The Earth today is in crisis. Global warming and climate change, the depletion of ground water and fossil fuel, the pandemic spread of avian flu and HIV/AIDS, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and small arms, the expanding gulf between the rich and poor, the conflict between secularism and fundamentalism, the list goes on and on. People of all ages, especially young people, feel an urgency to address these problems and to make a meaningful difference in the world. But who or what can mobilize their idealism, energy, and willingness to serve? National service of some sort, either in the military or social service arena, is well established in most countries, but does not go far enough. It's time to go beyond national service to global service. It's time to mobilize a vast planetary force of college-age students, mid-life adults, and post-career retirees to address both human and environmental needs. It's time for a Peace Corps for the whole Earth. It's time for an Earth Corps.

Overview

The purpose of the Earth Corps for Global Service (ECGS) is to dramatically increase the number of people, worldwide, who volunteer and work for existing social and environmental service organizations such as the Peace Corps, Doctors Without Borders, and the UN Volunteers. We are forming a coalition of such organizations into a kind of Peace Corps for the whole Earth, what we're calling the Earth Corps Coalition.

Our aim is to double the number of participants
in these programs in three years,
and to quadruple the number by 2012.

We're also working with foundations, academic institutions, and media partners to design and launch some highly synergistic initiatives which will further the ECGS mission:

1. The Earth Corps Training
2. The People's Peace Prize
3. The World Peace Forum
4. A Peace Telethon
5. A global, public-service Media Campaign

History

The genesis of the idea for an Earth Corps starts with Lynne Twist (author of the book, The Soul of Money, founder of the Pachamama Project, and former Executive Director of the Hunger Project), who attended a talk Eric Utne gave about entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloane School back in 1991. After the talk, Lynne leaped up to tell the 200 MBA students about a gathering she had just attended in Oslo, convened by Gro Harlem Brundtland to address the environmental crisis. She said an idea came out of it to start a Peace Corps for the whole Earth, to be called the “Earth Corps.” It would enlist college students, mid-life adults, and retirees throughout the world to address human and environmental needs. Many of students present then shouted, “Sign me up,” but until now no one has taken up the idea.

Then, in 1999, ECGS cofounder John Miller decided to start a college, to be named after his step-grandfather, Albert Schweitzer. He, Eric Utne, and others designed Albert Schweitzer College (ASC) to be built on five pillars: academics, the arts, service, the environment, and spirit (broadly defined as in Schweitzer’s core ethic of “Reverence for Life”). When people started to hear about the program, many were particularly drawn to the aspect of service, so in 2004 Eric and John decided to create a Schweitzer Earth Corps. In early 2006, they realized that this new thing would be bigger, broader, more inclusive, and farther reaching than ASC, and renamed it the Earth Corps for Global Service (ECGS).

In April, 2006, Carol Bellamy and Eric met to discuss the Earth Corps for Global Service. Carol was the Executive Director of the Peace Corps for two years (’93-’95) and UNICEF for ten (’95-’05). In 2004 she became President and CEO of World Learning, whose School for International Training places 2000 Americans abroad ever year. For over an hour she and Eric discussed the growing need for global citizenship and the vision for the ECGS. Carol became extremely enthusiastic and offered to co-author articles, co-host fundraising events, and do whatever she could to help create and launch the ECGS. Since then Carol and Eric have been spreading the word, while Eric and John have been working with partners and supporters to lay the foundation for ECGS to officially commence operations in 2008.