This time it’s for real ! The IUCN World Conservation Congress will be opening next week. With virtual forums and face-to-face meetings with experts, it aims to provide a basis for “reconstruction based on nature, for the climate and for biodiversity post-2020”. It will also enable the general public to better understand the issues of today, to find out about a plethora of initiatives to preserve the planet, and to take action ourselves. The Institute will be represented at the Congress.
From 3rd to 11th September, the IUCN Congress, repeatedly postponed because of the health crisis, will bring together NGOs, governments, members of civil society, scientists and companies to review the actions in progress and upcoming aimed at helping us to meet the challenges facing the environment, related to the conservation of biodiversity. The Congress is also a way-stage before the conferences on biodiversity and the climate which are due to be held at Kunming (COP 15 on biodiversity) and Glasgow (COP 26 on the climate) in the coming months. Seven working themes have been chosen: landscapes ; freshwater ; oceans ; climate change ; rights and governance ; economic and financial systems ; knowledge, innovation and technology.
The event will be organised around several focal points : a Forum, presented as a market for new ideas, research and policies related to the conservation of biodiversity ; the members assembly of IUCN, which includes more than 1 400 organisations which are expected on the occasion of the Congress to announce major decisions concerning world conservation policies for the coming decade : and finally areas open to the general public.
Areas open to the general public to transform every visitor into a committed actor
This latest congress doesn’t only concern the experts and the deciders. Free of charge and without any registration formalities, the Nature Generation Areas are intended for the first time in the congress’ history to welcome the general public: conceived as a “friendly and lively biodiversity village”, these areas should help visitors to better understand the issues related to biodiversity, and also to take on board the right everyday reflexes to contribute to its preservation. The Nature Generation Areas are intended to be both fun and instructive, with workshops, experiments, exhibitions and meetings with the actors involved in protecting biodiversity.
It’s an initiative directly inspired by the Climate Generation Areas which were devised in 2015 during COP21 on the climate in Paris. For example, the programme features: ‘Nature watch, what is the purpose of the data from citizen science ?’, ‘Wild immersion, immersion in virtual reality’, and ‘Workshop on Mediterranean cetaceans”.
A second area, in addition to the first, will also welcome the general public, from 10 am to 5.30 pm, from 4th to 11 September : in Pavillon France, at the entrance to Parc Chanot, members of IUCN and also companies and universities will have stands presenting their research and the solutions they propose. There are too 13 000 m² of outside exhibition areas, open to all.
Patricia Ricard, President of the Institute, will be a speaker on Sunday 5th September at 11.30 in Pavillon France, during a conference entitled “An ocean of solutions for the climate and for biodiversity”. She will also be taking part on September 7th in a round table focused on biodiversity issues and the circular economy. The Institute’s full programme will be made available shortly.
Nature Generation Areas Programme
The health regulations in force of course apply for this event.