News from Amazon Solutions Day
SDSN-Amazoniain partnership with SDSN Global organized Amazon Solutions Day during COP 21 in Paris on December 7th at the Columbia Global Center | Paris(Reid Hall). The event aimed to develop a common vision strategy for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Amazon region, as well as financing mechanisms.
Several experts in sustainable development participated including WWF President Yolanda Kakabadse, SDSN Director and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General Jeffrey Sachs, and Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo. Rosa Lemos of the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) / Redelac Brazil and Alberto Paniágua from the Peruvian Trust Fund for National Parks and Protected Areas (PROFONANPE) also participated, highlighting opportunities for a financial mechanism in the Amazon region.
Day of discussions promoted by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) on how to improve actions and policies for preservation of the Amazon
Manuel Rodriguez Becerra from Andes University, Juan Fernando Reyes from Articulacion Regional Amazonica (ARA), Ana Carolina Szklo from the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), and Mariano Colini Cenamo from Idesam give a brieffing on strategies for the implementation of the SDGs in the Amazon.
The event also featured an award ceremony for the SDSN-Amazon Prize, which seeks to recognize solutions for sustainable development in the continental Amazon. “The award aims to give visibility to solutions for sustainable development that already exist. The idea is to encourage successful projects and highlight them, since development activities in the region generate significant social and environmental impact on the ecosystem,” said SDSN-Amazonia Chair Virgilio Viana of the Fundação Amazonas Sustentável (FAS). Three awards were presented.
In the Education category the winner was Rural Family Houses (CFRs), the Association of Rural Family Houses of Pará (ARCAFAR/Pará). The initiative promotes the sustainable development of the region through education, promotion of innovative production practices, preservation of culture and social organization, and improving opportunities for young people working in agriculture.
The Coletivo Floresta project, from the Coca-Cola Brazil Institute, won in the category of Protected Areas Management. It is an empowerment platform whose purpose is to generate income, enhance self-esteem, and promote the socioeconomic inclusion of riverside communities in Amazonas state through training and integration to the supply chain of Coca-Cola. Currently, 31 acai-producing communities are involved.
In the Infrastructure category, the winner was IKIAM University, a nonprofit higher education institution based in Ecuador, for their sustainable campus in the Amazon. This project aims to provide an infrastructure that promotes and encourages investigative education as a reference for future generations. The preliminary design is based on a symbiosis between nature, culture, and technology; where the human being helps to enrich the forest environment.