News – Page 31 – weecnetwork

Water, circular economy and mobility: Oslo is the Green Capital City 2019

17 July 2018/0 Comments/in News/by WEEC Network

Oslo, the capital city of Norway, won the European Green Capital Award for 2019. The city is surrounded by the Marka Forest, a nationally protected area, and the Oslo Fjord, both connected by a number of waterways.

The city’s waterways have been subject to a new revolutionary strategy which has completely reversed the previous approach of enclosing these channels. They are now being actively re-opened in order to make them accessible for people, to efficiently manage stormwater and facilitate development and restoration of habitat.

Tackling climate change is a high priority for Oslo. The city aims to cut emissions by 50% by 2020 (compared to 1990) and to be carbon neutral by 2050. Oslo has introduced a range of integrated measures to achieve these ambitious targets, for example, by promoting zero emissions transport. The city has become the ‘Electric Vehicle Capital of the World’ with 30% of all vehicles now sold in the city being electric.

Improvements in cycling and public transport infrastructure, the introduction of car free zones, and encouraging the use of electric vehicles, will not only help the city reach its climate goals, it will also greatly reduce air and noise pollution, and enhance the urban environment for its citizens.

Innovation and the promotion of new jobs in the circular economy is a priority for Oslo and the city is at the forefront of circular use of available resources. Biogas produced from bio-waste and city sewage is used to fuel city buses and waste trucks.

Oslo also established the ‘Business for Climate Network’ to foster cooperation between the business community, citizens and NGOs in addressing the impact business operations have on the climate.

In 2016, the city introduced a ‘Climate Budget’, an initiative consisting of 42 separate measures across three sectors: energy and the built environment, transport, and resources. Carbon Dioxide emissions are now being counted in the same way a financial budget would account for funding. The unique ‘Climate Budget’ is one of the main initiatives that the City of Oslo is driving to reach its goal of 50% emissions reduction by 2020.

Lisbon, European Green Capital 2020

17 July 2018/0 Comments/in News/by WEEC Network

The Portuguese city of Lisbon has won the European Green Capital Award for 2020. These prestigious titles were awarded by the EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, at an awards ceremony in Nijmegen, the Netherlands – the current European Green Capital.

Lisbon receives a 350000 euros financial incentive from the European Commission to kick-start its green capital year. Commissioner Vella said: “I am delighted to be awarding Europe’s green city awards for the eleventh time to a new champion of urban sustainability, and for the sixth and seventh time to smaller green cities. Globally we are faced with enormous environmental challenges. Climate change, over consumption, plastic waste and biodiversity loss are major threats to our cities and our future. It is heartening and inspiring to see such strong leadership from Lisbon, and other European Green Capital winners. With best practice environmental management, good urban planning, and citizens at the heart of their green transformation, they showed how to turn environmental challenges into opportunities, and make their cities healthy and enjoyable places to stay, live and work in.”

The Expert Panel highlighted that Lisbon is particularly strong in the field of sustainable land use, sustainable urban mobility (transport), green growth & eco innovation, climate change adaptation and waste: Lisbon was the first capital in Europe to sign the New Covenant of Mayors for Climate Change and Energy in 2016, after achieving a 50% reduction in C02 emissions (2002-14); reducing energy consumption by 23% and water consumption by 17% from 2007 to 2013;
It has a clear vision for sustainable urban mobility, with measures to restrict car use and prioritise cycling, public transport, and walking. In 2017 Lisbon launched a bike-sharing scheme, with electric bikes comprising two thirds of the fleet to encourage cycling in the hillier parts of the city; It has one of the world’s largest networks of electric vehicle charging points, while 39% of the municipal car fleet is electric; 93.3% of people in Lisbon live within 300 m of a frequent public transport service; 76% of people in Lisbon live within 300 m of green urban areas, and It has a strong commitment to sustainable land use with particular focus on establishing green infrastructure, or connected networks of green space, to counteract the effects of climate change, such as drought, extreme heat, and storm flooding.

WEEC 2021, here apply the Call for bids

5 July 2018/8 Comments/in Press/by WEEC Network

Who will be the next? Universities, associations, institutions involved in environmental education can apply the form to organise the next WEEC Congress. The Call for bids is now open. A new edition of the World Environmental Education Congress is ready to be planned.
The public or private non-profit organizations concerned in the candidacy of their own country as the seat of the 11th WEEC in 2021 must send an Expression of Interest (EOI) and fill the Application Form (ask: secretariat@weecnetwork.org).

Read all information here: Call for bids_2021

World Environmental Education Day

2 July 2018/0 Comments/in Press/by WEEC Network

Make the difference. The World Environmental Education Day is celebrated on 14 October. From 14 to 26 October each year, 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 ever more interconnected. To affect perception of the human relationship with the environment, to affect attitudes and therefore individual and collective behaviors. To make people awaring protagonists of a change towards more environmental friendly, more livable and more equitable societies.
On October 14, 1977, the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, organized by UNESCO and UNEP, opened in Tbilisi (Georgia’s capital), which ended on October 26 with a statement of great relevance, still today.

The Coordination of the World EE Day is taken care by the world-wide network of environmental educators who, each two years, give life to the main congress in that field (the WEEC, World Environmental Education Congress).

Earth Prize international 2018

15 June 2018/0 Comments/in Press/by WEEC Network

The first edition of Earth Prize: a prize for environmental education and landscape has been announced in Milan, in the prestigious venue of the Lombardy Region on Thursday 14 June.
The event will be place in Luino (Va) in Lombardy, on the border with Switzerland, on 23 and 24 June, where also schools and characters from Maggiore Lake and nearby valleys will be rewarded. «Earth Prize wants to be a multiplier of positive actions for the environment and the quality of life», explains the journalist and writer Luca Novelli, artistic director of the award.
Earth Prize International is promoted by WEEC Network (World Environmental Education Congress) and the City of Luino. Patronage of Touring Club Italiano, Slow Food, ISDE – International Society of Doctors for Environment, Comunità Montana Alpi del Verbano and FIMA – Federazione italiana dei media ambientali. Supported by Fondazione Comunitaria del Varesotto.

«I want to express my appreciation for this initiative that senses awareness society to adopting responsible lifestyles» declares the Councillor for Environment and Climate of the Lombardy Region, Raffaele Cattaneo.

«With over 15 years of experience and the organization of ten World Congresses of Environmental Education, the WEEC Network – says the International Permanent Secretariat of WEEC Mario Salomone – is pleased to give life to this first edition of the Earth Prize, first of all by awarding an important association of Young Reporters for the Environment, present in 34 countries involving 310.000 young people».

The nominations 2018

During the event the following exponents and representatives of environmental media will be awarded:
EarthPrize International to the Young Reporters for the Environment network, based in Copenhagen, which invites, informing, to universal brotherhood.
EarthPrize Media to the radio transmission Radio2 Caterpillar, Mi illumino di meno.
EarthPrize Landscape for the publisher and journalist Francesca Marzotto Caotorta.
Nomination for Linea Verde, historic italian television program and EarthPrize Media for the TV program of the Swiss Radio Television Il Giardino di Albert.
EarthPrize International award to Reinhold and Magdalene Messner.
Award for Silver, the creator of Lupo Alberto comic. A nomination for the Trekking Locarno-Venezia.
Nominations related to the territory hosting the event: the project GreenSchool that involved tens of thousands of young people and the APP made by the students of Luino, which allows you to find free and safe car, adding a technological value to the “Equostop” sustainable mobility project.

Earth Prize International is a prize born thinking of the Paris agreements on climate and Pope Francis, to whom this first edition will be dedicated. His encyclical “Laudato Sì” has placed Ecology and Environmental Education at the center of peace and our future.

In Luino – Lake Maggiore (Italy) the Earth Prize 2018

24 May 2018/0 Comments/in Press/by WEEC Network

The First edition of the Earth Prize is promoted by the Permanent secretariat of the World Environmental Education Congress Network (WEEC Network) and the City of Luino (Italy). The Prize is organised for recognition to people and organizations having contributed with their ideas, actions or innovations to change collective behavior to more sustainable lifestyles, through best practices, literary and popular works, films and television broadcasts, landscape projects, communication campaigns, studies and research which improved environmental education along all ages of life.

The Award has an international dimension through the WEEC network and its biennial conferences (World Environmental Education Congresses).

The Earth Prize ceremony was held on June 23 and 24, in Luino, a prestigious italian location on the Lake Maggiore. The activities have seen the participation of community organizations and local State schools that presented their works towards environment.
For more information visit the official website

Among the winners of this edition: the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE), a global network which aims to empower young people to take a stand on environmental issues by which they feel strongly attracted. The global network also provides them a platform to express these issues through the media of writing, photography or video.
To see more about YRE visit the official website

Australia, call for contributions AAEE conference 2018

7 May 2018/1 Comment/in News/by WEEC Network

The Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) and the 2018 AAEE Conference Organising Group invite you in Australia, to the Gold Coast, between 21-25 October 2018 for the 20th Biennial Conference and 3rd Research Symposium. The Call for Contributions is open here.
The Conference theme of Creating Capacity for Change builds on AAEE’s strong tradition of sharing the latest in environmental education theory, policy and practice to support excellent environmental and sustainability education and build capacity for change in children, young people and adults.
The Conference will discuss the ways in which environmental and sustainability educators can respond to the environmental, social and political challenges and how to build – in ourselves and in others – the capacity for change.
With an already strong base of environmental and sustainability education participants, this conference continues to share and build knowledge and capacity through a multi-disciplinary, multi- sector approach that encourages and enables a diversity of insights and practices from different sectors to be shared and discussed. The aim is also to promote the key role played by environmental and sustainability education in developing and empowering individuals, communities and societies.

The Conference program, which includes social activities such as the welcome reception and conference dinner, will provide an ideal opportunity to network with colleagues, old and new.
«We invite you to join us on this journey of learning, sharing, collaborating and showcasing the best that environmental and sustainability education has to offer» say Jo Ferreira and Cam Mackenzie, Conference Co-Convenors and organisers of the 8WEEC congress in 2011.

Sustainable practices in 30 Islamic finance institutions

7 May 2018/1 Comment/in News/by WEEC Network

The Responsible Finance & Investment Summit 2018 concluded with the release by the RFI Foundation of a report about Islamic financial institutions’ perceptions and actions on their environmental and social impacts. «The report includes a detailed survey of over 30 Islamic financial institutions’ sustainable finance practices – says Blake Goud, CEO, RFI Foundation – The survey finds growing awareness that Islamic finance has an ethical mandate to address social and environmental impacts linked to the activities they finance. The results of a survey, coupled with an examination of more than 30 case studies from Islamic finance and within Muslim majority countries finds that key challenges on implementation, building internal and external stakeholder awareness about the financial impact of environmental and social issues, and highlight the need for greater capacity building within the Islamic finance ecosystem».

The survey results are incorporated into some recommendations and conclusions including:
– Development well-structured strategies and enhanced policies for environmental and social issues within Islamic financial institutions including incentive programs tied to social and environmental outcomes;
– Greater consideration of how awqaf (perpetual endowments) can be mobilized in support of sustainable infrastructure, education, healthcare, food security, renewable energy, and water management, among others
– Training employees and management in Islamic financial institutions to enhance their focus on environmental and social issues in their business decision-making process, including a more proactive role for Shari’ah scholars on sustainable business practices.

Quebec coalition for environmental education and ecocitizenship

7 May 2018/0 Comments/in News/by WEEC Network

The Coalition Education – Environment – Ecocitizenship is a group of organizations and individuals mobilized to stimulate the institutionalization and the full deployment of an environmental and eco-citizenship education in the Quebec society, both in communities formal education than in non-formal educational contexts.
This strategy is the result of the work of a collective of actors from 57 institutions and organizations of our educational society, aware of the need to vigorously promote the role of environmental education and eco-citizenship in Quebec.
The Coalition was structured within the framework of the work of a partnership platform set up by the research center in education and training related to the environment and eco-citizenship of UQAM. In order to contribute to the vast socio-ecological transformation that is required in our society, the Coalition pursues a twofold mission:
– Promote the advancement of environmental education and eco-citizenship in Quebec by bringing together the actors of the various sectors concerned and by democratically developing a concerted action to this end.
– Promoting the adoption and implementation of a Québec Environmental Education Strategy in the public space and with the various decision-making bodies in the fields of education, the environment and associated fields and eco-citizenship, which is reflected in public policy elements, accompanied by structuring action plans.

Given the collective and political nature of the mission, objectives and actions of the Coalition, the following principles must be respected:
– Adopt a democratic, coherent and concerted mode of operation; in this sense, any initiative taken on behalf of the Coalition should be shared, discussed and validated by the Coordination Committee before being carried out;
– Recognize and respect the right of dissent or reserve for certain actions or speeches that will not result in consensus; each initiative of the Coalition will result in a consultation of members to this effect;
– When speaking publicly on behalf of the Coalition, ensure that the statements in the Strategy are properly expressed, and that the Coalition’s approach is not partisan.

Statuts_Coalition Éducation Environnement Ecocitoyenneté

Stratégie (Détaillée) 2 avril 2018

Stratégie (Sommaire) 2 avril 2018

Italian National Days of the WEEC Network

25 April 2018/1 Comment/in Press/by WEEC Network

The Italian National Days of the WEEC Network, Environmental education and sustainability held in Naples, April 20-21 2018, had as main objective the cultural exchange between diversified realities operating within the EAS.
This goal gave rise to the need for a national meeting in which the fruitful exchange of experiences and the relationships between the participants became elements of growth of the network and its future development.
A second objective is to enhance the initiatives of those who work today in various capacities in the EAS, in schools, in natural and urban contexts, in the business world and in the university, through the presentation of innovative experiences for methodologies, languages or implementation contexts.
The choice of Naples as a symbolic city wants to encourage the participation of all the people of “good will” who, especially in Southern Italy, find themselves reuniting different realities, both social and sensitization to sustainability.

The WEEC Italy Network, launched in 2013 following the WEEC World Congress in Marrakech and consolidated in the successive World Congresses in Gothenburg and Vancouver, at the EAS European Days in Bergamo, thanks to the first National Workshop held at the CNR in Porano in 2016 and the cycle of meetings (also transmitted in streaming) “Tessere Nuove Connessioni” to Oxy.gen of the Parco Nord Milano in 2017, is today an aggregative subject able to enhance the effort of diversified energies in the country, public and private, that beyond geographical affiliations recognize themselves in a common manifesto of values to promote a sustainable society through educational processes.

Read the program here

Videos

Photo: Natural Reserve WWF “Cratere degli Astroni”, near Naples

Water, circular economy and mobility: Oslo is the Green Capital City 2019

Lisbon, European Green Capital 2020

WEEC 2021, here apply the Call for bids

World Environmental Education Day

Earth Prize international 2018

In Luino – Lake Maggiore (Italy) the Earth Prize 2018

Australia, call for contributions AAEE conference 2018

Sustainable practices in 30 Islamic finance institutions

Quebec coalition for environmental education and ecocitizenship

Italian National Days of the WEEC Network

International Secretariat

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