IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Suzana Padua
President
Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas
Brasilia , Brazil
Email: suzana@ipe.org.br

1. Argentina — Marta Andelman, marta.andelman@gmail.com
2. Bolivia — Mery Ruth Mariaca, mrmariacaz@yahoo.com
3. Brazil — Suzana Padua, suzana@ipe.org.br
4. Chile — Gabriela Omegna, gomegna@conaf.cl
5. Colombia — Olga Bermudez, olgaber@gmail.com
6. Ecuador — Cecilia Amaluisa, cecilia.amaluisa@ceppecuador.org
7. Perú — M. Sofia Brutton, sofiabrutton@hotmail.com
8. Uruguay — Hernán Sorhuet, hazparne@adinet.com.uy
9. Venezuela — Alejandro Alvarez, alvareziragorry@gmail.com

A recent survey finds that our members are experienced, interdisciplinary, and working simultaneously in formal and informal education. Some 60 percent work in protected areas issues, and half deal with climate change professionally. The survey suggests the following plan of action:

1. Offer the CEPA Toolkit (Spanish translation) and stimulate the generation of stories and case studies from the region to make CEPA learning materials more relevant;
2. Collect and share lessons learned in conflict resolution, community participation, carbon offsets and other issues pertinent to IUCN;
3. Develop focused thematic courses with tips and lessons learned;
4. Offer tips, tools and methods on how to address key audiences, e.g. community leaders, politicians or the private sector, and how to communicate scientific knowledge in an attractive way;
5. Prepare a case study for teachers and educators, through a process that involves, engages and connects CEC with other IUCN Commissions as a way for CEC to be a ‘synergy environment’ that is helpful throughout all of IUCN.

We will need to integrate more CEC members into these activities, which require a range of expertise, especially in communications.