Australia - Head of state and spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, joined thousands of attendees from 80 cultures for the Parliament of the World’s Religions’ December event, the largest interfaith gathering in the world.
It’s the first time in the conventions’ history that it was held in Australasia, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). Previous event destinations include Chicago, Cape Town and Barcelona.
Executive manager of the conference organiser Arinex, Karine Bulger, says: the event takes four years to plan. “It was a highly complex event with a large spread of stakeholders, each of whom had different needs from the event.
“To manage all these requirements flexibility was the key. Our relationship with the MCEC was therefore paramount and both parties viewed our liaison as a partnership rather than just as client and supplier,” Bulger adds.
The week-long event involved more than 650 programmes including a session held by the Dalai Lama to discuss issues such as indigenous reconciliation, global poverty and global warming, environmental issues, migration, spirituality and education of the young.
“Our ability to meet the diverse requirements of the delegates, whether that be their meeting requirements or dietary and religious needs, certainly put the new venue to the test,” says youth patron to the event Azmeena Hussein.
The MCEC was presented with a peace pole which was created in Japan specifically to commemorate the event. The peace pole will be a permanent fixture at the MCEC.
