Established by Morro Bay City Council proclamations in 2018 and 2022, the month of September is Peace Month in Morro Bay and September 21 is Peace Day. The 21st is designated as International Peace Day worldwide by the United Nations with a request for countries and people to abstain from conflict on that day. Each year since 2017 International Peace Day has been honored by events in Morro Bay and surrounding cities. The United Nations assigns a theme each year and this year’s theme is “Actions for Peace: Our Ambitions for the Global Goals.”
The United Nations is asking people to take a long hard look at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were unanimously adopted in 2015 by all 193 member nations of the UN. These goals ask for all countries, whether developing or developed, to strive for achievement of the goals as a national domestic and international policy priority by 2030. We are now at approximately the halfway point and reassessment is needed at all government levels, especially here at the city and county levels that address the systemic transformations needed to end poverty and save the planet.
The community is invited to celebrate Morro Bay Peace Day and International Peace Day on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at 11 a.m. around the Peace Pole at the Estero Bay United Methodist Church, 3000 Hemlock Avenue, Morro Bay. A short program about the Sustainable Development Goals and how communities are reaching them will take place.
There will also be an introduction to the new Central Coast Center for an Ecological Civilization, which adheres to the recognition that humans are part of nature, not separate from it. That there can be a culture of sustainability not perpetual GDP growth. Recognizing that our present path is not sustainable, and we use much more of the planet’s resources than can be replaced, we educate so that humans will not just avoid harm to the Earth and nature but actively regenerate and sustain its health. In an ecological civilization, natural ecosystems are models for the relationship of humans with each other and with nature. Organizers believe there will be a mutually beneficial relationship between the members of society and between humans and nature. Society will be community oriented, not based on accumulation of individual wealth.
Morro Bay is designated as a Nonviolent City through the national Nonviolent Cities Project.
