KAHULUI - A man who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and educator at the University of Hawaii-Hilo will appear Monday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center to discuss how the global economy affects residents in local communities.

Sulak Sivaraksa and Manulani Aluli Meyer will speak at the event, sponsored by Ala Kukui and the MACC, and titled "The Wisdom of Sustainability: A Dialogue on Global Economics and Island Culture."

Sivaraksa is one of Asia's leading social thinkers and activists, who twice has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to an event news release. He founded the International Network of Engaged Buddhists and dozens of other grass-roots organizations and authored more than 100 books in Thai and English, including "The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century."

In 1995, Sivaraksa received the Right Livelihood Award.

"Sulak Sivaraksa and I share a conviction that if we are to solve human problems, economic and technological development must be accompanied by an inner spiritual growth," the Dalai Lama has said about the speaker.

Joining Sulak at the gathering is Meyer, an associate professor of education at UH-Hilo, specializing in Hawaiian cultural views of intelligence. She is the author of "Ho'oulu: Our Time of Becoming" and the forthcoming "Hawaiian Knowing."

"A far-reaching visionary, Manu Aluli Meyer captures an essence of what it means to be Hawaiian," according to Luana Palapala Busby-Neff, a fellow Hawaiian cultural practitioner.

The event begins at 6 p.m. at the McCoy Studio Theater. Admission is $15, and tickets may be obtained by calling 242-SHOW. For information, call 875-7995 or see the Web site www.alakukui.com.

Other sponsors of the gathering are the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the County of Maui.