About us

Our history

Who we are

The WEEC congresses are the most significant existing experience connecting all stake-holders at the international level in the field of environmental education.

Since 2003 the Network has organized 12 world Congresses, which have seen the participation of thousands of people from over 100 different countries: university professors, government officials and international organizations, journalists, political representatives, businesses, NGOs,…

The Network operates in accordance with the UN and its agencies in collaboration with educational, research, and cultural and scientific organizations at international, regional, national and local levels such as Unep, Unesco, Unece, Un-Csd Education Caucus, Regional Centers of Expertise.

History

An international meeting on environmental education has been held for many years, namely since 1992 during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, when this idea was born.

In 1992 in Rio some NGOs drafted an “Alternative Treaty on Environmental Education”, in which they pledged to hold a “Plenary Meeting of Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies” within 3 years. They actually failed to do so. For this reason the First World Environmental Education Congress (1st WEEC) held in Espinho, Portugal, proved to be  particulary valuable.

Espinho was the first of a long series of conferences, organized with confidence and determination, which proved WEEC to be the only organization in the world capable of networking and doing research for more than 20 years with 12 congresses held on all continents

  • 2003

    1WEEC Espinho - Portugal

  • 2004

    2WEEC Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

  • 2005

    3WEEC Turin - Italy

  • 2007

    4WEEC Durban - South Africa

  • 2009

    5WEEC Montreal - Canada

  • 2011

    6WEEC Brisbane - Australia

  • 2013

    7WEEC Marrakech - Morocco

  • 2015

    8WEEC Gotheborg - Sweden

  • 2017

    9WEEC Vancouver - Canada

  • 2019

    10WEEC Bangkok - Thailand

  • 2022

  • 2024

    12WEEC Abu Dhabi - UAE

The WEEC logo

“By leaves we live”, sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) wrote.

Since 2003 First WEEC eight leaves constitute the logo of our congresses and of the worldwide environmental education network. They remind us that “This is a green world, with animals comparatively few and small, and all dependent on the leaves” (Geddes, 1919).

Eight leaves can suggest also the wind-rose and the cardinal points: the environmental education is global and for all and it is the green compass leading the humankind towards the future.

Initiative

World Environmental Education Day

The World Environmental Education Day was established on October 14th in order to celebrate the first intergovernmental conference on environmental education held in Tbilisi (Georgia) from October 14th to 26th 1977.

On October 14th, 1977, the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, organized by UNESCO and UNEP, opened in Tbilisi (Georgia’s capital), and ended on October 26th with a statement of great relevance still today.

Now, in October, schools, parks, environmental education centers, public institutions, associations, museums … aim to organise special events to highlight the importance of developing educational action to build transversal skills; to focus on the complexity of the challenges in a world where everything is more and more interconnected; to affect perception of the human relationship with the environment, to affect attitudes and therefore individual and collective behaviors; to make people the aware protagonists of a change towards more environmentally friendly, livable and equitable societies.

Discover The Initiative

Other project

Earth Prize International

From 2018 to 2020 the Earth Prize was organized by the WEEC Network in collaboration with the Municipality of Luino on Lake Maggiore. WEEC Earth Prize’s mission was to identify and recognize people, organizations, and projects replicable in other parts of the world, aimed at protecting and enhancing landscapes and environmental resources, in the light of climate changes occurring in the world.

At the end of 2020, the WEEC Network handed responsibility for this award to the Earth Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Earth Prize is now a $200,000 worth environmental sustainability competition for teenage students everywhere. The Earth Prize will recognize students and schools offering the best solutions to accelerate positive change towards environmental sustainability, according to the judjment of the Earth Prize Adjudicating Panel.

As part of the Earth Prize, and following the legacy of the original award, WEEC’s Secretary-General, Professor Mario Salomone, selects and awards a teacher who made an outstanding contribution to education with the Earth Prize Educator of the Year award, a $12,500 cash prize delivered by The Earth Foundation.

You can read more on:

https://www.theearthprize.org/

Discover The Project

International Secretariat

Via del Carmine, 15
10122 Torino – Italy
tel.+39 0114366522
secretariat@weecnetwork.org

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