As Secretary-General of the WEEC Permanent Secretariat, it is with a great pleasure that I invite scholars, researchers, educators, teachers, institutions involved in the environmental education as well as NGOs, and all the people interested to attend the 8th World Environmental Congress on June 2015 at Goteborg.
The WEEC congresses have taken periodically place since 2003 and have represented an important moment to share and continue the work we are all carrying forward towards a more sustainable future.
The WEECs are the most important occasion for collecting all public and private actors of the environmental education and the sole international network we are engaged in enhancing.
As Arjen Wals stresses, there are challenges concerning people, planet and profit. These challenges include measuring each of them and profit has always seemed to be favoured.
That’s the reason why from our point of view, next year at the 8th WEEC planet and people will be focused, which deserve much more attention from all of us.
Improving the relationship among people and social cohesion is strictly linked with the care for the territory where we live. In the same way the protection of environment and the respect of human beings, as well as of other species, promotes a more equal distribution of wealth and social justice.
Our concern towards environment and sustainability should move finally from awareness to sustainable life styles also to face the emergence of climate change and other environmental dangers and calamities thanks to resilience.
The education and involvement of children is one of the most important targets, because young people, with their creativity and imagination, represent the linking between the present and the future particularly in a period of deep change.
As extreme and wide poverty doesn’t help to improve the already difficult relationship between people and environment, we are strongly engaged in research to overcome, together with the need of water and food, cultural and digital divide.
The city of Goteborg has always shown a strong commitment in environmental sustainability, so have done the two Universities of the town which will be hosting the event.
I wish and welcome a broad participation from all five continents and I hope you will all join the 8th World Environment Education Congress and the network.
Mario Salomone
Secretary-General WEEC
