By: David Miron-Wapner

At the 1^st International Jerusalem Symposium on Green & Accessible Pilgrimage this month, the YOYAH Group launched an initiative under the auspices of City Hall, to green the hospitality and conferencing industries.

On my first encounter with the massive ancient stones of the Western Wall – the remaining physical symbol of my people’s pilgrims’ quest – in a moment of rapture, I was transported back in time, on the blast of a ram’s horn, to a bustling 2000 year-old Jerusalem street-scene full of other pilgrims gathered for the traditional “aliyah le’regel” – “Ascent to Jerusalem.” I too have sensed the power contained in the stones by millennia of similarly directed devotion and prayers.

A blend of the ancient and modern – the physical plane of daily existence in Jerusalem, with its seemingly endless human struggles and conflicts, meets the spiritual – an enduring allure imbued in the ancient stones.

No matter the underlying faith, the spiritual drives the pilgrim’s quest. Nonetheless, this spiritual seeking occurs in physical spaces – In Jerusalem it is found in the shared cultural and historic sites of Jews, Christians and Muslims alike; it relies on various means of transport, and when at day’s end the pilgrim lays his or her head on a real bed in some form or another of local hospitality – whether in a simple hostel or a five-star hotel, he or she desires rest and comfort, a break from the intensity of the pilgrimage. She too may increasingly desire to know that the operations of all hospitality services she receives are in harmony with her own faith’s values – and thankfully we can take some small comfort that all faiths share common values for preservation of the environment even as they pursue their differing paths to the truth.

As we confront a rapidly changing world, one already impacted more and more by climate change with its accompanying disruptions in local, regional and global systems, we need to build our capabilities to adapt and our capacity for resilience. Humanity, religious and secular alike, has wrought great damage to Earth’s life supporting systems. Just as the prophets of old excoriated the people when they strayed – Mend our ways – NOW.

All of us must choose a bold new course away from “business as usual” towards a new paradigm –Sustainability. Simply put, this demands that we act in concert with our environment, understanding its limits and carrying capacity – that in meeting our present needs we do not compromise the opportunities for future generations; so they too may enjoy all the progress and comfort to which we have become accustomed, yet seem still to take for granted in the modern world. It also challenges us to create processes of production as full loop value cycles in harmony with natural systems where nothing goes to waste.

In many ways Pilgrimage naturally promotes shedding of old patterns of behavior and thinking. The Pilgrim leaves the comfort zone of his/her home to venture forth as a deep expression of devotion. So too, we are called to participate in a new adventure, one demanding creativity and commitment. Our humble willingness to embark on the journey is an excellent beginning.

At the same time a long-term goal, sustainability is more importantly a process. It means extricating ourselves from the myriad of excuses for continuing business as usual, and though perhaps clichéd, it means thinking and acting outside the proverbial box. Fully embedding sustainability into all business operations offers substantial rewards in terms of branding, innovation and stakeholder pride and loyalty, among many others.

This process requires embracing new ways of relating to our singular, life-sustaining Earth. Just as the Pilgrim treads his/her path with mindfulness and intentionality, we are also called to bring ecological consciousness and awareness to our actions, personally and collectively, at work and at play, and certainly in expressing our deepest religious convictions. The YOYAH Group seeks to encourage the business of hospitality and conferencing to leap into the future with us. We envision across the board engagement from hotels, tour operators, restaurants and conference services assuming full environmental responsibility for all their operations to pursue the road of Sustainability.