Communication, Education & Public Awareness

One-Year Anniversary Meeting with the Canadian University Consortium

On 22 May 2006, the Executive Secretary of the CBD extended an invitation to several Canadian universities and research institutions to meet for a roundtable discussion on collaboration with the CBD. At the conclusion of this meeting, an agreement with the Secretariat was signed to join forces in order to mobilize the scientific and technical community in support of the enhanced implementation phase of the Convention.

This year, in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, a meeting was held in the afternoon of 22 May to take stock of the progress achieved.

The main purpose of the one-hour meeting was to share the successes of what has been done to date. For example, the Centre for International Studies and Research (CEDRIE) of Université de Montréal organized a 2-day symposium, the 17-18 May, on the implementation of the CBD. Carleton University and Université Laval have both put together “biodiversity networks,” in the hopes of being able to increase collaboration between researchers, centres and universities on biodiversity conservation efforts.

The meeting ended with the official signing of the Letter of Intent with Université Laval. Mr. Michel Pigeon, Chancellor of Université Laval and Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the SCBD signed the letter. A light cocktail reception followed.