The 2nd Meeting of the Mediterranean ESD Committee & Regional ESD Workshop took place with success on 24-26 July 2019 in the city of Heraklion in Crete hosted by the Heraklion Development Agency and the Region of Crete, organised by MIO-ECSDE/MEdIES and the UNESCO Chair on ESD in the Mediterranean, supported by the UN Environment/MAP, UfM and the Ministry of Education of Cyprus and under the official auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, the Hellenic Ministry of Environment & Energy and the Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO.

The meeting gathered 80 participants from 20 countries, and namely: Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Syria and Tunisia, Turkey. The participants were mainly representatives of the Ministries of Education, Environment that follow the Action Plan of the MSESD processes, Universities and NGO staff, as well as representatives of: UNESCO, UN Environment/MAP, UNECE, UfM and LAS.

The meeting served a two-fold purpose: (A) To review the progress made in mainstreaming and applying the Action Plan of the Mediterranean Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (MSESD) by the countries and stakeholders, and provide input to the international and regional processes and frameworks where MSESD is integrated: ESD 2030 (by UNESCO, following the GAP), the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development (MSSD), the initiatives of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). (B) To promote thematic priorities of the region through the lenses of ESD, such as:

- Education on Sustainable Consumption & Production (SCP) | links with green and circular economy

- Combating Marine Litter and Plastics through ESD & promoting ocean literacy

- ESD & Biodiversity issues | links with Biosphere Reserves (BRs)

- Education for Human Rights, Refugees & Inclusive Societies

In the afternoon of June 24 the Executive Meeting of the Med. ESD Committee took place during which a review of the Committees' activities made by Prof Scoullos, followed by a discussion on potential orientations for the next period of: 2019 - 2021, and the overall framework of collaborations & resources for the Committee's activities and initiatives. Members of the Committee are: UNESCO and UNESCO Venice Office,UN Environment/MAP, UNECE, UfM, LAS and the Ministries of Education of Cyprus (Chair), Croatia, Greece, Malta, Portugal and the Ministry of Environment of Jordan, while MEdIES of MIO-ECSDE has been entrusted with the overall Technical Secretariat of  the Committee.

During the two-days Workshop that followed on 25-26 June, the participants shared their experiences on ESD national plans and programmes and SDGs strategies. To this end, the Workshop was divided to four Thematic Sessions including key presentations and interventions by participants, on Education on SCP, Combating Marine Litter and Plastics through ESD, ESD & Biodiversity/ Biosphere Reserves (BRs), and Education for Human Rights, Refugees & Inclusive Societies.

Find here the Presentations.

In general, all countries had an important progress to share regarding ESD promotion and mainstreaming in the related policies, agendas and initiatives, at the national level,  since the 1st Meeting of the Med. ESD Committee, in Nicosia, Cyprus (November 2017), a fact very encouraging and positive, as the Chair of the Committee and Prof Scoullos, pointed out. Prof Scoullos pleged, on behalf of the Secretariat, to report this information to the liaised international organisations and bodies, and make some highlights during the UNESCO ESD & GCED Forum  in Viet Nam (2-5 July 2019). Additionally, the need of more and effective collaboration among countries and programmes was once more highlighted and the Secretariat promised to intensify efforts towards this end, with the help of the counties. Last but not least, the case and example of the Asterousia area of a territory committed to be sustainable and keep strong links with ESD was noted as one of the take-home messages.

Documentation

Final Programme

List of references

Concept note

The Mediterranean Strategy on ESD (MSESD) (trilingual publication)

The Action Plan of the MSESD in English French Arabic

Link of Dropbox (photos)

Snapshots from the meetings