In these difficult times, I wanted to reach out to you, the CEC family, to wish you good health and safety through the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world continues to struggle with this crisis, the CEC and IUCN stand in solidarity with all those already directly affected by the virus around the world, and we reiterate our commitment to conserving nature for a healthy planet and people. You can now read the statement from the Union on COVID-19. More than ever, our community of educators and communicators has a vital role to play. I applaud all of you who continue to engage in your important work! As you now probably know, the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France has been postponed to January 7-15, 2021. A variety of planned CEC sessions and events, including a meeting of CEC members, are still being planned for Congress. We will share those with you in the coming months. Nature 2030 – the new draft IUCN Programme which many of you have provided input – is now available on the Congress website. We would love your feedback on the draft programme as we work to ensure it fully reflects the interests and passions of our CEC community. Youth engagement was a big focus of our work in 2019 and as such, CEC has been leading the implementation – together with the rest of the Union and a large coalition of partners – of the youth engagement strategy for the IUCN Congress. We continue to organize the One Nature, One Future Global Youth Summit, now scheduled for January 12-14, 2021. Please keep visiting the Global Youth Summit webpage for more details. Feel free to share with us your ideas to strengthen this important commitment to engaging with youth across the IUCN constituency. In 2019, we also had the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our Commission members through the CEC Excellence Award. We received a large number of nominations that were voluntarily reviewed by diverse juries in the 11 CEC regions. We extend our deep appreciation to the CEC Regional Vice Chairs for leading the online discussion and process in each region, and for the 15 awardees celebrated through award ceremonies at multiple Regional Conservation Fora around the world. Please take a moment to review the work of these phenomenal champions. I know, for me, that during these difficult times, reading about these CEC member achievements was truly validating, encouraging, and inspiring. Congratulations to the winners! The #NatureForAll movement, which you have helped develop into a partnership of 400 organizations, continues to grow. In 2020, we plan to strengthen our focus on the future of education through a series of consultations with members, as well as through creating a broad online repository of environmental education material and resources that will help us connect with nature in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves. This new online space is the #NatureForAll Discovery Zone – we invite you to visit it! We want your help to collect fun and engaging resources that will allow people worldwide to continue to engage with nature, regardless of their circumstances. We are counting on you to help identify and share the very best in educational resources that you own and use. We are turning to you during this time of social distancing to tap into the best of our Commission – to continue our commitment to learn new things, to share our love for nature with your children or students, and to stay healthy and happy not just during these trying times, but always. To share your material and have it featured on the Discovery Zone, please fill out this form. This can be in any language and any format, ranging from games, to curriculum, to music, songs, or videos. You can always find inspiration by visiting the #NatureForAll website to learn from, and be inspired by, the amazing work being undertaken to engage people with nature. This wonderful resource is now available in English, French, and Spanish. Finally, I want to personally thank you for the dozens of comments we received through the consultation on the draft CEC mandate for 2020-2024. We worked hard to incorporate your thoughtful suggestions and we hope this will serve as a solid roadmap to guide our work for the next four years. Please recall, these mandates are still in draft and at the World Conservation Congress you will have the opportunity to comment, revise, and strengthen it. On behalf of the IUCN CEC Steering Committee, it is with deep appreciation and affection that I wish you and your families health, safety, and happiness. Warm regards, Sean Southey IUCN CEC Chair |