Educational, Informational, Social and Cultural Aspects of Environmental Issues

Recommendation 95

It is recommended that the Secretary-General make arrangements for the United Nations system:

1. To provide countries on request with the necessary technical and financial assistance in preparing national reports on the environment, in setting up machinery for monitoring environmental developments from the social and cultural standpoint and, in particular, in drawing up national social, educational and cultural programmes;

2. To support and encourage projects for continuing cooperation among, national social, educational and cultural programmes, including their economic aspects, in an international network. The organizations of the United Nations system, including the regional economic commissions and the United Nations Economic Social Office in Beirut will be called upon to participate in this activity, as will other international governmental and non-governmental agencies;

3. To organize the exchange of information on experience, methods and work in progress in connexion with continuous social diagnosis, particularly at the regional level and between regions with common problems;

4. To facilitate the development of social and cultural indicators for the environment, in order to establish a common methodology for assessing environmental developments and preparing reports on the subject;

5. To prepare, on the basis of the national reports on the state of, and outlook for, the environment, periodic reports on regional or sub regional situations and on the international situation in this matter. The activities described above could be coordinated by the new bodies for environmental coordination, taking into account the priorities agreed upon according to the resources available. International bodies responsible for technical and financial cooperation and assistance could also help in carrying out these tasks.

Recommendation 96

1. It is recommended that the Secretary-General, the organizations of the United Nations system, especially the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the other international agencies concerned, should, after consultation and agreement, take the necessary steps to establish an international programme iii environmental education, interdisciplinary ill approach, in school and out of school, encompassing all levels of education and directed towards the general public, in particular the ordinary citizen living in rural and urban areas, youth and adult alike, with a view to educating him as to the simple steps lie might take, within his means, to manage and control his environment. A programme of technical and financial cooperation and assistance will be needed to support this programme, taking into account the priorities agreed upon according to the resources available. This programme should include, among other things:

1. The preparation of an inventory of existing systems of education, which include environmental education;

2. The exchange of information on such systems and, in particular, discrimination of the results of experiments in teaching;

3. The training and retraining of professional workers in various disciplines at various levels (including teacher training) ;

4. Consideration of the formation of Groups of experts in environment disciplines and activities, including those concerning the economic, sociological, tourist and other sectors, in order to facilitate the exchange of experience between countries which have similar environmental conditions and comparable levels of development-,

5. The development and testing of new materials and methods for all types and levels of environmental education.

2. It is further recommended that United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, under the Man and the Biosphere Programme, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations industrial Development Organization, the World Meteorological Organization and all the organizations concerned, including the scientific unions coordinated by the International Council of Scientific Unions, should develop their activities in studying desirable innovations in the training of specialists-and technicians and, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, should encourage the institution, at the regional and the international level, of courses and training periods devoted to the environment.

3. It is further recommended that international organizations for voluntary service, and, in particular, the International Secretariat for Volunteer Service, should include environmental skills in the services they provide, in consultation with the United Nations Development Programme through the United Nations Volunteer Programme.

Recommendation 97

1. It is recommended that the Secretary-General make arrangements:

1. To establish an information programme designed to create the awareness which individuals should have of environmental issues and to associate the public with environmental management and control. This programme will use traditional and contemporary mass media of communication, taking distinctive national conditions into account. In addition, the programme must provide means of stimulating active participation by the citizens, and of eliciting interest and contributions from non-governmental organizations for the preservation and development of the environment;

2. To institute the observance of a World Environment Day

3. For the preparatory documents and official documents of the Conference to be translated into the widest possible range of languages and circulated as widely as possible;

4. To integrate relevant information on the environment in all it's various aspects into the activities of the information organs of the United Nations system;

5. To develop technical cooperation, particularly through and between the United Nations regional economic commissions and the United Nations Economic and Social Office in Beirut.

2. It is also recommended that the Secretary-General and the development agencies make arrangements to use and adapt certain international development programmes-provided that this can be done without delaying their execution-so as to improve the dissemination of information and to strengthen community action on environment problems, especially among the oppressed and underprivileged peoples of the earth.

Recommendation 98

It is recommended that Governments, with the assistance of the Secretary-General, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and the other international and regional intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies concerned, should continue the preparation of the present and future conventions required for the conservation of the world's natural resources and cultural heritage. In the course of this preparatory work, Governments should consider the possibility of putting into operation systems of protection for elements of the world heritage, under which those Governments that wish to save elements of their national heritage of universal value would be able to obtain from the international community, on request, the technical and financial assistance required to bring their efforts to fruition.

Recommendation 99

1. It is recommended that Governments should:

1. Noting that the draft convention prepared by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization concerning the protection of the world natural and cultural heritage marks a significant step towards the protection, on an international scale, of the environment, examine this draft convention with a view to its adoption at the next General Conference of UNESCO;

2. Whenever appropriate, sign the Convention on Conservation of Wetlands of International Importance;

2. It is recommended that the Secretary-General, in consultation with the competent agencies of the United Nations system and the non-governmental organizations concerned, make arrangements for a detailed study of all impossible procedures for protecting certain islands for science;

3. It is recommended that a plenipotentiary conference be convened as soon as possible, under appropriate governmental or intergovernmental auspices, to prepare and adopt a convention on export, import and transit of certain species of wild animals and plants.

Recommendation 100

It is recommended that the Secretary-General make arrangements:

1. To be kept informed of national pilot schemes for new forms of environmental management;

2. To assist countries, on request, with their research and experiments;

3. To organize the international exchange of information collected on this subject.

Recommendation 101

It is recommended that the Secretary-General take the appropriate steps, including the convening of an expert meeting, to organize an International Referral Service for sources of environmental information, taking into account the model described in paragraphs 129 to 136 of the report on educational, informational, social and cultural aspects of environmental issues (A/CONF.48/9) , in order to assist in the successful implementation of all the recommendations made in respect of those aspects of environmental issues and of most of the recommendations envisaged in the other substantive subject areas covered in the Conference agenda.