Since the Congress in Hawaii, we have been very busy – and so many of you have helped us get to where we are. As you will read in this newsletter, #NatureForAll continues to flourish and grow. We now have over 250 partner organizations around the world and a growing body of knowledge and wisdom. Our Commission membership is also expanding at a rapid rate – and I encourage you to continue to invite interested persons to join the Commission. The membership process is now on line – so people can apply to be members by clicking here.  

The last few months have been very busy for me – with an extreme travel regime. However, this has made it possible for me to have met members in Peru, St. Lucia, the USA, Canada, Cuba, Switzerland, Austria, Indonesia, Kenya and at many international meetings. I am always so impressed by the passion and commitment of our community. Together, I believe we can do great things. 

One of the key roles of the Chair of the Commission is to establish a world-class Steering Committee  (SC) to help guide and support all of you members. I am happy to let you know that IUCN’s Council approved the last few members of our SC at the 74^th IUCN Council Meeting in Gland, Switzerland at the end of April.  The three final members are Karen Keenleyside, Co-Chair of the #NatureForAll Task Force; Firas T. Abd-Alhadi Regional as Vice Chair for West Asia; and, Florent Kaiser as our Youth Engagement and Intergenerational Partnership Representative. To find a list of the full Steering Committee. 

I would be remiss if I did mark my deepest appreciation and gratitude to Katalin Czippan. As Deputy Chair of the Commission, Katalin has been tireless in working to make the Commission all it can be. It is an honour to work along side her and the SC team!

Katalin and I took advantage of the recent Council meeting in Gland to host an in-person meeting of the CEC Steering Committee. It was a real pleasure to meet at IUCN’s Headquarters, having an opportunity that way to meet the IUCN leadership and staff – our excellent DG Inger Andersen, our Ricardo Tejada, Enrique Lahmann, the Chairs of the other Commissions, and colleagues of the newly established Commission Support Unit. Sharing ideas in person strengthened the CEC’s connections, revived collaboration and gave encouragement to everyone.

      Photo: IUCN

The outcome of our deliberations is a bold vision for our work together. The chart helps explain the key elements of that work plan.

Photo: IUCN

We are proposing to focus on four strategic priorities.

First, we want to work with you to ensure that “Communications and Education” are a central and integral dimension of the discussion and decisions that will lead up to the Conventions on Biological Diversity’s meeting in China in the fall of 2020. This meeting we see as critical as the world’s government’s will have an opportunity to create a new and, hopefully, bold vision and plan to protect and save our world’s biodiversity. We want to ensure that an appreciation of the role of communications, education, social and behaviour change, the arts and storytelling in it’s many forms are recognized as critical to achieving sustainable development and the SDGs.

Our second priority is something we are calling “Communication Connects”.  Our vision here is to deepen the production and sharing of knowledge relevant to our Commission. We will be reaching out to you again to have you share the papers, websites, guides and materials that you find most valuable. We are working on ways of ensuring we can effectively share these materials within, and outside, our community. Ideas are welcome of course!

We are very pleased to now have Florent on the Steering Committee. Florent will be leading our youth and intergenerational work. We will be including more on this issue in our next newsletter.

Last, but not least, we will continue to deepen the #NatureForAll Campaign. We see it a wonderful way to share best practices and inspiration to allow of us to create a movement to deepen our love of nature. Do check out www.natureforall.global to have your organization become a member, to review the case studies, download useful materials and to sign up for the #NatureForAll newsletter, enjoy and circulate the newest video!

In closing, I invite you to join our Facebook  page and Twitter pages, to encourage your friend and colleagues to become CEC members, and to continue helping us activate and realize the true potential of our network. Our Regional Vice Chairs Ana Julia Gomez, Ana Valerie Mandri Rohen, Aleksey Zavarzin, Balakrishna Pisupati, Brahim Haddane, Firas T. Abd-Alhadi, Hanying Li, Margaret Otieno, Peter Paul van Kempen, and Tommy Garnett are all keen to engage with you at a regional level. If they have not been already, they will be in touch with people from their region. However, to feel free to reach out and get to know them and involve them into your activities.

As you see in this newsletter, there are many initiatives are going on including #NatureForAll, World Environment Day. In 2018, IUCN celebrates 70 years of conservation leadership. Join the global #NatureForAll cand #IUCNCEC ommunity by sharing a big #IUCN70 cheers with your followers. Show us your cheers like we did on our steering committee meeting. So do get engaged!

Video:  The CEC Steering Committee celebrates IUCN’s 70 years of conservation leadership.

You will hear from us more frequently – and we look forward to hearing from you.  We encourage you to share your news, consult the members of the CEC family, show your connection to CEC, use the logo as part of visual identity and to vitalize our collective community.

Enjoy the newsletter, share your love of nature, and help us make the CEC a vital and activated community.

Warm regards,

Sean

Photo: Sean Southey