Organised by: Volonteurope, EEB and EESC Consultative Commission on Industrial Change Report In the context of the overarching theme of the first ever Civil Society Week, “Rise up for Democracy”, the workshop emphasised that a key process and success factor of a well- functioning democracy lies in enabling people to act as aware, engaged citizens of Europe. [...] In the workshop, moderated by Piotr Sadowski, Secretary General of Volonteurope, the panel took the participants through a discussion on the role and importance of active citizenship, stewardship and youth engagement in ensuring a sustainable and just Blue Deal for Europe and beyond. [...] For the EU Blue Deal to be successful will require robust governance of freshwater resources, including groundwater, and we require EU Institutions and Member States to consider water as a priority, and place the EU Blue Deal on an equal footing and view it as fully complementary with the EU Green Deal and the UN SDGs. [...] This can be done by investing in a new educational agenda, which will provide the necessary skills and knowledge to foster sustainable water management and water resilience in different areas of our society, including innovations and new water-efficient approaches to be adopted by businesses and industries. [...] It is also necessary to dovetail the Blue Deal and local action: every day, active citizens across Europe fight the effects of eutrophication, pollution and biodiversity loss in aquatic environments (people (re)discover resilient agricultural practices, advocate for nature rights, restoration and rewilding, enable blue innovation and increase awareness in their communities).
- Pages
- 2
- Published in
- Belgium
