Last Tuesday, at an event in Venice entitled ”The Network of Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves. Towards a strategic cooperation with the Adriatic region”, the CIURBN set out its plans for strengthening ties with the Biosphere Reserves of the Adriatic and Ionian regions.
This event, jointly organised by the Abertis Foundation and Autonomous University of Barcelona under the auspices of UNESCO, was presided over by Salvador Alemany, chairman of Abertis and director of the Abertis Foundation; Ana Luiza Thompson-Flores, Director of the UNESCO Bureau in Italy; and Carlos del Río, chairman of A4Holding, a subsidiary of Abertis in Italy.
In his opening address, Salvador Alemany emphasised the desire to establish the UNESCO Centre as a benchmark for excellence and model for collaboration between both coastlines of the Mediterranean on Biosphere Reserves-related matters and as a facilitator of the development of agreements and links.
Also in attendance were Roser Maneja, scientific coordinator of the UNESCO Centre; Vanja Debevec, director of the Karst biosphere reserve in Slovenia; Sergio Rossi, a specialist in marine biology from the University of Bologna; and Sergi Loughney, director of Institutional Relations and CSR at Abertis and director of the Abertis Foundation.
Loughney emphasised that this project, in partnership with as esteemed a body as UNESCO, communicates robustness and transparency, which are key concepts in the CSR policies of companies in the 21st century.
In his closing address, Miguel Clüsener-Godt, director of the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences of UNESCO, emphasised the crucial role of public-private companies in the creation of prestigious future CIURBN projects in other countries.
La Red de Reservas de la Biosfera Mediterráneas
Los 69 territorios que conforman la Red de Reservas de la Biosfera Mediterráneas (RRBMed) incluyen un conjunto de sitios diversos y representativos que albergan un patrimonio excepcional relacionado con la biodiversidad, los paisajes y las expresiones culturales. La calidad de estos recursos ambientales y culturales sitúa a las reservas de biosfera del Mediterráneo como lugares de excelencia para el fomento del turismo sostenible en todas sus modalidades, en un entorno único de dos costas unidas por su cultura y naturaleza.
El Centro Internacional UNESCO
El Castillo de Castellet, sede de la Fundación Abertis, fue declarado en 2013 Centro Internacional UNESCO para las Reservas de la Biosfera Mediterráneas. Se trata de la primera experiencia de colaboración público-privada en el ámbito de los centros de Categoría 2 de la red de Reservas de la Biosfera, reconocido por la organización perteneciente a las Naciones Unidas.
Los centros Categoría 2 son centros e institutos auspiciados por la UNESCO que representan una modalidad especial en el sistema de Naciones Unidas: los crean y financian los Estados miembros y su destino principal es la consecución de los objetivos estratégicos del programa MaB (Man and Biosphere) de la UNESCO.
Desde entonces, el Centro Internacional UNESCO se ha consolidado como un centro de difusión de ideas, proyectos y conocimiento, que sirve como estímulo al interés por el patrimonio cultural y natural, siendo paradigma de la gestión sostenible del patrimonio.
16 June 2023
TheUNESCO XXXV International Council for the Coordination of Man and Biosphere(MaB) Programme has officialised the MedMaB Mediterranean Biosphere ReservesThematic Network.
18 May 2022
The Council of Ministers of the Government of Spain, at its meeting on June 22, 2021, approved the renewal of the agreement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) with the aim that our country will continue to host the UNESCO International Center forMediterranean Biosphere Reserves, headquarters of the Abertis Foundation, for another six years.
