The youth of the world meet in Alexandria to promote environment, peace and culture
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On Saturday 11 September 2004, around 500 teenagers from Egypt and the rest of the world gathered at the Library of Alexandria for the Third Global Environmental Youth Convention (GEYC) under the patronage of Mrs. Susan Mubarak.
Throughout the five days of the convention, a variety of issues were tackled, such as preventive environmental strategies and how they can be linked to development, human rights, peace and culture. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina – with its focus on promoting knowledge, culture and international understanding – was the perfect meeting place for this event. The co-organizers of this event included the Arab Academy of Science & Technology and the Swedish Institute in Alexandria.
The Egyptian Government also supported the event. On Tuesday 14 September, the Ministry of Environment sponsored a day of excursions showcasing the rich history and culture of Egypt, as well as how Egypt’s past, present and future is linked to the environment. GEYC participants visited the Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Sakara Pharaonic village, as well as plant memorial trees at Sadat City.
“This event is a benchmark demonstration of environmental education and raising public awareness at its best”, said Mr Maged George, Egyptian Minister of Environment. He also said that he attended the convention in order “to gain further insight into the innovative ideas that the participating Egyptian and international youth have on how to tackle environmental issues”.
For the participating students, the GEYC was the culmination of an ICT-based distance-learning program called the Young Masters Program. This program has been developed by the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University in Sweden and aims to help prepare the youth of the world to take on local and global challenges in order to achieve sustainable development. Since 1999 approximately 2, 500 students from more than 110 countries have participated in the YMP.
The proclaimed United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development will begin in 2005. “There will be no progress in neither environmental protection nor development unless the principles of sustainable development have taken root in knowledge, attitudes and behavior of humankind”, said Traugott Schoefthaler, Secretary-General of the German Commission for UNESCO. New educational approaches are thus needed to encourage necessary lifestyle changes and to nurture a sense of global solidarity among young people. Initiatives such as GEYC/YMP will be here play an important role in enabling the youth of the world to understand and find solutions to the challenges facing humanity and the planet Earth. “Co-operative learning without frontiers is one of the best tools available to the young generation for safeguarding our common future”, continued Traugott Schoefthaler as he described the GEYC as a landmark event.
The EU commission also supports these efforts of capacity building for sustainable development. “Young people are part of the solution. They can serve as ambassadors for what we all need to do in order to create a more sustainable society. That is why education for sustainable development is so vital”, says Margot Wallström, European Commissioner for the Environment.
For further information visit the events website at
http://w1.465.telia.com/~u46505095/egypt33344/egypten.htm