Natre in Mind, international conference (May19-20, Rome – Italy)
More than 80 speakers and moderators from five continents, almost 20 hours of live streaming (on the YouTube channel of the Carabinieri), hundreds of subscribers, thousands of remote participants and live web views, vast echo on the media: these are some of the numbers of the conference “Nature in Mind. A new culture of nature for the protection of biodiversity. Formal, non-formal and informal education in the face of the complexity of the natural world “, organized by the Carabinieri and edited by the Biodiversity Group of the Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food Units Command (CUFAA), taking advantage of the thirtieth anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
CUFAA has joined the global educational pact promoted by the Pope (represented at the conference by Monsignor Zani, secretary of the Dicastery for Catholic Education).
The speeches of the President of the Republic and Pope Francis
A small delegation of the organizers (including WEEC Network, represented at the Quirinale by the general secretary Mario Salomone) met the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella. Integral ecology and environmental culture as a condition for the future were at the center of the speech that Sergio Mattarella addressed to those present.
Organizers and speakers also met Pope Francis in the Sala Clementina. He invidet to promote new pedagogical paradigms in educational processes: “Every measure will be ineffective – said the Pope among other things – if not assisted and supported by an educational process that favors the care and protection of our common home”.
While waiting for the conference proceedings (expected by the end of the year), a more than positive assessment of the event is possible, which derives from the broad cultural scope and the quality of the contributions, but also from the ability that the organizers have shown to bring together representatives of various fields (schools, universities, international organizations, governments and institutions, local administrations, the third sector, journalists) in an interdisciplinary discussion on the complexity of the natural world.
International organizations, institutions and networks
The major organizations of the UN system in the fields of education and biodiversity were represented (UNESCO, CBD, IUCN, IPBES and the European Environment Agency), who did not miss their greetings or their intervention.
Ministers and undersecretaries, Regions, research bodies, universities, parks, the major environmental associations, the youth of Youth for Climate and the major environmental associations were present. Many representatives of the mass media, as well as the many journalists who came from networks and associations from Europe, the United States, Latin America, the Mediterranean, Africa and Asia.
The WEEC international community of environmental education
For the WEEC Network, the conference Natre in Mind was an opportunity to put their experience and contacts at the disposal of a large-scale event, collaborating with one of the Italian excellences which is CUFAA.
Among the speakers we find members of the WEEC international board (Lucie Sauvé, David Orr, Takur Powdyel), the general secretary Mario Salomone, the Italian vice president Tomaso Colombo, the coordinator of the international secretariat Bianca La Placa.
