Bournda EEC World Environment Day Dinner

Connecting people to nature

 

“Connecting People to Nature” at the 40th Bournda EEC World Environment Day Dinner

 A UN General Assembly resolution on the 15th December 1972 designated:

5 June as World Environment Day and urges Governments and the organizations in the United Nations system to undertake on that day every year world-wide activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the environment with a view to deepening environmental awareness…”

 World Environment Day is the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. Since it began in 1974, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.

“Connecting People to Nature”, the theme for 2017, implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share. This year’s theme invites you to think about how we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it. It challenges us to find fun and exciting ways to experience and cherish this vital relationship.

Bournda Environmental Education Centre has been hosting an annual dinner to celebrate World Environment Day for the last 40 years and this year the guest speaker is Dr John Merson.  Associate Professor John Merson was the Director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies until 2012 and Head of the Graduate Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management at University of NSW. He is presently the Executive Director of The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, and has been a consultant to the UNESCO, APEC, IUCN, DEST & Dept. of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the Australian Indonesia Steering Committee on Science and Technology, and the Australia Korea Forum.

Associate Professor John MersonHe is the author of seven books and a wide range of academic papers and research covering issues of Environmental and Development, Adaptive Environmental Policy & Management and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. For his journalistic work, he is the recipient of a United Nations Media Peace Prize.

The dinner will also feature wonderful creative art and writing by local students which will then be displayed in local libraries throughout the Bega Valley.

The World Environment Day Dinner is on Monday June 5th, at the Bega Valley Commemorative Civic Centre, with doors opening at 6pm for a 7pm start.

Tickets may be purchased, at a cost each of $40, from Candelo Books (Bega) with a cash sale or through Bournda Environmental Education Centre, phone 6494 5009.

For further details, please contact

Doug Reckord, Principal, Bournda EEC – 6494 5009