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CEPA Fair Guide 2022

Overview

The CEPA Fair consists of two components: 1) a virtual exhibition of outreach materials and 2) thematic side-events (discussions, presentations or performances). Please note that, due to COVID restrictions, the in-person portion of the fair will be held from 8 to 10 December 2022 and there will be no on-site exhibition. The virtual part will be more flexible. More details are available in the drop-down menu below. 

 

Participate

Important: In order to participate in the CEPA Fair on site, you must be registered to the UN Biodiversity Conference. Registration instructions are in the Information Note for ParticipantsFor more details, please refer to the notification.

Please read the instructions for participating in the CEPA Fair and submit your proposal in the drop-down menu below, under the heading Participate on site or virtually.

The public does not need to be registered as recordings of the events will be available online.

 

2022 CEPA Fair Themes

The CEPA Fair highlights overarching themes for the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols as follows. Participants may further subdivide the themes into specific topics or propose other themes for consideration.

The CEPA Fair themes are in the context of communicating the new global biodiversity framework. Work of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing is highlighted through these themes, but may also feature different themes, specific to each Protocol.

  1. Biodiversity Day celebrations

As a concrete outcome of the Fair, Participants are expected to organize or coordinate Biodiversity Day celebrations in a significant and impactful manner (large scale) at their national level, involving other sectors.

  1. Dialogue with other sectors

There is a need to align biodiversity messages with non-environmental sectors’ values in order to get those sectors’ buy-in. There is also a need to better coordinate messages within the related fields of work within the scope of the CBD. The CEPA Fair will give priority to discussions and debates with representatives from sectors not related to the environment.

  1. Methods of awareness raising and behaviour change

Participants will showcase proven methods for achieving behaviour change (not necessarily related to environmental awareness, but any action/policy that achieved this) and discuss ways to up-scale these actions. Learn about approaches and effects of information distribution and awareness raising. Analyze communications approaches in national context.

  1. Best practices in biosafety communication

An opportunity for Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to highlight best practices in biosafety communication. Please contact ulrika.nilsson@un.org for details.

 

Contact us

Please send questions and comments to cepa.fair@cbd.int, thank you.

 

CEPA Fair is short for the Fair on experiences and best practices in Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) related to biodiversity. It takes place at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP).

CEPA is a Programme of Work of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing are supplementary agreements to the CBD, and are integral parts of the CEPA Fair

Participants are Parties, other Governments (national or subnational) and Organizations (international organizations, NGOs, businesses, IPLCs and civil society in general) actively participating in the CEPA Fair. An Organizer is the main contact person representing the participant, and liaising with the CBD Secretariat to organize the activity.

The fair provides participants with a unique opportunity to showcase their work, national experiences, and contribution to the implementation of the Convention in the context of CEPA. The activities presented at the CEPA Fair represent the foundation upon which work in support of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework will be implemented.

Participants have the opportunity to hold a side-event in any or all of the formats below. The Secretariat reserves the right to assemble side-events into a panel format, in consultation with the organizers. Participants may propose other formats to be considered by the Secretariat.

1) Discussion

Discussions are highly encouraged in particular in the context of forming new partnerships and increasing impact of your work.

2) Presentation

Presentations should demonstrate activities related to the listed themes. The presentations may be stand-alone or  part of a jointly-organized event.

3) Performance

Side-events may incorporate theatrical, musical or other performances if deemed relevant.

Please note that due to COVID restrictions and the short duration of the fair (3 days), there will be no on-site exhibition in 2022.

IMPORTANT: All materials (photos, videos, etc.) to be shared through the CEPA Fair must be copyright-free or have written permission of the copyrights holders.

Links to websites and materials may be shared on the CEPA Fair webpage and/or social media. However, the CBD Secretariat does not endorse the submitted content.

If you wish to promote your communication materials or initiatives through the CEPA Fair, please share your ready-made posts through social media with @UNBiodiversity (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) or send them to cepa.fair@cbd.int.

Criteria for graphic/video materials

  • Includes COP15/CEPA Fair branding (i.e. videos may be repurposed, but should not seem outdated)
  • Available on a popular video platform (ex. youtube, vimeo, etc.)
  • Contains your own content, copyright-free content, or written permission. 
  • Videos do not need to be professional, but image and sound need to be of high quality (ex. good lighting, legible text, no background noise/buzzing, etc.).

The CBD Secretariat can provide basic guidance on the above, however, it is not in a position to produce/edit videos.

During the weeks leading up to the CEPA Fair, participants (on-site and remote) are expected to organize a series of virtual discussions, webinars or presentations so that the short time available at COP15 (8-10 Dec) is used mainly for dialogues and workshops leading to concrete outcomes and actions.

Benefits of participating

  • Promote your work, your country or organization in an international setting
  • Network with likeminded people to initiate new collaborations for achieving your goals, and for implementing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework
  • Get inspired by other people’s work at the international level
  • Gain insight into current trends, learn what works and what doesn’t
  • Inspire others and encourage them to adopt your good practices

Participation criteria

In order to allow maximum access and participation, the 2022 CEPA Fair will be hybrid (with a strong virtual component). This means that potentially anyone can participate, in any time zone. For this reason, criteria are established as follows:

  1. Priority to Parties

The CEPA Fair will accommodate all Parties (government representatives).

Remaining speaking opportunities will be granted as follows.

  1. Communication/Education Heads

The main requirement to participate in the CEPA Fair 2022 dialogues is to secure the participation of:

Two or more Heads of Communications from any of the following:

  • Office of the Head of State
  • Ministry of Education
  • Ministry unrelated to environment (Energy & Climate ok, if separate from Ministry of Environment)
  • Major business or industry (10,000+ employees)
  • Major university (or equivalent educational institution)
  • Major/global NGO or IGO (not environmental)
  • Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

or

  • A celebrity or other charismatic speaker/influencer (1M+ followers)
  1. Gender balance

The CEPA Fair aims to set a gender balance standard. Participants are asked to ensure a diversity of panel members (i.e. same number of women and men).

  1. Regional cooperation

Special consideration will be given to participants who can secure involvement of a neighbouring country (because biodiversity/biomes span beyond borders).

Participants are responsible for advertizing their CEPA Fair activities among their constituents. Please share your social media posts with @UNBiodiversity for further promotion.

The Secretariat reserves the right to modify/complement the discussion panels.

There is no fee for participation.

On-site

Please note that on-site participation (8-10 December) is restricted and not all Participants can be offered the opportunity to showcase their work. The Secretariat reserves the right to select Participants.

Remote

Virtual participation offers more flexibility (any dates, time zones, languages) as these are intended to get maximum visibility at your national level.

Virtual participation can take the forms of an online discussion (preferred), webinar or presentation.

Submit a proposal

Participants are invited to submit a proposal to be reviewed by the CBD Secretariat and, if selected, incorporated into the programme. Proposals that bring together more than one participant are encouraged and prioritized.

Please complete and submit the proposal form.

Depending on interest in the themes, a programme will be established to accommodate the majority of Parties to the CBD. Participants always decide what and how they wish to present. However, it is suggested to follow this order:

Weeks preceding COP15 part 2

Participants are invited to:

  • Hold (and record) a discussion or webinar at the national level about:
    • Quantitative assessment of biodiversity awareness
    • Creative solutions used to address communication/education challenges
    • Biodiversity Day achievements

Panel members are invited to:

    • Discuss their perspectives
    • Give an overview of their actions for biodiversity
    • Initiate a discussion about (joint) large-scale Biodiversity Day celebrations
    • Initiate a discussion that would lead to positive behaviour change

The CBD Secretariat may facilitate sessions for Parties as needed. These sessions will enable Participants to save time and dive into discussions during COP15.

  • Alternatively, the background information may be provided in a document not longer than 2 pages. Whether a video or a document, the background information should be made available to the CEPA Fair and to the public.

During COP15 part 2 (8-10 December)

Whether on-site of off-site, the CEPA Fair will consist of dialogues and workshops on the themes mentioned above.

Off-site, the CEPA Fair may potentially run round the clock (24 hours) because these are national discussions in any time zone.

After COP15 part 2

Participants are expected to:

  • Share a short report on any new developments arising from the CEPA Fair activities
  • Share their national Biodiversity Day 2023 celebrations plans
  • Describe how/where the sectors found common interests (log of lessons learned)
  • Invite the public to join in their 2023 Biodiversity Day celebrations

Participation in the CEPA Fair and/or Biodiversity Day may be taken into consideration when selecting members for the next CEPA-IAC – Informal Advisory Committee on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CBD/SBI/3/L.5). For more information please contact the CBD Secretariat.

Please, let’s try to practice what we preach. This means, as much as possible, no waste – reduce flyers and find other (more effective) ways to advertize, recycle/compost materials, offer eco-friendly catering choices. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Depending on the COVID-19 situation, the above may not be fully feasible. Participants unable to meet the criteria or experiencing other challenges impeding participation are invited to contact the Secretariat to be evaluated case by case. If the above criteria are not met, participants seeking an opportunity to speak may be put on a waiting list.