WEEC Network has taken part in the 𝑬𝑺𝑫 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒖𝒎 Go Green, a comprehensive event that included the Med-9 and UNECE that was held in Limassol, Republic of Cyprus.
WEEC Network made a contribution to the Med-9 High-Level Forum on Education for Sustainable Development and Green Transition in the Mediterranean Region during the session ‘The Twin Transition: Digital and Green Sustainable Learning ‘. WEEC Network’s representative, Dr. Mariaclaudia Cusumano, presented the contribution ‘Cultures of Sustainability behind Spotlight.’ This presentation sheds light on the role of cultures in promoting sustainability for a sustainable future.
During the session, policies and strategies for integrating green and digital as sustainable learning have been discussed.
The session was not just a platform for the exchange of ideas but also a catalyst for enhancing cooperation and networking.
As WEEC Network, we presented what has been done both in Italy and at the International level; we focused on the Italian Education Global Citizen as a strategy to promote sustainable development through ESD in lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, and promotion of a peaceful and nonviolent Education as the appreciation of the diversity of culture. We presented the new Plan School- Regeneration, which aims to accompany the Ecological and Social Transition by facilitating activities of EE.
We stressed that numerous barriers still remain in the Italian Education System as many issues are not addressed:
- Climate change.
- Understanding of the complexity and interdependence of global challenges.
- Adoption of awareness, sustainable choice in consumption, in nutrition model, as is an active lifestyle to promote youth health.
- Understanding of Planetary limits, countering the culture of overconsumption.
- Educating for critical thinking.
During our speech, we also stressed mainstream communication, particularly regarding fake news and miscommunication, an issue that has a devastating impact on the new generations throughout the toxicity of communication, especially in the context of social media.
It was also a great occasion to shed light on some best practices that are impacting Italy, such as ours.
- Italian Universities have launched an initiative to promote Sustainable Development; academic Courses are directly linked to one or more of the SDGs for their promotion;
- Italian Sustainable University Network, RUS has developed lesson zero, a mini course of providing students educational tools for sustainability literacy;
- National Committee for for Sustainable Development for Agenda 2030, under the auspices of UNESCO, every November the Committee promotes a campaign for the week of ESD;
- WEEC Italia has training teacher through Summer School,
- Last but not least YEEC that we are building up for the next World Environmental Education Congress that will be held which will be held in 2026 in Australia as a platform to connect youth that are sharing similar sensibility of Sustainability at the global level.
The Med-9 Ministerial Summit for Education for Sustainable Development and Green Transition in the Mediterranean Region ended with a Non-Official Paper approved by high officials and experts of the Mediterranean countries, NGOs, Academia, and other stakeholders and facilitated by Prof. Michael Scoullos of the Union for the Mediterranean and and Ms. Aravella Zachariou, Head of the Unit of EESD of Cyprus to face the complex and serious challenges to face The global triple crisis which is particularly visible in the Mediterranean, the South and Eastern of Europe. It has merged the need to make a prominent effort to implement the Action Plan Towards 2030 of the Mediterranean Strategy on ESD. This includes cross-cutting themes among environmental issues, cultural, socioeconomic, democratization, gender, and youth, as well as peace, security, and human rights to ensure a sustainable future for all.
