Mario Salomone: conclusion of the 8th Congress, and announcement of the 9th

Dear participants, during these days we heard speeches, presentations, debates, we talked a lot each other.

As panelist and many participants have been underlined, we experienced the crucial importance of a regular and continuous keeping in touch, to improve relationships, and to update our information on the policies at international and national level.
In other words, we experienced the importance of the WEEC meetings and of a worldwide network of all actors, public and private, nonprofit and profit.

The congress has certainly been a success and I have to congratulate with all local organizers for the high quality of the contents and for the efficient and the effective organization.
I warmly thank the City of Gothenburg, the Gothenburg and the Chalmers universities, the GMV Center for Environment and Sustainability, and the MCI, also on behalf of all participants and of the worldwide environmental education community.

Many thanks also to the staff and the volunteers for their professional commitment and kind collaboration.

The congress has also been fruitfully in promoting initiatives. A lot of dynamics moving towards thematic committees were born as financial education, water education, and many others.

In particular I’m very glad to announce that Ibero-American Women for Environment Network, integrated by women from all over the world, became a women international network inside WEEC community.
I think it is a historical step in our path.

These facts show that we are growing and this congress, as the previous one in Marrakech (Morocco), organized by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the environment, and the Marrakech Declaration, has been very important, and it is necessary to go on working between a congress and the following.

It means to build a network able to face the world changes.
Any day we have to defend the Earth, the commons, the people and the other living species combined in the biodiversity.

Research can help to move towards action, common campaigns can help, empowerment initiatives can help, tools developed together can help, and strongest partnerships can help.

So, I remind you the importance of joining and of supporting the WEEC network.

I invite news countries, new institutions, new civil society organization to join the WEEC network.

I encourage all of you to use the website and the WEEC newsletter for spreading proposals and news.

I remind you that the call for hosting the 10th WEEC is open.

I remind also the European participants the Third pan-European days of EE in Barcelona, on 1st and 2nd October.

An now, chers amis et chères amies, queridos amigos y queridas amigas, dear friends coming here from all over the world, it is for me a great pleasure and a great honor to invite the organizers of the 9th Congress in 2017 to present the hosting city and institution organizing the congress.

The organizer body is the IEL, Institute for Environmental Learning at Simon Frazer University. The hosting city will be Vancouver, Canada.
I’m sure that the 9th WEEC will be an extraordinary and beautiful congress, the first WEEC of our new deal of the network.
Many wishes from me and from all of us. Now I will give the ground to our Vancouver friends, I welcome.