On June 5th, we celebrate World Environment Day. The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which is responsible for the annual celebration of World Environment Day.
Its creation in 1973 came a year after the first world conference on the environment, the ‘United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.’ Bringing together 122 countries, it was the first time that the environment became a truly global issue.
Over the years, the celebration of this date has brought together organizations from civil society, academia, industry, and political power, becoming one of the largest global platforms for environmental awareness. In 2023, the focus of this day’s celebration is on the theme of plastic pollution, under the motto “Combat Plastic Pollution,” with the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and the Netherlands as the host countries.
The Center for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) invites you to celebrate World Environment Day with us at the Renato Araújo Auditorium of the University of Aveiro’s Rectorate Building.
Exhibition “Bichos de lá, bichos de cá”
Between 10:30 and 11:00, come to the atrium of the University of Aveiro’s Rectorate Building, have a coffee, and visit the photographic exhibition “Bichos de lá, bichos de cá”.
At 11:00 am, we will officially inaugurate the exhibition in the Renato Araújo Auditorium (next to the atrium), with speeches by Paulo Jorge Ferreira, Rector of the University of Aveiro, José Luis Cordeiro, Researcher, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Brazil), and Amadeu Soares, Scientific Coordinator of CESAM.
The exhibition “Local Critters, Foreign Critters” is the result of a partnership between CESAM-UA (Portugal), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz, Brazil), and Osuwela Association (Mozambique), and will be open to all interested parties until June 30, 2023, in the atrium of the University of Aveiro’s Rectorate Building.
Synopsis
“Across every corner of planet Earth, nature is full of stories of drama and resilience. By analyzing the various ecosystems that cover land and water surfaces, we can observe differences, but also many similarities in how they function and tell their stories. In the stage that is this planet, there are millions of actors, many of whom we do not know. But we can identify certain roles that, being common to all ecosystems, help us decipher the secrets hidden in the Biodiversity scenery.
The exhibition ‘Bichos de lá, bichos de cá’ consists of a presentation of 7 modules with 41 panels, addressing concepts, behaviors, and conservation aspects with examples of fauna species from Portugal, Brazil, and Mozambique. This way, visitors can see how nature unites these three countries and speaks a single language in how different species perform similar functions, wherever we are.”
Partnerships for a Sustainable Future
During the week of May 29 to June 2, 2023, under the auspices of UNEP, the final negotiation of an international binding agreement to combat plastic pollution will take place in Paris. This negotiation is the result of over a year’s work by the International Negotiation Committee (INC), established in February 2022.
As UNEP states, “the rapid growth of plastic pollution levels poses a serious global threat, negatively impacting the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable development. If the current course continues, the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple: from between 9 to 14 million tons per year in 2016, to between 27 to 37 million tons per year in 2040.”
In this context, our commemorative session, under the theme “Partnerships for a Sustainable Future,” also includes a lecture directly related to the issue of plastic pollution, and presents a group of guests who will speak about strategic partnerships, current and future opportunities, and mechanisms to establish and/or reinforce them (e.g. EU missions).
Solutions for Plastic Pollution
Teresa Rocha Santos, Researcher CESAM/DQ, Univ. of Aveiro
Partnerships for a Sustainable Future
Jorge Ferrão, Rector of the Pedagogical University of Maputo, Mozambique
Márcia Chame, Researcher, Biodiversity and Wildlife Health Institutional Platform, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
Maria de Jesus Fernandes, President of the Order of Biologists
Mariana Alves, Co-director of the program “Letters with Science” and CIDTFF researcher, Univ. of Aveiro
Teresa Pinto Correia, EU “Soil Missions,” Professor, MED-CHANGE, Univ. of Évora
Helena Vieira, EU “Ocean and Waters Missions,” CESAM/DAO researcher, Univ. of Aveiro
To learn more about the global platform associated with this day (where we are registered), you can access it here.