Carpathian ESD Online Meeting

The Carpathian Convention Secretariat hosted an online meeting to provide relevant updates on Carpathian Convention ESD-related activities:

1. We invite Carpathian ESD Experts on behalf of the Chair of the UNECE Steering Committee on ESD (UNECE SC ESD) to attend the 19th meeting of the UNECE SC ESD. 

• Details: (in person only) 29-31 May 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The provisional agenda is provided below.
• Relevance: the Carpathian ESD Expert network and related Carpathian Convention activities will be presented at the meeting by the Secretariat in collaboration with Špirála – a Network of Environmental Education Providers in Slovakia.
  • Carpathian ESD Experts have provided best practices as examples of activities, which will be used during the meeting’s Capacity-building Workshops.
  • This meeting is particularly relevant for officially nominated and governmental experts.
• Background: for those unfamiliar with the UNECE SC ESD, its meeting formats and procedures, or the UNECE ESD Strategy, we provided an introduction during the online Carpathian ESD Expert Network meeting. The respective links and documents are below, including the leaflet on the 1st UNECE Forum on ESD, which will take place in Limassol, Cyprus on 27-28 June 2024.

2. The Carpathian ESD Expert Network has received support from the Republic of Cyprus for 2023-2025 via the Špirála Network, kindly facilitated by Dr. Aravella Zachariou, the Chair of the UNECE SC ESD. This support aims to strengthen collaboration between the Carpathian ESD Experts and UNECE SC ESD and integrate Cyprus’ expertise in ESD for the Carpathian region.

Towards this collaboration, we scheduled this online Carpathian ESD Expert Network meeting to:

• update the network on the recent developments
• introduce UNECE ESD processes
• discuss how Carpathian ESD network members’ activities could contribute to the implementation of the UNECE ESD Strategy: how relevant initiatives and achievements can be integrated into the Strategy’s national reports.

3. To not only fulfill the UNECE ESD Strategy, but also implement ESD activities in the Carpathians, the meeting presented a couple ways to further these processes, which experts in the Carpathian ESD Network are encouraged to follow up on:

• Romania presented about their annual Carpathian Day celebration on 26 September. With the support of the Secretariat, Romania is helping to expand this initiative to be celebrated throughout the Carpathians. A follow-up consultation meeting is being planned. 
• The Convention’s ESD website includes a platform for sharing resources and events. Experts may share their own tool kits, curricula, training resources, events and more on the website for active input among the network.