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In the age of the Anthropocene, humans as the dominant species are driving significant and even irreversible environmental changes, thereby shaping the future of all living beings and our only planetary home. The complicated relationship between humans and ecosystems has often been mediated by economics and technology. Prevailing theologies and spiritualities have also molded these interactions.

The thematic focus of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace (PJP) in 2019 is Racism. The WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), organises a series of eight WCC CCIA regional expert Webinars on the issue of racism and racial justice from August to December 2019. The aim of the webinars is to explore how racism manifests itself in the respective regions, learn about the work that churches and ecumenical partners are doing in this respect, identify synergies and avenues for possible collaboration.

Members of WCC staff are taking part in the 41st edition of the City of Geneva’s annual Escalade race for the third year in a row.

On the occasion of 2018 World Children’s Day, and in recognition of the WCC’s 70th anniversary, UNICEF and WCC are convening a number of WCC member churches and common partners to celebrate the UNICEF-WCC global partnership and to take stock of the many achievements of the Churches’ Commitments to Children.

This event aims to deepen understanding of what it means to be both faith- and rights-based by taking a look at prophetic diakonia and advocacy as integral parts of the work of the WCC and ACT Alliance.

Sing-along with Swedish hymns (all in English) and WCC 70 anniversary songs, together with the board of the Anders-Frostenson Foundation.

During a 23 August service in the Netherlands in the Nieuwe Kerk, a 15th-century church in Amsterdam, World Council of Churches leaders will celebrate the WCC’s 70th anniversary at the very spot in which the organization was founded.  A “Walk of Peace” through Amsterdam, and a symposium under the theme “Hospitality on a pilgrim's way to peace and justice”, at the Vrije Universiteit, will also be held on the same day.

Press Conference I: 15 May at 12:00 CET on the programme of the Pope’s visit with Fr. Andrzej Choromański of the Roman Catholic Church, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches; Rev. Dr Charles Morerod, Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg of the Roman Catholic Church.

As part of the celebrations of its 70th anniversary year, the World Council of Churches welcomes the official visit and public lecture by The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury on 16 February 2018.

With application deadline 31 January, the WCC invites ecumenical youth to be stewards at the 2018 Central Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. The Stewards Programme aims to bring together a dynamic and diverse group of 20 young people from all over the world from 5-23 June 2018.

On 9 december, the World Council of Churches invites everyone to a prayer service for peace at the Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway, together with churches in Norway and representatives of ICAN, following the Nobel Peace Prize award 2017.

The impact of the global refugee crisis in Europe and European churches’ responses: From 14 to 16 June church representatives from across Europe will gather in the Netherlands to address the challenges relating to refugee arrivals in Europe. Through prayer, discussion, and solidarity visits, participants in the three-day consultation will examine the churches’ response and collaborate on future action.

Without falling into the trap of ideological self-contained reminiscences, we shall be asking what has contributed to the idea of a "European identity", whether it be conceived as an existing identity or as one still coming into existence, in what terms it can be described, and what has given rise to the ideal of European unity that can then be expressed in political form.

The year 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. A chain of commemorative events, starting in Geneva, will connect cities in the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Slovenia, Ireland and Germany. Each stop-over will last 36 hours: regional and ecumenical partners will invite people to a festive occasion with numerous activities, in order to discover local traces of Reformation history.

The multi-cultural and multi-faith realities Christians live in today are confronting them, in their witness and praxis, with common challenges along with on-going differences among various Christian confessions. In a world of post-modern values and concepts, the voice of the churches remains often unheard and is hardly understood. In these contexts, the faithful members of the congregations across all confessions are getting aged and their number decreases. Other faith communities living in such contexts go through a similar experience.