Project description
Since 2000, Thymio Papayannis, the founder and president of MedINA, has been a Ramsar Senior Advisor on culture and wetlands and has advocated for the inclusion of the cultural values of wetlands into the workings of the Convention. Throughout this time, his significant work on culture and wetlands has been delivered and supported by MedINA. As a Ramsar Senior Advisor he has participated in a number of related activities, among which are the following:
- Preparing advice for the Ramsar Contracting Parties on the basis of Resolutions VIII.19 and IX.21 and producing and publishing Culture and wetlands: a Ramsar guidance document in English, French and Spanish, in collaboration with David Pritchard (2007)
- Representing the Ramsar Convention at culture-oriented events, such as the side event on ‘Culture in Asian wetlands’ at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar COP10) and the Symposium on the future of the World Heritage Convention in Paris, France, February 2009
- Participating in the organisation of the side event on culture and wetlands during Ramsar COP10 in Changwon, South Korea, November 2009
- Assisting in drafting a Ramsar position paper on the future of the World Heritage Convention
- Organising a side event on culture and wetlands during the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar COP11) in Bucharest, Romania, July 2012
- Participating in the organisation of the side event on culture during the 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar COP12), in Punte del Este, Uruguay, June 2015
- Co-organising the side event on culture, ‘Cultural approaches to wise use of wetlands – past, present and future’, during 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar COP13), in Dubai, UAE, October 2018
At Ramsar COP13 in 2018, MedINA – represented by Thymio Papayannis and Irini Lyratzaki – became a member of the Ramsar Culture Network’s Core Group, and now helps guide RCN-related issues into the future.