- 1920-07-08 — August Rudd, a Swede who had becme a Bahá'í in America, returned to his native country, to become the first Bahá'í in Sweden. [BWT8:980-2].
- 1936-09-00 — Lorol Schopflocher departed for Europe to do teaching work in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, France and Geneva, Switzerland. [BN No107 April 1937 p2]
- 1946-00-00 —
In the second Seven Year Plan from 1946 to 1952, the American Bahá'í community was given the responsibility of working for the establishment of bahá'í communities in several european countries. A European Teaching Committee, which was responsible to the North American National Spiritual Assembly, was set up in Geneva in 1946. Its task was to coordinate the pioneer activities in ten European goal countries; Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Portugal. [SBBR14p239]
- The Committee was chaired by Edna True. [SBBR14p241]
- Of the pioneers that arrived during this period, Dagmar Dole (stayed 1947 to 1951)) and Eleanor Hollibaugh (stayed May 1947 to October 1948 and March 1950 to October 1950) had the most influence on the growth of the community. [SBBR14p239-243]
- As of 1946 Geresina Campani of Florence was the only known Bahá'í in Italy. In her letter, published in part in Bahá'í News she wrote of the hardship due to the devastation caused by the Allied bombing.
[SYH232]
- 1952-10-08 —
Holy Year, "The Great Jubilee", October 1952 to October 1953, was inaugurated. [MBW16-18; BW12:116; DG84; PP409–10; SBR170–1]
- Centenary celebrations of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh's mission were initiated. [MBW16–18]
- "Shoghi Effendi began the Holy Year to commemorate the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's experience in the Siyáh Chál in October 1952 and closed the Holy Year in October 1953 (which corresponds to the centenary of the "Year Nine", the Islamic year 1269)". [Two Episodes from the Life of Bahá'u'lláh in Iran p21 by Moojan Momen]
- Four international conferences were scheduled in Kampala, Wilmette (dedication of the Temple), Stockholm and New Delhi. [SETPE2p31-43]
- For a brief description of the Kampala Conference see CG20-21.
- 1953-07-21 —
The European Intercontinental Teaching Conference was held in Stockholm. [BW12:167; CBN No 46 November, 1953 p4; CBN No 47 December 1953 p6; CBN No 49 February 1954 p3]
- For Shoghi Effendi's message to the conference see BW12:167–71.
In it he called for "the opening of the following thirty virgin territories and islands: Albania, Crete, Estonia, Finno-Karelia, Frisian Islands, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Rumania, White Russia, (Belarus) assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria; Channel Islands, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Hebrides Islands, Malta, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles; Andorra, Azores, Balearic Islands, Lofoten Islands, Spitzbergen, Ukraine, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States of America; Liechtenstein, Monaco, Rhodes, 160 San Marino, Sardinia, Sicily, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Italy and Switzerland". [MBW157]
- For a report of the conference see BW12:171–8.
- Fourteen Hands of the Cause were present. [BW12:171]
- 374 Bahá'ís from 30 countries attended, of these 110 come from the ten goal countries. [BW12:171]
- 1957-04-21 — The Regional Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden) plus Denmark and Finland was formed with its seat in Stockholm, Sweden. [BW13:274]
- 1962-04-21 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of Sweden was formed. Since 1957 they had been part of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden) plus Denmark and Finland. [BW13:283]
- For picture see BW13:281 or BN No373 August 1962 p7.
- 1972-06-05 — The Bahá'í International Community was invited to participate in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. It was attended by some 1,500 representatives and 600 observers. The BIC Representatives were Dr Arthur Lyon Dahl, a marine ecologist and Mr Torleif Ingelog, a forest ecologist. A special pamphlet, The Environment and Human Values: A Bahá'í View was prepared and distributed. [BW15p368]
The Stockholm Declaration provided the first global set of principles for future international cooperation on environmental issues.
- 2022-06-02 — A conference titled, Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity, was an international meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly. It was a commemoration of 50 years since the 1972 Conference on the Human Environment. The purpose was to focus on ways to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to tackle the planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
See the conference recommendations and actions.
The Bahá'í International Community released a statement, One Planet, One Habitation: A Bahá'í Perspective on Recasting Humanity's Relationship with the Natural World. The statement underlines the gap between intention and action as one of the central challenges facing humanity and states that the essential principle of humanity's oneness as the only foundation on which sustainable societies can be raised.
[BWNS1599]
The statement is available on the BIC statements page and at Bahá'í Library.
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