaching, “Mr. Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth was a great read for my students interested in science fiction. It is set way in the future, in the year 3000, when Psychlos have ruled the planet for 1000 years, and Man is now an endangered species.”

Her students became deeply involved with the story. They could just throw themselves into the author’s imagination, into the universe he built, and run with it. These teen readers were caught up in the theme of what one man can do in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds while being thoroughly entertained scene after scene like a really engaging movie. The high adventure is heady, and new perspectives on the developing situations raise the readers’ hopes again and again.

My own daughter first picked up Battlefield Earth when she was 10 and couldn’t quit reading it. She read it again a couple of years later, and again when she was 16. As an adult, she has continued reading it periodically. She still bubbles over with observations on the richness of the story, its settings, characters, scope, and more, whenever anyone introduces sci-fi or Battlefield Earth as a topic of discussion.

HOW MY LOVE OF READING STARTED

I’ve been an avid reader from the age of six, and though I have sampled all kinds of novels, I have to admit that sci-fi gets me most often.

This started when I was 9 or 10 and got a hold of Jules Verne’s novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. I withheld it from my brother for a couple of weeks while I poured over it, again and again, trying to believe my good fortune at discovering this amazing story! And when I finally decided I could give the book back to the library, I began recruiting family members and friends to read it.

Why? Because I was on fire with enthusiasm and amazement. I wanted to discuss the book with others! I am sure this is why book clubs are so popular. Through sharing the love of a good book—and an ignited love of reading—I found out that there were more fascinating books, more “science fiction.” I was hooked.

That would have been in the 1950s (don’t do the math to come up with my age, okay?). The important point is that the book I fell in love with was already NINETY YEARS OLD back then!

What is your story? What book made its way into your heart and imagination that began your life-long love of reading?

CONCLUSION

What a grand sweep of creativity these sci-fi classics can bring to a reader. My goal here is to recommend a few truly great stories. They may not be the most popular young adult books, but they are sure to be engaging and will help teens and young adults discover the love of reading.

I congratulate you on choosing this rich genre for your own, and I wish you many, many enormously happy hours of reading.

Article originally published by GALAXY PRESS

Judith Duckhorn, known to her friends as Jae, is a self-described “grown-up army brat,” since her father, a career officer in the army through WW II, Korea, and the Cold War, took his little family everywhere he was assigned, on three continents. She had the opportunity to study one year at Oxford University in putting together a BA degree in literature, philosophy, and music. Later, she turned most of that education into teaching skills and fell in love with that profession. Nowadays, Jae has advanced happily up the scale of Toastmasters training, as a public speaker, and also is readying to teach Tai chi. L. Ron Hubbard’s books came to her attention many years ago, and remain a central fascination in her world. “I always learn so much from reading Ron,” she says, “What a storyteller, what an author!”

Pope Francis praises the Russian head of the Old believers for his "attitude of peace"

On May 7, Russian head of the Worldwide Union of Old Believers (Old believers are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666) Leonid Sevastianov received a personal handwritten letter from Pope Francis.

The letter was addressed also to Svetlana Kasyan, a famous Russian opera singer and Leonid’s wife. The Pope thanked them for their “attitude of peace” adding “we Christians must be ambassadors of peace, carrying out peace, preaching peace, living in peace.”

Letter from Pope Francis to Leonid Sebastianov

The two religious leaders Leonid and Francis know each other well, and it’s pretty obvious that the latter finds a more friendly ear with the first than with Patriarch of Moscow Kirill, in these times of war. Kirill has been using his position to help Kremlin’s propaganda justifying the war in Ukraine, whilst Leonid Sevastianov, still living in Moscow, has bravely voiced his opinion that Kirill was seriously erring, and that war was at least questionable: “We do not know why this war: for what reasons? For what objectives?” he said, not avoiding the term despite the Russian law forbidding the use of the word “war” when speaking about Ukraine invasion by Russian troops. And as regards Kirill: “Logic would have it that Easter be a moment of humanity, and not of politics. But Kirill’s statements indicate otherwise. And they denote heresy.”

Those are strong statements that echo those of Francis in Corriere della Sera after he spoke to Kirill: “The patriarch cannot transform himself into Putin’s altar boy.”

Francis is also a big fan of Svetlana Kasyan, and recently she released her first solo album which she called “Fratelli Tutti”, in homage to the Pope’s encyclique published a year before. The title and the concept of the album, heading for universal peace amongst people of any country and any faith, was kind of prophetic: there is more than ever a need for more understanding, more love, more brotherhood. That is also the message of Sevastianov, a message that he would love to get across to the political leaders of the country he lives in.

These last months, Kirill has been disavowed by hundreds of Orthodox leaders and priests all around the world, but also in Russia, despite the risk that anyone criticizing the war and its defenders takes. In the future, when this will be over, it might happen that the Russian Orthodox Church entirely loses its power even in Russia, and who knows who will be able to gain spiritual leadership then. In fact, it might be anyone but the current leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has already too much compromised itself into politics and warmongering.

MPs and faith leaders discuss at UK Parliament role and value of interfaith

The Interfaith Dimension – MPs and faith representatives convene at UK Parliament to discuss the Role and Value of Interfaith

The media often portrays religion as a source of contention, war and conflict, but does religion really give value to the world? Is interfaith important to society? Why must we stand up for freedom of religion or belief?

Henry Smith MP and sponsor of the AFN meeting in Parliament – By AFN UK

At a conference sponsored by Henry Smith, MP for Crawley, and organised by the All Faiths Network, MPs Stephen Timms, Chair of the APPG on Faith and Religion, and Fiona Bruce, PM’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief came together with people of faith at Parliament to deliberate these very issues.

Martin Weightman, Director of the All Faiths Network, introduced a 14 strong panel of speakers representing a wide variety of faith organisations in the UK who presented an undeniable snapshot of the incredible work that faith does. 

He also highlighted a book the group had recently published called People of Faith Rising Above COVID-19 giving testimony to the work of religious groups and documenting the tremendous and often unrecognised value of religious communities. The mentioned book was provided by the AFNs to all speakers for them to have a well-documented example of what different religious movements have done.

Henry Smith MP welcomed the attendees to the meeting and told of his own constituency experiences where there are many diverse religions saying that “faith can bring strength to our communities and particularly in the context of young people, helping them to grow and develop.”

Stephen Timms MP Chair of APPG on Faith and Society – By AFN UK

Stephen Timms MP, Chair for the APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) on Faith and Society outlined the important role that faith and interfaith activities have in fulfilling different needs in society and providing voluntary support. He explained that the APPG had issued a Faith Covenant, which local authorities are signing, to lay the ground rules for collaboration between councils and faith groups so as to encourage stronger cooperation. The APPG has also published a 2020 report on faith contributions to society where most councils surveyed found that their interaction with faith groups was a positive and supportive one.

Fiona Bruce MP, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief – By AFN UK

Fiona Bruce MP, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, spoke of her endeavours to bring about greater FoRB around the world giving examples of different cases where this is heavily restricted but also of some of the successes where FoRB has won through. She also spoke of other initiatives she is involved with including the forthcoming Inter-Ministerial Conference in London this July being attended by governments from 50 countries around world, the subject of which is respect and adherence to religious freedom principles. Fiona Bruce later tweeted “Wonderful to be in the company of so any people so enthusiastic about FoRB at today’s meeting of the All Faiths Network in the UK Parliament”.

Following the presentation of Fiona Bruce, Alessandro Amicarelli, lawyer and Chair of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief highlighted the religious persecution in China and elsewhere and emphasised the need for coordinated action internationally to deal with these issues. He said that whilst the UN is taking some steps, it is not enough and it was very important for other countries, especially the UK and the USA to become involved. He said the upcoming Ministerial, as already outlined by Fiona Bruce was an important opportunity for this to occur and make pressure on different governments where persecution is occurring.

Sheik Rahman President of the Wimbledon Ahmadiyya Moslem Association then told the meeting that he wanted to thank the UK for ensuring that his faith was able to develop freely and without government discrimination in the UK. He reiterated the previous calls for ensuring human rights especially as we are living in an interconnected global world with social media bringing us even closer. He said that we must always connect and reflect on where we are and where we are heading. He also called for a more equal distribution of resources and the critical need to promote the embodiment of humanity and justice in our own lives.

Harriet Crabtree OBE, Director of the UK’s Inter Faith Network told the meeting of the quiet but consistent background activities that have been going on for many years since IFN’s inception 35 years ago, and how it has moved forward throughout these years. She said that interfaith work is not easy to do, that it is often underestimated, underfunded and undersupported, but that those involved want to be the people they have the potential to be, not to be snarled up by prejudice which only hinders happiness. She said that we are all pioneers in a constantly evolving world.

Rabbi Jeff Berger quite comprehensively summed up the spirit of interfaith by telling the meeting that “The challenge for those of us who hold a faith belief is having courage to move from exclusivity to inclusion. From ‘my faith is the only true faith, and everyone needs to join me’ – to ‘each of our faiths is a unique expression of the Divine message given at a specific time in history’. The responsibility of creating a more inclusive, tolerant religious dialogue, and teaching greater religious literacy, falls squarely at the feet of faith leaders.”

Tracey Coleman, Community Officer of the Church of Scientology (the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard) told the meeting, “I believe that faith in the 21^st century plays a vital role in bringing real solutions and practical help to our communities. As faith volunteers, we are motivated by our desire to help other human beings. Working together with other faiths during the pandemic, we developed relationships based on true respect and friendship. This is the beauty of the interfaith dimension. It is a force that dissolves intolerance and builds peace, therefore actions to uphold freedom of religion and belief must be increased so that people of faith can continue their vital work.”

Mandip Singh, Trustee of the Central Gurdwara London and co-founder of Gurdwara Aid gave excellent examples of value of Sikh contributions to their own and the wider community through the Sikh tradition of langar – a community kitchen preparing and serving vegetarian food for free. At the hight of the pandemic he estimates that around 90,000 free hot meals each day were being sent to frontline staff and vulnerable communities. “It is a place where poor and needy can always get a nourishing meal,” he said, “This all stems from the Sikh spiritual motivation called Sewa (selfless service) and for caring about the welfare of all.”

Sheik Ramzy, Director of Oxford Islamic Information Centre and an imam of Oxford University, also addressed some of the worst religious discrimination issues in the world such as Uyghurs enslaved in China, Rohingya killed in Myanmar. He pointed out that, “interfaith offers an immense contribution to society, It reminds us that our neighbours matter. Upholding human rights is a vital part of loving our neighbours and for those discriminated against we must remember that their rights are our responsibility.”

Ahsan Ahmedi representing Crawley Interfaith Network (CIFN) gave some practical examples to the meeting explaining that CIFN had become a focal point for issues related to religion. Schools would contact them when they needed to have faith speakers, when local tensions arose the police would come to CIFN for assistance and overall they helped the community become more tolerant.

Rev. Dr. Precious Toe, founder Women Worship Gospel Music awards, said, “that working with other faiths is an empowering experience. We give value to society by building bridges. We are helping the next generations of women through our music and give voice to the voiceless as we rise for peace, love, humanity and oneness.”

Martin Weightman, Director of All Faiths Network

Summing up the meeting Mr. Weightman said, “the purpose of the meeting today was to highlight the value of faith and interfaith activity in society and to generate greater support, awareness and broader understanding of this work, the moral value that religions bring to society and the importance of setting an example to others. I think all attendees did this admirably and we will continue to develop this as a work in progress.

“There are clearly some tough issues to be addressed. The problem of violent religious extremism – which was raised during the meeting. There is Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and discrimination against minority religions to name some key issues – but whilst all these rightly have a focus in the mainstream media, they are but a small part of the activities which relate to religious activity. There should be more focus on the positive news relating to religions and interfaith activity. I am therefore very thankful for the support and backing of the MPs and all the attendees who truly care and wish to develop a greater understanding and awareness of these issues and to protect and value freedom of religion or belief”

All Faiths Network in UK Parliament discussing the role & value of faith. Beautiful gathering of faith friends- making a difference in this world. pic.twitter.com/25EUR3Fkzd

— All Faiths Network (@FaithsNetwork) May 18, 2022

Urgent Call to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights

PARIS, May 6, 2022 — Forced Organ Harvesting from living people specifically to sell their organs for profitable transplant surgeries is among the most egregious crimes against humanity conceivable. Witnesses first testified about China’s abuses before U.S. Congress in 2001. In 2006, allegations were raised of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual discipline that follows the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance whose adherents are subjected to the industrialized practice of organ harvesting throughout China’s military and civilian hospital systems.

A plethora of research, investigation and testimony have compiled copious evidence of organ harvesting since 2006 which was reviewed and assessed by the independent China Tribunal, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice. Their judgment concludes unanimously that Falun Gong practitioners have been victims of this transplant abuse. 2019 and 2022 peer-reviewed publications add further evidence. In June 2021 a group of 12 U.N. Special Rapporteurs expressed concerns about forced organ harvesting in China. After a U.S. congressional House Resolution 343 in 2016, the European Parliament has passed the resolution, “Reports of continued organ harvesting in China” [P9 TA(2022)0200] on May 5, 2022.

The accumulated evidence on forced organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners validated by concerns expressed by parliamentary bodies leaves no doubt that the time to act is now.

Between 2012 and 2018, DAFOH has organized a global petition campaign to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights demanding he call upon China to immediately stop the forced organ harvesting and to conduct further investigations. More than three million people in over 50 countries and regions signed the petition, reflecting a global concern by the public that action be taken to stop China’s unethical transplant practices. In a recent side event to the UNHRC in March 2022, panelists proposed the establishment of a U.N. Special Rapporteur on forced organ harvesting.

In consideration of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s visit to China in the upcoming days, we would like to highlight point twelve of the European Urgent Resolution “On continued reports on Forced Organ Harvesting’ adopted yesterday by the European Parliament(1):

“12. Requires that the Chinese authorities grant open, unfettered and meaningful access to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the mandate holders of the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council to visit Xinjiang; asks the Chinese Government to cooperate with the UN organisations on this matter; urges the UN Human Rights Council to deal with the issue of forced organ harvesting as a matter of priority;”

We therefore, call upon Mme High Commissioner to acknowledge the evidence prompting concerns by millions of people around the world and demand that China end unethical and illegal transplant practices and to allow free and independent investigations.

Torsten Trey, MD, PhDDAFOH, Executive Director

Thierry ValleCAP Liberté de Conscience, President

Contact :harold.king@dafoh.orgcontact@coordiap.com

(1)European Parliament resolution of 5 May 2022 on the reports of continued organ harvesting in China (2022/2657(RSP). Here

China: Speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in the EP debate on organ harvesting. Here

UKRAINE-Interview: "Schools should be on the frontline of the full integration"

Interview: How I welcomed refugees – “Schools should be on the frontline of the full integration” – An interview with a teacher of a secondary school in Lisbon who gave asylum to a family of seven Ukrainian refugees. How easy (or difficult) is it to welcome a family of refugees? What can we do to help Ukrainian refugees? This interview adds perspective on the attitude of Europeans towards the Ukraine crisis, and the subsequent refugee crisis.

Is it possible for you to describe your action (the asylum of seven Ukrainian refugees)? 

A friend of a friend of a friend knew I had an empty house and I was willing to receive refugees coming from Ukraine. She got in touch with me, sent me Kateryna’s phone number. I called her, and a few days later, I showed her the house and made plans for cleaning, new furniture, internet connection, and so on…

How did you give shelter to them? Did you cooperate with any institutions? 

I did not contact any institution (although I already knew about the platform We Help Ukraine and was considering registering as willing to give help). I am now searching for the proper way to register the aid I’m giving just for security purposes (as I think it is important to know where the refugees are being lodged, who is in charge, what help is being provided, and so on).

What was the origin of your action? 

The origins of the action are diverse: I had a free house; a friend (of a friend of a friend) knew a family that had just arrived from Ukraine and needed a place to stay; I consider it a moral obligation to help if one has the chance to do it without any relevant cost associated.

What do you think other people can do for Ukrainians? 

 I think there is a lot that can be done regarding the thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the war, both as individuals (citizens) and as states. As individuals, we can volunteer for help (with shelter, food, medical supplies and other commodities, help in their integration, with legal assistance or training in education, for instance with the Portuguese, etc.), and as states, we should further sanction Russian interests, help during wartime (mainly with humanitarian help) and in the reconstruction of the country as soon as the war is over (hopefully soon).

Schools should be on the frontline of the full integration of these Ukrainians in our country, and I sincerely hope we will rise to the challenge – students, teachers and the government. In September, we must be ready to welcome all children into our school system, if needed with Ukrainian interpreters, and give them the conditions not to lose yet another indispensable feature of their development. Having, for now, lost the chance to grow in peace where they were born, where their relatives and friends live(d) and where their memories still are, it’s important that they don’t lose the possibility to study, to practice their skills, music, sports, or whatever their interests may be, play, make friends, and so on. of these Ukrainians in our country, and I sincerely hope we will rise to the challenge – students, teachers and the government. In September, we must be ready to welcome all children into our school system, if needed with Ukrainian interpreters, and give them the conditions not to lose yet another indispensable feature of their development. Having, for now, lost the chance to grow in peace where they were born, where their relatives and friends live(d) and where their memories still are, it’s important that they don’t lose the possibility to study, to practice their skills, music, sports, or whatever their interests may be, play, make friends, and so on.

Apart from individual help and the legal framework provided by the government (among other initiatives, we should commend the decision of an expeditious “legalization” of these fellow Europeans), I think that some major companies should also have a role to play. For instance, in order to provide my guests with internet service, I am still subject to a 2 year loyalty period (or an initial fee of 400 euros) and I have not seen any package offered by any telecom company that offers any special conditions to people that must be very dependent on good internet access to keep in touch with those they left behind or to guide and adapt themselves to a new country, a new language, different habits, and so on.

I will add a more personal reflection to what I’ve said, which makes me feel quite uncomfortable: I wonder if there is an element of racism in the abysmal difference between our commitment to the Ukrainian refugees and the previous wave of refugees coming from North Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. And my discomfort rests on the assumption that there is no moral or philosophical background that can justify discrimination on the basis of national borders, the colour of skin, or cultural and religious identity. So the issue isn’t so much that we aren’t doing the right thing–we are!–but rather whether we are consistent and courageous enough to foster an attitude of universal hospitality.

Can you describe the contact that you have with the family? 

I’ve been keeping regular contact as we’ve been adapting the house (long closed) to a new large family. I’ve also offered my help with legal issues, job opportunities, and learning Portuguese (they are now having daily classes in a Portuguese school between 6 pm and 10 pm). Although I kept regular contact and visits, I also wanted to give them their space and a sense of autonomy and efficiency (so whatever they could do by themselves, and if they preferred to do it themselves, I chose to “withdraw”). 

My main criterion has been: were I in their place (hard to imagine…), what would I prefer? And even though slavs can be very different from Latins, they too love their children, thrive for peace and prosperity, value friendship, honesty and justice, etc. (By the way, I’ve often remembered in these weeks the motto from the sixties  “Justice, not charity”, which I think we should all keep in mind in the current scenario).

How do you view your action? What do you think about helping a family going through such a difficult time? 

I have no special views on my own actions. I just thought it was the right thing to do. I could easily do it. There is nothing else worth mentioning about it. Those who decided to stay and fight, as well as those who decided to flee and face the dangers of the journey, were brave. My choice was, by comparison, very easy. 

My main concern has been to make them feel like guests rather than refugees and to make them feel safe – in a foreign country, with hosts they don’t know (yet!) and a language they can’t speak nor understand (yet!). So far, I think I succeeded in making them feel at ease, and I just hope their welcome is a way to find the peace that, for the time being, they are not able to find at home.