World Environment Day Green Cities

Plan for the Planet!

World Environment Day is commemorated every year on 5th June. It is one of the main approaches through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment. The World Environment Day theme selected for 2005 is Green Cities and the slogan is Plan for the Planet! The World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of UNEP.

World Environment Day 2005 in Cyprus

On Sunday 5 June a celebration took place in Nicosia at the Fulbright Centre (on the Green Line) for the World Environment Day 2005. This celebration was organized by AKTI in collaboration with CYMEPA and the Turkish-Cypriot organisation KAYAD Community Centre, www.kayadcommunitycenter.com.

Over 200 Greek and Turkish Cypriots attended this celebration. The many events organised for this day included a photograph exhibition for World Environment Day 2005, demonstrations of solar cells, entertaining short documentaries, face painting, music, and fun for everyone! Furthermore, 8 bicycles and 16 scooters were awarded to the lucky winners of the children’s competition organised within the framework of the WED celebrations!

In view of the year's environmental theme, "Green Cities", many environmental issues were addressed in our various activities such as indoor pollution, keeping our neighborhoods clean and the importance of renewable energy sources (RES) for our energy future. Particular focus was placed on how women and children could help to protect the environment and to create 'greener' cities.

Other Activities for WED 2005:

•         Newspaper Articles

          Articles promoting environmentally-friendly attributes were published in newspapers island-wide. Click on the articles to learn more:

-    I want my neighbourhood to be clean and green  EN GR

-        World Environment Day 2005 - Green Cities...a hope for a better tomorrow GR

•         Nature Walks

Together with the Women's Charity Organization of Metropolitan Morfou and KAYAD Community Centre we went on two bi-communal nature walks.

The first walk took place at Athalassa forest on Mother's Day, Sunday 8th May; the only forest remaining in Nicosia that offers natural urban walks in the town. The morning started with a visit to the botanical garden in Athalassa Forest accompanied by an expert o

n Cypru's Flora and Fauna . This was followed by a walk in the forest, a picnic lunch and dancing, singing and laughter! Michael Loizides, an expert on indoor pollution, spoke about this problem and mentioned some actions one could take to reduce indoor pollution. Traditional methods of household cleaning were then exchanged and discussed (click here) between the 60 Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot ladies that came.

About 70 ladies met for the second nature walk in Karmia, Kyrenia on Saturday 14th May; a village that offers nature paths. There, a relevant expert spoke about the Cypriot plants and trees growing in the area. More singing and dancing followed lunch and the talk on indoor pollution continued.

During both of these trips, the women were provided with photographs for the purpose of displaying an exhibition to show on 5 June. This was entitled "The perception of the environment through a woman's eyes". Both trips were a huge success and proved to be the foundation of many newfound friendships, regardless of the language difference.

•       Children's Competition

            A competition was formed that aimed to inform and inspire children to respect the environment (click here for the competition EN GR)

Prizes of bicycles and scooters were awarded by AKTI to the lucky winners listed below:

Andreas Georgakis

Maria Theofanous

Kostas Vasiades

Philip Ioannides

Andrea Markou

Eleni Hadjiandreou

Said Hezz-Abey

Costantina Athanasiou

Giorgos Prokopi

Nefeli Neofitou

Vaggelis Trikoupis

Tatiana Ekonomidou

Congratulations to the winners and all the other children that took part in our competition! In total 253 competitions entries were received, 83% of which gave all the correct answers. The question most commonly answered wrong was "What is 'compost' from organic waste?". The correct answer is: "The soil-conditioner that is produced from the treatment of our organic waste".

With the support of the Bi-communal Development Programme funded by USAID and UNDP and executed by UNOPS