Isolde Schönstein

Isolde M. Schönstein (* 1941 in Vienna ) is an Austrian environmental activist .

Act

Isolde M. Schönstein

Isolde Schönstein traces her environmental commitment back to her early experiences of nature in the Leithagebirge as well as to her complex social environment and Christian upbringing .

As early as 1964, at the age of 23, she took part in the successful citizens' initiative in her home town against the pollutant emissions of a cement plant . The developments took their course because "the world was not saved".

In 1989, immediately after the first European Ecumenical Assembly in Basel, she took the initiative to implement the church declarations for “Peace-Justice-Preservation of Creation” and founded an eco-social movement in the Catholic Church with activists, which in 1992 under her leadership became part of the Founding of the Catholic environmental organization working group “Responsibility for Creation” with an ecumenical and interregional orientation resulted. This is in exchange and cooperation with representatives from science , politics and NGOs.

The Austrian Bishops' Conference took up the working group's appeal in 1994 for comprehensive church environmental work and commissioned the ARGE Creation Responsibility with the coordination of church environmental work at home and abroad. In the course of this, the diocesan environmental offices were created and a departmental bishop was appointed for environmental issues.

In 1998, together with representatives of the European churches, she laid the foundation stone for the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) and was the leader of the constituent assembly of ECEN with the leadership of the priority project “Time of Creation” (time of creation , day of creation , September 1st) commissioned by the relevant coalition. In 2007, the churches of Europe confirm the creation time from September 1st to October 4th, as it was brought into being by Isolde Schönstein and Lukas Fischer as part of the ECEN as a world church initiative and has been practiced for many years.

With numerous activists and supported by a team of scientists, numerous projects were carried out under the motto: "What counts is the deed", such as:

• "The Church on the Way to Sustainable Energy Supply ",
• Lifestyle model "Balance sheets of justice",
• Organic agriculture ,
• Parent education,
• " Soft Mobility ",
• Health care, environmental education, initiatives in post-communist countries, * "Future Generations": education and training programs at home and abroad

The most important socio-political initiatives include

• The “No Patent on Life” campaign, 1996
• the genetic engineering referendum, 1997 (see list of referendums in Austria )
• Green tax appeal
• Climate petition to the UN ( Avaaz )
• Green electricity law
• Food sovereignty
• No to the death penalty
• Atomic stop
• ongoing awareness of acute hazards.

In 2005 Isolde Schönstein accepted the State Prize of the Republic of Austria, the Konrad Lorenz Prize , for the work on the irretrievable in nature and the environment, generational responsibility and the ethics of creation for the ARGE Creation Responsibility for the numerous services and project implementations .

In 2010 she was presented with the European Peace Rose Waldhausen . Since then she has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Waldhausen im Strudengau Peace Committee .

Awards

• Konrad Lorenz Prize 2005
• European Peace Rose Waldhausen 2010

Web links

• ARGE responsibility for creation