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Earth Counsel Strategic Planning Director Dana Richard has been a practicing patent attorney and was previously a Patent Examiner while completing his LL.M in international law from the Georgetown University Law Center. His independent research concerned continental trade, regional patent protection, and international environmental law. In his thesis, entitled: "Intellectual Property Trade Among the Group of 7," Mr. Richard further developed the theory of the 'sovereign continent.' Prior to opening up his Washington office, Mr. Richard attended the University of Colorado School of Law where, as a first year law student, he founded a law review entitled the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law. This was one of the first U.S. law reviews of its kind, created contemporaneously with the Georgetown International Environmental Law Journal. To date, the Colorado Journal has produced eleven volumes and is available on WESTLAW and in hard copy in law libraries throughout North America. Prior to attending the University of Colorado School of Law, Mr. Richard was an architectural engineer involved with building reconstruction and restoration. In more than a symbolic way, he now borrows from his experience as an architectural engineer, and applies that experience in a broader, Earth-system context. Dana Richard is a grandson of Paul Richard, late husband of Mira Alfassa Richard, known in India as "Mother Mira"--who about sixty years ago created in Southern India the international township of Auroville, known as the "City of Dawn," or, the "City that Earth Needs". The UNESCO-endorsed city of Auroville does not belong to India, but to "all of humanity" according to a ruling, over a quarter century ago, by the Supreme Court of India. There is no private real estate in Auroville. Money is infrequently used, and there are no police. Yet, there is sophisticated manufacturing and agriculture, magnificent architecture, life-long learning centers, forest management programs, and above all, a strong work ethic. Over the past half-century, Aurovillians have converted hundreds of acres of desert into forest and agricultural zones, and migratory birds not seen in one hundred years have returned to the area. Auroville's trademark is the Matrimandir, a giant spherical meditation dome located at the center of the city, having a marble interior that is illuminated by a giant crystal, suspended proximate the apex of the structure. The Matrimandir took approximately thirty years to construct. Mira Richard, featured on a 1978 postage stamp in India, is known throughout India for her work as the architect and visionary of Auroville. Dana Richard seeks to work in parallel with, and to continue some of, the work of Mira Richard. The early inspiration for the founding of Earth Counsel was rooted in the international, multidisciplinary initiatives such as the International Space University (ISU), and the Auroville project, which serve as models to the publications and to the Institutes of Earth Counsel. In 1990, Earth Counsel's first annual report was distributed throughout North America and Europe, with substantial distribution to United Nations agencies in Geneva, Switzerland. Between 1990 and 1992, Earth Counsel developed a network of Earth system scientists in Boulder, Colorado, where the first temporary offices were established with assistance from Mr. Richard's associates at the University of Colorado, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder. Between 1992 and 1993, the Charter of Earth Counsel underwent significant revisions and, during this time, the Earth Counsel further developed its proposed plan to establish three principle organs--Earth Data Council, Earth Policy Council, and Earth Court. Today they cooperate and carry out Earth-data management, natural resource planning, and dispute resolution services, respectively. Gaining ground between 1993 through 1996, Earth Counsel developed its publication services under the name Earth Press, operating under a statute of the organization. The Publication's principle function is to produce and to make available, in virtually every language, a series of Journals for each of Earth Counsel's principle organs. In tandem, Earth Counsel developed the Earth University, a lifelong, degree-granting Earth-studies Institute with satellite campuses in each Member territory. In 1997, the North America headquarters of Earth Counsel was established in Washington, D.C. Earth Counsel has continued to advance its original purpose in preparation for its formal launching in the year 2000, with the establishment of headquarters on each of at least seven continents. |
Earth Counsel was conceived in 1989 by
Dana Richard and other graduate students attending the 1989 session of the