For this domain I have deliberately chosen the name ECUMENE, evoking the image of a house or household, since it neatly links several major aspects of human life that can help or obstruct the building of a global community: Ecology, Economics, Ethics, and Religion. 

The term "economy" is derived from the Greek word OIKONOMIA  (management of the houshold or stewardship). OIKONOMIA contains the word OIKOS (inhabited house) which also gives us the term "ecumenical" -- pertaining to the OIKOUMENE, the inhabited earth or earth household as well as the terms "ecology" and "ecological" -- dealing with the relationships of living organisms and their environment.

The notions "household" and "stewardship" contain implicitly the expectation of human kinship and mutually beneficial exchange of goods and services.  Among ancient peoples, the notion of "household" also tended to include the worship of household gods, such as one's ancestors in China or the Lares and Penates in Rome.  Among the Greeks, the gods themselves constituted an occasionally very divided household, and the Greek city-states, like individual homes, were built around a central hearth of religious significance. Hence, the agora was not merely the market place but also a sacred space.  In addition, economical activities, worship, and communal life were all conducted within the context of reverence for nature. In a world which could not even conceive of the separation of the profane and the sacred this mingling of motivations is inevitable. 

In contemporary usage, the term "ecumenical" is primarily associated with religious issues, such as "ecumenical councils" (among Christians) and "ecumenism" or "ecumenical dialogue" (involving religions in general). The latter is a 20th century development that encourages respectful interaction of members of various Christian groups, and encounters involving adherents of different religions, for the purpose of mutual illumination rather than the purpose of converting non-believers to the "correct" religion.  Officially approved, institutionalized non-proselytizing contact of Christians with non-Christians or different Christian denominations with one another, is a fairly recent phenomenon. However, there are some  historic precedents. In the 12th century C.E., Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, issued the first translation of the Qur`an, and in the Reformation era the Swiss theologian Theodor Bibliander edited Peter's translation. He and his publisher were promptly arrested, but let go after Martin Luther vouched for them.  In medieval times Jewish and Christian scholars occasionally met for friendly discussion, Thomas Aquinas would not have discovered Aristotle without Muslim scholars, and during the Renaissance period Humanists, such as Pico della Mirandola, happily cited Zoroastrians, Jews, and Muslims as valuable sources. During the Enlightenment period, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing argued for the essential equality of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in his play, Nathan the Wise. 

In the introductory pages of his Intra-Religious Dialogue (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1977) Raimon Panikkar cites a passage in which the 15th century humanist philosopher, canon lawyer, cardinal, and bishop of Brixen, Nicolas of Cusa describes a vision of future religious peace:

Accidit ut post dies aliquot, forte ex diuturna continuata meditatione, visio quaedam eidem zeloso manifestaretur, ex qua elicuit quod paucorum sapientium omnium talium diversitatum quae in religionibus per orbem observantur peritia pollentium unam posse facilem quandam concordantiam reperiri, ac per eam in religione perpetuam pacem convenienti ac veraci medico constitui. 

It happened after some days, perhaps as the fruit of an intense and sustained meditation, that a vision appeared to this ardently devoted Man. In this vision it was manifested that by means of a few sages in the variety of religions that exist throughout the world it could be possible to reach a certain peaceful concord. And it is through this concord that a lasting peace in religion may be attained and established by convenient and truthful means.