The expert workshop on “The cultural and spiritual significance of wetlands” will be organised on Vilm Island, Germany on 26/2-2/3/2018 and is co-orgnised by the Ramsar Culture Network (RCN) and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz – BFN). This workshop serves as an opportunity for the RCN to develop a new phase of work following the completion of the three-year MAVA-funded project on wetlands and culture in the Ramsar Convention, to agree the activities to be carried out, and to discuss their resourcing.
The expected outputs of the workshop include the following:
- A specific plan of work to support the implementation of the recommendations of the report on Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and Wetlands, and the Rapid Cultural Inventory initiative, which may involve working closely with other nature-culture networks, as well as a plan of work to support the debate on the draft resolution on cultural values, local communities and climate change mitigation and adaptation in wetlands.
- Agreed Ramsar Culture Network Action Plan for the period 2018-2021 and draft outlines for events and products on culture for Ramsar COP13.
- Conclusions regarding lessons learned from the operation of the RCN to date, and a “road-map” of agreed action points for the funding, maintenance and enhanced development of culture-related activity in Ramsar in future.
MedINA will be represented in the workshop by its director, Thymio Papayannis, Ramsar Senior Advisor on Culture and Wetlands and Irini Lyratzaki.
