Side Event
Biodiversity Conservation and Education for Sustainable Development
Organizer
Centre for Environment Education India
Date and Time
17 October 2012 18:15 - 19:45
Meeting
Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11)
Conservation of biodiversity cannot be achieved without the active participation and support from civil society. Students, Decision Makers, Business Professionals and others need to understand the key underlying issues involved in biodiversity conservation and the way development affects this. For people to begin to recognize the relationship between biodiversity and human well-being and reflect on how this is exemplified in every -day life there is a need to recognize the need for biodiversity education as an essential component of ESD. It is therefore important to strengthen education programmes with a stronger biodiversity component so that they enable educators and learners to protect biodiversity. The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD 2004-2014) focuses on engaging people on education and training to address the inter linkages between ecosystems and livelihoods, nature with culture, society with the economy, and the actions we can take without affecting our quality of life. Biodiversity is acknowledged as a key issue that needs to be part of awareness-raising, learning and education for a sustainable future. The Decade aims at reorienting educational programmes in order to develop new educational contents and materials; and formulate new learning paths that would take into account the meaning and importance of biodiversity through quality education in the area of biodiversity. Centre for Environment Education (CEE) is organizing a parallel event in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, titled “Learning to Conserve Biodiversity in a Rapidly Developing World” on 13 and 14 October, 2012 at Hyderabad. The outcomeS of this conference will be shared and discussed at the side event. The side event will discuss various thematic areas like • Biodiversity Education in Schools • Higher Education • Youth • Biodiversity and Cultural diversity • Communication, Media and Biodiversity • Rural Communities - Sustainable Livelihoods • Biodiversity Use in Responsible Business • Non-formal/Outdoor education/Eco Tourism, • Interpretation – Protected Areas/ Gardens/Zoos • Urban Biodiversity