International Forum on Youth and Wetlands - a pre-COP8 event
(posted to the Ramsar Forum, 25 February 2002)
International Forum on Youth and Wetlands
Keys for a Bright Future:
Cultures, Employment and Sustainability
Esteemed Friends:
In conjunction with the Eighth Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Agreement on Wetlands, also known as the Agreement on Ramsar, to be held in Valencia next November, we at Amigos de la Tierra España (Friends of the Earth Spain, a member of Friends of the Earth International) are organizing an International Youth Forum, regarding the Ramsar wetlands.
This forum has as its aim to debate the rational use and the future of these important ecosystems from the ecological, social, economic, and cultural points of view, valuing especially the contributions that youth can make with sustainable use.
The objective of this forum is to empower the presence of youth in social, cultural and conservation policies, relating to the Ramsar zones. This forum is aimed at achieving, through a common setting of information and experiences, collective debate, analysis and proposed plans of action, creation of networks and a plan of action for a declaration, concerning the reality of youth in the Ramsar zones, including their outlooks for the future and their participation in the conservation of the Ramsar zones.
The four axes of debate will be:
· The importance of sustainable juvenile employment as indicative of conduct in the wetlands.
· The cultural transfer among generations and the influence of globalization in these processes.
· The creation of connected networks, regarding the preceeding themes.
· The information exchange about the realities, experiences and cultures of the participants.
This initiative will be achieved in two phases:
· A Preparatory Forum in the Center of Education, Environmental Popularization and Universal Extension. Oleiro (A Coruña, Spain) from May 1 - May 5.
This forum will occur with a small group of 20 participants in addition to experts and collaborators.
These participants will be qualified representatives of the diverse social sectors that take part in the use and conduct of the WETLANDS (agents, ecologists, indigenous communities, diverse public administrations, farmers, cattle herders, fishermen, labor unions, educators, etc.), plus a small panel of experts (with the aim of producing a document of discussion, monitoring debates, creating appropriate dynamics, extracting and drawing conclusions, etc.)
The meeting will try to establish the basic foundations and documents that should be discussed at the subsequent conference, as well as to ascertain an initial evaluation of the global situation of the themes to be discussed and of their strengths and weaknesses in order to carry them out.
· The Youth Conference on the Ramsar Wetlands, in the Educational Center of Environment (Los Molinos?) of the Social Work of Alicante - Department of Investigation and Development, of the Savings Bank of the Mediterrenean. Crevillente (Alicante, Spain) from November 8 - November 12.
The conference requires the participation of 40 young adults (or of people connected with youth), plus a group of experts and collaborators. We are looking for attendees that would be qualified representatives of the realities of the five continents and that, at the same time, would also represent a large part of the sectors that are working in some way with regards to the use and/or management of wetlands (agents, ecologists, indigenous communities, diverse public administrations, farmers, cattle herders, fishermen, labor unions, educators, etc.)
We will try to obtain, through the work groups and exchange of experiences, conclusions that demonstrate the relationship between youth and the sustainable use of the Ramsar wetlands. This includes its role in the present and its potential for the future, as well as its crucial importance in the transfer of cultural values among diverse generations. Also, we will reflect on the importance of producing sustainable juvenile employment as a way to improve the situation of the wetlands population through compatible practices with the conservation of ecosystems and the remainder of securities that accompany them.
The conclusions of both meetings will be presented to the directive board of Ramsar in Valencia by an appointed representative.
The final program of the conference is in a phase of development. We have already chosen the system for the debate; however, since it is necessary to collaborate the participation of diverse social sectors, coming from diverse cultures, in addition to the problems of coordinating schedules, the program and the participants should be designated through a participatory process. Therefore, this outlined system of events, renders the election of the participants and experts indispensible in order to ensure a dynamic, focused meeting and in conclusion, to transform it into the event of international scope about wetlands and juvenile policies to which it aspires.
Some of the themes to be discussed include the following:
· Traditional uses, conservation and management.
· Traditional uses and/or industrialization.
· New opportunities: ecotourism, environmental education and interpretation of birthright.
· Environmental communication.
· Quality of Life and social opportunities.
· Employment and unemployment, funds and development projects in the Ramsar wetlands.
· Added value for certified products of the Ramsar zones: The Mark of Ramsar.
If the group decides there are more themes of interest that should be outlined in the conference program, we would appreciate their input.
Method of Work:
It is especially important to have an idea of the philosophy of this forum and of this conference. It is not one of those conferences with unequal talking time for experts. Their participation is limited to some questions during debate time, so as not to impart knowledge and construct strategies interfering with the dynamics of the work by all the participating attendees. In this way, apart from some brief, necessary, introductory materials, there will be collective processes of work. The experts will have as their principal mission to create appropriate dynamics, to create a favorable atmosphere for the visualization of the proposed ideas, to monitor debates, to extract and synthesize conclusions, etc.
What responsibilities do Friends of the Earth and collaborated associations assume?
We are working so that all the expenses of the participants (registration, passport fees, room and board, simultaneous translations and travel) will be covered in their entirety. At this time, we can guarantee the payment of all these expenses except for travel. Nonetheless, we continue trying to find financial support in order to pay for airline tickets. If you are interested in attending the preparatory meeting or the conference, we ask you to try to find the finances in order to pay for travel.
Attached (if you consider this of interest) is the pre-registration questionaire.
Immediately, we will send you a pre-registration questionaire that you should return to biodiversidad@tierra.org. Shorty, there will be current information available at www.tierra.org.
Sincerely,
Raúl Urquiaga
Department of Biodiversity
Amigos de la Tierra / Friends of the Earth Spain
E-mail: biodiversidad@tierra.org
PRE-REGISTRATION QUESTIONAIRE:
International Forum on Youth and Wetlands
Keys for a Bright Future:
Culture, Employment and Sustainability
First Name:
Last Name:
Age:
Gender:
Country of Residence:
Organization to which you belong:
Number of members in that organization:
Social area of concentration of that organization:
Geographic area of concentration of that organization:
I am interested in participating in:
Preparatory Forum (May 1-5)
Conference (November 8-12)
Both
Why do I want to pariticipate in the preparatory forum/the conference?
How do I think the forum/conference can improve my practices in wetlands?
What do I think I can contribute to the forum/conference?
What tie does my organization have with the Ramsar wetlands or with other wetlands?
Does my organization belong to some collaborative effort of natinal or internatinal scope? If so, which one(s)?
Can you contribute a document/publication as a basis for debate?
Do you have a website?
What is your e-mail address?
What are your telephone number, fax number and address?
Do you need any specific materials for your exhibition?
Languages:
Spoken: Levels: Read: Levels: Written: Levels:
Spanish: High, Medium, Low / High, Medium, Low / High, Medium, Low
English: High, Medium, Low / High, Medium, Low / High, Medium, Low
French: High, Medium, Low / High, Medium, Low / High, Medium, Low
Others: (specify)
Can you pay for the cost of travel?
Can you describe problems, weaknesses, needs and strengths in the development of your activity in wetlands?
Have you consulted the website of Ramsar?
Websites: (www.ramsar.org)
http://Ramsar.org/outreach_index2_s.htm
Suggestions:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Ramsar Forum is an unmoderated mailing list maintained as a service to the public by the Ramsar Convention Bureau in Gland, Switzerland. Facts or opinions posted here do not represent the views of the Convention Bureau or Contracting Parties. To unsubscribe, send a blank message to ramsar-forum-leave@indaba.iucn.org. For help, contact the list manager (ramsar@ramsar.org).
