“The world is facing a serious crisis in leadership. Can we hear the ticking clock of environmental destruction?
Time is of the essence, as with every swing of the pendulum climate change accelerates and more forms of life disappear. Global leaders need to be inspired to join forces and lay the needed groundwork for change. This is the goal and vision of biopolitics.” Agni Vlavianos Arvanitis (1936-2018), B.I.O. Founder
A brief history of B.IO.
The Biopolitics International Organisation (B.I.O.) was founded by Agni Vlavianos Arvanitis in 1985, out of the urgent need to raise awareness of environmental problems, and to accelerate the implementation of new and more effective approaches to safeguarding the earth for the generations to come.
The term “biopolitics” was created out of love for biology and the belief that bios – life – is a link that unites all people. With friends and representatives in 165 countries around the world, B.I.O. has been one of the fastest growing environmental organizations. Focusing on the development of international policy – biopolicy – to guarantee global environmental harmony and just economic growth, B.I.O. has dedicated a major portion of its work to the promotion of the fundamental human right to live in a clean environment. Furthermore, in strong belief that education holds the key to our future, B.I.O. has launched a pioneer environmental education program, beyond the confines of conventional environmental science, with the aim of achieving environmentally-literate global citizens. Within this framework, respect for the environment and all forms of life becomes the major component of every academic and professional initiative.
The International University for the Bio-Environment (I.U.B.E.), an international Environmental Olympics campaign, a long list of publications on global environmental policy issues, as well as a series of educational programs, conferences and special events have, over the past thirty years, defined the Biopolitics International Organisation. It is our hope that, as you get to know us through these pages, you too will chose to join us in our effort to make this world a better place for the future.
Global impact
With Greece as its operating basis, B.I.O. has gained international acclaim and leading academics and decision-makers in 165 countries support its ideals and have dedicated their efforts to their world-wide propagation. In the global effort to mitigate climate change, new models are seriously needed. B.I.O. focuses on a wider scope of environmental preservation – one which integrates the environment into all social and economic schemes – providing guidelines that will enrich environmental policy with a view to the future. To eliminate the mistakes of the past, B.I.O. seeks to infuse a millennium vision in decision-making and to inspire leaders to unite and benefit from a common, bios promoting vision.
Cooperation among all sectors – the sciences, policy, diplomacy, literature and the arts – can help us to gain insight and catalyze change. In January 1990, B.I.O. launched the International University for the Bio-Environment (I.U.B.E.) with the goal to introduce climate change mitigation in every academic field. The I.U.B.E. actions the B.I.O. belief that education is the key to enlightening students and teachers in all academic areas to become environmentally conscious and responsible world citizens. It is a truly “universal” initiative encompassing all educational levels set up with an ambitious but happening agenda, vaccinating institutions, students and training professionals with environmental values.
The I.U.B.E. offers bios-centred assistance to academic entities, universities and training centers internationally, and to all the disciplines taught within them, rather than traditional diplomas or awards. Fighting the trend towards over-specialisation, it seeks to open up all areas of study and training to an appreciation of life on our planet, and facilitates the implementation of multidisciplinary environmental concepts in education. The I.U.B.E. has launched an extensive e-learning program offering dozens of courses online completely free of charge and placing a wealth of educational material at the fingertips of every concerned citizen (see https://biopolitics.gr/education/b-i-o-s-e-learning-program).
Inspiring a vision of hope
Our times are characterized by rapid scientific and technological progress, but also by serious threats to the environment. A bio-assessment of technology would allow for the positive dimensions of progress to prevail over destruction. In an effort to establish a diachronic search for values, B.I.O. launched an international Environmental Olympics campaign in 1992. This initiative has been widely supported by prominent politicians, academic institutions, UN organizations and members of the International Olympic Committee. The campaign emphasizes the importance of environmental preservation and proposes the world-wide acknowledgement of accomplishments in this field by special Bios Prizes, awarded on the occasion of the Olympic Games. Cease-fire during the Olympic Games is a major part of this initiative, and the respective B.I.O. proposal was adopted as a resolution by the UN General Assembly in 1993.
Green Salary – mobilizing the green economy
A large part of the current environmental crisis is due to the pursuit of short-term economic prosperity, therefore, the active participation of the business world is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of the aforementioned plans. B.I.O., focusing on environmental protection as a viable and profitable business strategy, has been actively promoting the sensitization of the business world to the fact that economic and environmental profit can be achieved simultaneously and are not mutually exclusive. As a result, it is necessary to re-evaluate current business concepts, in order to ensure that the economic driving force directly contributes to the preservation and appreciation of bios and the environment.
The climate change crisis is above all a crisis in leadership. The Green Salary concept calls upon decision-makers from all walks of life to create new potential to reverse unemployment by engaging everyone in environmental action. Employment is a fundamental and unequivocal human right, and jobs in climate-smart development can become the vehicle with which to solve the dual environmental and economic crisis plaguing our planet today.
Threats to the environment do not discriminate along national boundaries, ethnicity or religion. They can be resolved through multilateral co-operation and through bio-diplomacy, a global effort in defense of the environment. Peace can become a reality if the world acknowledges the value of co-operation in environmental protection and joins in bio-culture, a global appreciation of bios.
Goals of B.I.O.
International educational reforms and an efficient global bio-education through the Internet (e-learning) and the use of satellites and other communication links
International co-operation in environmental protection leading to an era of bio-diplomacy
A World Referendum for the millions of citizens of the planet to affirm their willingness to safeguard the environment and the rights of future generations
International legislation on bios rights and human obligations towards the environment
A re-evaluation of business and management concepts and the development of new economic strategies compatible with environmental preservation
A Green Salary instead of benefits for the unemployed in exchange for a voluntary contribution to environmental protection
An electronic Bank of Ideas in which scientists, scholars and experts, as well as any concerned citizen, may contribute information and create a rich repository of facts and reflections on the environment, promoting a more efficient exchange of know-how
An international campaign for Environmental Olympics and the award of Bios Prizes to individuals or institutions that have made an outstanding contribution to the protection and appreciation of the bio-environment
A global bio-assessment of technology to ensure technological and economic progress that support the bio-environment and to help bridge the gap between technological progress and societal values. In reference to the issue of “Bios in the New Millennium,” experts in respective fields will be asked to present a thesis and antithesis and then create a synthesis of new concepts. Emphasis will be placed on identifying ways of reducing negative environmental impact so as to truly benefit from the contributions of technological breakthroughs.
B.I.O. has friends and supporters in 165 countries around the world
Click on the PDF to see some of the comments by our supporters around the world.