Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) is a network of international youth engaged in environmental journalism and Education for Sustainable Development. It is coordinated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and operates in 30 countries.

YRE is aiming to develop participants’ skills and knowledge, for example, giving them a deeper understanding of sustainable development, enhancing their communication and citizenship skills, individual initiative, team work, critical analysis, social responsibility and leadership abilities.

At WEEC young reporters from Sweden, Slovakia and Turkey participated and wrote reports from the congress.

You can read their excellent work here and here.

The project is being carried out with financial support from the Swedish Institute.

To see the videos from the plenary sessions please click here.

To see all photos please go to Flickr.

Photos by: Saman Nazari, Fotokooperativet
For any questions regarding the photos please contact saman@fotokooperativet.se

Curriculum Challenges for and from Environmental Education

A Virtual Special Issue from the Journal of Curriculum Studies created for WEEC 2015

From 20^th June, this link will give users free access to Volume 21, Issue 3 of Environmental Education Research, which is the Special Issue on Environmental Education in a Neoliberal Climate. Free access is only available directly through this link and it will be active from 20^th June until the end of July.

All participants are encouraged to see the excellent posters that have been especially designed and made for the congress and to take the opportunity to discuss the posters with their authors. The poster exhibition area is located in the Concert Hall.

You can read more about the titles, poster authors and when they take place here

To read the whole abstracts please go here

Session I

Monday June 29 – Tuesday June 30

Theme 1-7 (701-P – 769-P)

Session II       

Wednesday July 1 – Thursday July 2

Theme 8-11 (801-P – 863-P)

In addition, during the below occasions the poster author will be present by their poster:

Session I, Posters Monday and Tuesday

Theme 1, 29 June, 15:30-16:00

Theme 2, 29 June, 15:30-16:00

Theme 3, 30 June, 10:30-11:00

Theme 4, 30 June, 10:30-11:00

Theme 5, 30 June, 13:00-13:30

Theme 6, 30 June, 15:30-16:00

Theme7, 30 June, 15:30-16:00

Session II , Posters Wednesday and Thursday

Theme 8, 1 July, 10:30-11:00

Theme 9a, 1 July, 12:30-13:00

Theme 9b, 1 July, 13:00-13:30

Theme 10, 1 July, 15:30-16:00

Theme 11, 2 July, 10:00-10:30

World Environmental Day (WED) is celebrated on the 5th of June. This year the theme is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”. The United Nations has initiated World Environment Day (WED) to raise environmental awareness and to encourage actions for the environment.

“The well-being of humanity, the environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. And yet, evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.”

Read more on WED’s webpage.

#WED2015

Only clean tap water is served here.

Healthy and sustainable, without transport and waste.

A tap water certified event is an event free from bottled
water. By being tap water certified  you show that you take a stand
for a better environment and inspire other to choose tap water when possible.

—————————————————————————

Här serveras bara rent kranvatten.

Hälsosamt och hållbart, utan transporter och avfall.

Ett kranmärkt event är ett event fritt från buteljerat vatten.
Genom kranmärkningen visar du att du tar ställning för en
bättre miljö och inspirerar andra att också välja kranvatten.

The plenary session on Tuesday 30th of June between 17:00 and 18:00 will be about the GAP: “Everything you’d wish to know about the GAP but were reluctant to ask!”. – But what is the GAP?

The United Nations Decade of ESD (DESD) ended by the end of last year with the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Nagoya. Under the banner “Learning Today for a Sustainable Future” the achievements of the past decade were celebrated and plans for the future of ESD were made. “By raising awareness, influencing policies and generating significant numbers of good practice projects in all areas of education and learning” (Final report DESD, UNESCO (2014) DESD is said to have achieved a solid foundation for ESD. To continue the work the official follow-up programme will be the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD, coordinated and implemented by UNESCO.

The Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD seeks to generate and scale-up ESD action. It is intended to make a substantial contribution to the post-2015 agenda.

The overall goal of the GAP is to generate and scale up action in all levels and areas of education and learning to accelerate progress towards sustainable development.

The GAP has two objectives:

• to reorient education and learning so that everyone has the opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that empower them to contribute to sustainable development – and make a difference;
• to strengthen education and learning in all agendas, programmes and activities that promote sustainable development.

The GAP focuses on five priority action areas:

1. Advancing policy;
2. Integrating sustainability practices into education and training environments (whole-institution approaches);
3. Increasing the capacity of educators and trainers;
4. Empowering and mobilizing youth;
5. Encouraging local communities and municipal authorities to develop community-based ESD programmes.

All concerned ESD stakeholders are invited to contribute to the implementation of the Global Action Programme (GAP) through their varying activities, projects and programmes at the global, regional, national and/or local levels.

Reference: UNESCO

Welcome to the plenary session on Tuesday 30th of June between 17:00 and 18:00: “Everything you’d wish to know about the GAP but were reluctant to ask!” to learn more about the GAP.

Panel Discussion: “A Decade has ended. What was planted? What still needs planting and cultivating? And what may need uprooting?”

On Thursday 2nd of July the last of the exciting WEEC2015 plenary sessions will take place between 10:30 and 12:30. It will be an intensive discussion with great and experienced international panelists around the topic “A Decade has ended. What was planted? What still needs planting and cultivating? And what may need uprooting?”. Be sure not to miss it.

The end of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014) marks the beginning of the Global Action Programme on ESD, endorsed by UNESCO Member States and acknowledged by the UN General Assembly as follow up to the DESD. In this WEEC2015 closing plenary panel five key figures in ESD and EE discuss the achievements, shortcomings and next steps for ESD and its older cousin EE. Alexander Leicht (Chief of UNESCO’s ESD section), Mahesh Pradhan (Chief of UNEP’s EE and Training Unit) Judy Braus (President of NAAEE), Kartikeya Sarabhai (Director of CEE, India), Oluwafunmilayo Oyatogun (from Bailiff Africa, Nigeria) and Ingrid Moum Rieser (Swedish Youth Representative at the DESD conference in Nagoya) will each provide a short commentary after which a discussion will be moderated by Frans Lenglet (Former Director of SWEDESD) who will also bring in the audience. What will be needed to create a genuine transformation of education, governance and economy towards healthier, more equitable, ecologically mindful, meaningful and just lifestyles? Where do the panel members see the niches that signify such a transformation and how can they be strengthened through education, teaching, learning and new forms of inquiry and research that bridge theory and practice? The discussion will be informed by the key outcomes of the 11 thematic areas of the conference.

Panelists:

Alexander Leicht, Chief, Section of Education for Sustainable Development, UNESCO

Mahesh Pradhan, Chief of UNEP’s Environmental Education and Training Unit (EETU)

Judy Braus, President of NAAEE

Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director of CEE, India

Oluwafunmilayo Oyatogun, from Bailiff Africa, Nigeria

Ingrid Moum Rieser, Swedish Youth Representative at the DESD conference in Nagoya

Moderator: Frans Lenglet, Former Director of SWEDESD