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68-471: The European Green Belt initiative is a grassroots movement for nature conservation and sustainable development along the corridor of the former Iron Curtain . The term refers to an environmental initiative as well as the area it concerns. The initiative is carried out under the patronage of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and formerly Mikhail Gorbachev . It is the aim of

136-741: A non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development since December 1925 and joined UNESCO in 1969, after having established a joint commission in 1952. After the signing of the Atlantic Charter and the Declaration of the United Nations , the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME) began meetings in London which continued from 16 November 1942 to 5 December 1945. On 30 October 1943,

204-456: A 3-mile wide belt around the City of London in an attempt to stop the spread of plague. However, this was not widely enforced and it was possible to buy dispensations which reduced the effectiveness of the proclamation. In modern times, the term emerged from continental Europe where broad boulevards were increasingly used to separate new development from the centers of historic towns; most notably

272-477: A Commission to study the feasibility of having nations freely share cultural, educational and scientific achievements. This new body, the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC), was created in 1922 and counted such figures as Henri Bergson , Albert Einstein , Marie Curie , Robert A. Millikan , and Gonzague de Reynold among its members (being thus a small commission of

340-482: A Preparatory Commission was established. The Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946 — the date when UNESCO's Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place from 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Julian Huxley to Director-General. United States Army colonel, university president and civil rights advocate Blake R. Van Leer joined as

408-679: A United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF) was convened in London from 1 to 16 November 1945 with 44 governments represented. The idea of UNESCO was largely developed by Rab Butler , the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom, who had a great deal of influence in its development. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, and

476-663: A biennium, as well as links to relevant programmatic and financial documents. These two distinct sets of information are published on the IATI registry, respectively based on the IATI Activity Standard and the IATI Organization Standard. There have been proposals to establish two new UNESCO lists. The first proposed list will focus on movable cultural heritage such as artifacts, paintings, and biofacts. The list may include cultural objects, such as

544-473: A dark green belt of old-growth forest on the Finnish-Russian border. In the early 1980s, biologists discovered that the inner German border zone between Bavaria in the west and Thuringia in the east was a refuge for several rare bird species which had disappeared from the intensely used areas covering most of Central Europe . The reasoning behind this observation was that negative human impact on

612-498: A declaration of anthropologists (among them was Claude Lévi-Strauss ) and other scientists in 1950 and concluding with the 1978 Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice . In 1955, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO saying that some of the organization's publications amounted to "interference" in the country's "racial problems". It rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela . One of

680-552: A full member. As a result, the United States withdrew its funding, which had accounted for about 22% of UNESCO's budget. Israel also reacted to Palestine's admittance to UNESCO by freezing Israeli payments to UNESCO and imposing sanctions on the Palestinian Authority , stating that Palestine's admittance would be detrimental "to potential peace talks". Two years after stopping payment of its dues to UNESCO,

748-436: A future-guaranteed premium for protection of their views, recreational space and for the preservation/conservation value itself. Most also benefit from higher rates of urban gardening and farming , particularly when done in a community setting, which has positive effects on nutrition , fitness , self-esteem , and happiness, providing a benefit for both physical and mental health, in all cases easily provided or accessed in

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816-547: A global movement in 1990 to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. In 2000, World Education Forum in Dakar , Senegal, led member governments to commit for achieving basic education for all in 2015. The World Declaration on Higher Education was adopted by UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Education on 9 October 1998, with the aim of setting global standards on the ideals and accessibility of higher education . UNESCO's early activities in culture included

884-425: A green belt may have been motivated by or result in considerable premiums. They may also be more economically resilient as popular among the retired and less attractive for short-term renting of modest homes. Where in the city itself demand exceeds supply in housing, green belt homes compete directly with much city housing wherever such green belt homes are well-connected to the city. Further, they in all cases attract

952-512: A green belt. Government planners also seek to protect the green belt as its local farmers are engaged in peri-urban agriculture which augments carbon sequestration , reduces the urban heat island effect, and provides a habitat for organisms . Peri-urban agriculture may also help recycle urban greywater and other products of wastewater , helping to conserve water and reduce waste. The housing market contrasts with more uncertainty and economic liberalism inside and immediately outside of

1020-634: A member as well. The Constitution was amended in November 1954 when the General Conference resolved that members of the executive board would be representatives of the governments of the States of which they are nationals and would not, as before, act in their personal capacity. This change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the ICIC, in how member states would work together in

1088-444: A platform for the dialogue between cultures and provide a forum for international debate". Since March 2006 it has been available free online, with limited printed issues. Its articles express the opinions of the authors which are not necessarily the opinions of UNESCO. There was a hiatus in publishing between 2012 and 2017. In 1950, UNESCO initiated the quarterly review Impact of Science on Society (also known as Impact ) to discuss

1156-504: A protracted housing shortage, the reduction of the green belt is one of the possible solutions. All such solutions may be resisted however by private landlords who profit from a scarcity of housing, for example by lobbying to restrain new housing across the city. The stated motivation and benefits of the green belt might be well-intentioned (public health, social gardening and agriculture, environment), but inadequately realized relative to other solutions. Critics include Mark Pennington and

1224-692: A working group with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as overall coordinator for its implementation; IUCN together with the Ferto-Hanság National Park in Hungary organized the first meeting of the working group, which took place 9–12 September 2004. In the following years, the working group together with stakeholders of the Green Belt elaborated a Programme of Work and proposed representatives in each country along

1292-560: Is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental , intergovernmental and private sector . Headquartered in Paris , France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions. UNESCO

1360-499: Is another example of an early major UNESCO project in the field of natural sciences. In 1968, UNESCO organized the first intergovernmental conference aimed at reconciling the environment and development, a problem that continues to be addressed in the field of sustainable development . The main outcome of the 1968 conference was the creation of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme . UNESCO has been credited with

1428-454: Is corrupted and manipulated by Israel's enemies... we are not going to be a member of an organisation that deliberately acts against us". 2023 saw Russia excluded from the executive committee for the first time, after failing to get sufficient votes. The United States stated its intent to rejoin UNESCO in 2023, 5 years after leaving, and to pay its $ 600 million in back dues. The United States

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1496-461: Is governed by the General Conference composed of member states and associate members, which meets biannually to set the agency's programs and budget. It also elects members of the executive board, which manages UNESCO's work, and appoints every four years a Director-General, who serves as UNESCO's chief administrator. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, to elect

1564-723: Is managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC). The dynamic Adelaide Park Lands , measuring approximately 7.6 km , surround, unbroken, the city center of Adelaide . On the fringe of the eastern suburbs, an expansive natural green belt in the Adelaide Hills acts as a growth boundary for Adelaide and cools the city in the hottest months. The concept of "green belt" has evolved in recent years to encompass not only "Greenspace" but also "Greenstructure" which comprises all urban and peri-urban green spaces, an important aspect of sustainable development in

1632-494: Is the merit of a green belt subverted, but the green belt may heighten the problem and make the city unsustainable. There are many examples whereby the actual effect of green belts is to act as a land reserve for future freeways and other highways. Examples include sections of Ontario Highway 407 north of Toronto and the Hunt Club Road and Richmond Road south of Ottawa. Whether they are originally planned as such, or

1700-844: The Acropolis of Athens (Greece). The organization's work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In 1976, the World Heritage Committee was established and the first sites were included on the World Heritage List in 1978. Since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 (Convention for

1768-704: The CPRE they lobbied for a continuous belt (of up to two miles wide) to prevent urban sprawl, beyond which new development could occur. There are fourteen green belt areas in the UK covering 16,716 km or 12.4% of England, and 164 km of Scotland ; for a detailed discussion of these, see Green belt (UK) . Other notable examples are the Ottawa Greenbelt and Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt in Ontario , Canada. Ottawa's 20,350-hectare (78.6 sq mi) instance

1836-781: The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia , launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after the construction of the Aswan Dam . During the 20-year campaign, 22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro (Pakistan), Fes (Morocco), Kathmandu (Nepal), Borobudur (Indonesia) and

1904-1002: The Jōmon Venus of Japan, the Mona Lisa of France, the Gebel el-Arak Knife of Egypt , The Ninth Wave of Russia, the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük of Turkey, the David (Michelangelo) of Italy, the Mathura Herakles of India, the Manunggul Jar of the Philippines, the Crown of Baekje of South Korea, The Hay Wain of the United Kingdom and the Benin Bronzes of Nigeria. The second proposed list will focus on

1972-477: The Ottawa suburbs of Kanata and Orleans , both of which are outside the city's green belt and are currently undergoing explosive growth. This leads to other problems, as residents of these areas have a longer commute to workplaces in the city and worse access to public transport . It also means people have to commute through the green belt, an area not designed to cope with high levels of transportation. Not only

2040-658: The Ringstraße in Vienna . Green belt policy was then pioneered in the United Kingdom confronted with ongoing rural flight . The term itself was first used in relation to the growth of London by Octavia Hill in 1875. Various proposals were put forward from 1890 onwards but the first to garner widespread support was put forward by the London Society in its "Development Plan of Greater London" 1919. Alongside

2108-567: The Schengen Treaty as part of the enlargement process of the European Union . At the same time, large military facilities such as training grounds and military research establishments in or close to the border zones were closed down. For most cases, it was unclear whom these lands belonged to and thus what the fate of the valuable landscapes would be. Against this background, the conservation initiative Green Belt formed to conserve

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2176-428: The United Nations member states (except Israel and Liechtenstein ), as well as Cook Islands , Niue and Palestine . The United States and Israel left UNESCO on 31 December 2018, but the United States rejoined in 2023. As of June 2023 , there have been 11 Directors-General of UNESCO since its inception – nine men and two women. The 11 Directors-General of UNESCO have come from six regions within

2244-727: The 21st century. The European Commission 's COST Action C11 ( COST – European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is undertaking "Case studies in Greenstructure Planning" involving 15 European countries. An act of the Swedish parliament from 1994 has declared a series of parks in Stockholm and the adjacent municipality of Solna to its north a "national city park" called Royal National City Park . When established around an economically prosperous city, homes in

2312-838: The Directors-General of UNESCO since its establishment in 1946 is as follows: This is the list of the sessions of the UNESCO General Conference held since 1946: Ahmet Altay Cengizer Biennial elections are held, with 58 elected representatives holding office for four years. [REDACTED]   Finland [REDACTED]   Portugal [REDACTED]   Turkey [REDACTED]   Albania [REDACTED]   Belarus [REDACTED]   Bulgaria [REDACTED]   Cuba [REDACTED]   Grenada [REDACTED]   Jamaica [REDACTED]   Saint Lucia [REDACTED]   Saint Vincent and

2380-661: The Green Belt to be officially appointed as National Green Belt Focal Points by their respective Ministries of Environment. A Memorandum of Understanding to jointly protect the Green Belt in Fennoscandia was signed by the Environmental Ministers of Russia , Finland and Norway in 2010. In November 2010, the Binding Award for outstanding contributions to nature conservation was awarded to five individuals for their continuous engagement in protecting

2448-532: The Green Belt were particularly in the 1940s–1980s mitigated with planned, government-supported, new towns under the New Towns Act 1946 and New Towns Act 1981 . These saw establishment beyond the green belts of new homes, infrastructure , businesses, and other facilities. Without large-scale sustainable development, infill development sees urban green space lost. A chronic housing shortage with inadequate new settlements and/or extension of those outside of

2516-491: The Green Belt. For several years there have been considerations to nominate the European Green Belt as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The initiative's network consists of official representatives for the three regions named above (Regional Coordinators) and for each country (National Focal Points) appointed during the first European Green Belt meeting in 2003: The implementation of the Green Belt vision in

2584-644: The League of Nations essentially centred on Western Europe ). The International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) was then created in Paris in September 1924, to act as the executing agency for the ICIC. However, the onset of World War II largely interrupted the work of these predecessor organizations. As for private initiatives, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) began to work as

2652-836: The Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ) and 2005 ( Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions ). An intergovernmental meeting of UNESCO in Paris in December 1951 led to the creation of the European Council for Nuclear Research , which was responsible for establishing the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) later on, in 1954. Arid Zone programming, 1948–1966,

2720-548: The United States and Israel lost UNESCO voting rights in 2013 without losing the right to be elected; thus, the United States was elected as a member of the executive board for the period 2016–19. In 2019, Israel left UNESCO after 69 years of membership, with Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon writing: "UNESCO is the body that continually rewrites history, including by erasing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem... it

2788-408: The United States is green space or greenspace , which may be a very small area such as a park . In those countries which have them, the stated objectives of green belt policy are to: The green belt has many benefits for people: The effectiveness of green belts differs depending on location and country. They can often be eroded by urban rural fringe uses and sometimes, development 'jumps' over

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2856-400: The belt: green belt homes have by definition nearby protected landscapes. Local residents in affluent parts of a green belt, as in parts of the city, can be assured of preserving any localized bourgeois status quo present and so assuming the green belt is not from the outset an area of more social housing proportionately than the city, it naturally tends toward greater economic wealth. In

2924-757: The commission, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Seán MacBride ). The same year, UNESCO created the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), a multilateral forum designed to promote media development in developing countries. In 1993, UNESCO's General Conference endorsed the Windhoek Declaration on media independence and pluralism, which led the UN General Assembly to declare

2992-533: The date of its adoption, 3 May, as World Press Freedom Day . Since 1997, UNESCO has awarded the UNESCO / Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize every 3 May. UNESCO admitted Palestine as a member in 2011. Laws passed in the United States after Palestine applied for UNESCO and WHO membership in April 1989 mean that the United States cannot contribute financially to any UN organization that accepts Palestine as

3060-489: The diffusion of national science bureaucracies. In the field of communication, the "free flow of ideas by word and image" has been in UNESCO's constitution since it was established, following the experience of the Second World War when control of information was a factor in indoctrinating populations for aggression. In the years immediately following World War II, efforts were concentrated on reconstruction and on

3128-565: The early work of UNESCO in the education field was a pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, which was launched in 1947. Following this project one of expert missions to other countries, included a 1949 mission to Afghanistan. UNESCO recommended in 1948 that Member countries should make free primary education compulsory and universal. The World Conference on Education for All , in Jomtien , Thailand, started

3196-405: The economics-heavy think tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs who would see a reduction in many green belts. Such studies focus on the widely inherent limitations of green belts. In most examples, only a small fraction of the population uses the green belt for leisure purposes. The IEA study claims that a green belt is not strongly causally linked to clean air and water. Rather, they view

3264-403: The environment is smaller in such border zones which are commonly closed to public access and thus wildlife is minimally impacted by human activities . After the end of the Cold War in 1991, the strict border regimes were abandoned and the border zones gradually opened, starting with the German reunification in 1990 and continuing with the step-by-step integration of new member states into

3332-413: The fall of the Berlin Wall . This document formulated and signed by more than 300 environmentalists from the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany initiated the first conservation projects targeting the inner German border. After several achievements, the idea was taken to the European level. After a first conference on the European Green Belt in 2003, it was decided to establish

3400-481: The green belt and/or no green belt reduction has seen many brownfield sites, often well-suited to industry and commerce, lost in existing conurbations. In New Zealand, the term Town Belt is most commonly used for an urban green belt. [REDACTED] Media related to Green belts (protected areas) at Wikimedia Commons UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ; pronounced / j uː ˈ n ɛ s k oʊ / )

3468-413: The green belt area, resulting in the creation of "satellite towns" which, although separated from the city by the green belt, function more like suburbs than independent communities. In the 7th century, Muhammad established a green belt around Medina . He did this by prohibiting any further removal of trees in a 12-mile-long strip around the city. In 1580 Elizabeth I of England banned new buildings in

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3536-498: The green belts defeat their stated objective of saving the countryside and open spaces. Such criticism falls short when considering the other, broader benefits such as peri-urban agriculture which includes gardening and carries many benefits, especially to the retired . It also ignores the strategic aims of the Attlee Ministry in 1946, just as in France, of shifting capital away from the capital city (addressing regional disparity) and avoiding intra-urban gridlock. The restrictions of

3604-424: The idea to link the numerous historical initiatives, installations, projects and relics in the Green Belt with the natural heritage, in order to turn the European Green Belt into living historical monument of the Cold War during the 20th century. In the context of the European Green Belt, cultural heritage has been assessed and/ or developed in several places already: Green Belt The more general term in

3672-411: The identification of needs for means of mass communication around the world. UNESCO started organizing training and education for journalists in the 1950s. In response to calls for a " New World Information and Communication Order " in the late 1970s, UNESCO established the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, which produced the 1980 MacBride report (named after the chair of

3740-529: The influence of science on society. The journal ceased publication in 1992. UNESCO also published Museum International Quarterly from the year 1948. UNESCO has official relations with 322 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Most of these are what UNESCO calls "operational"; a select few are "formal". The highest form of affiliation to UNESCO is "formal associate", and the 22 NGOs with formal associate (ASC) relations occupying offices at UNESCO are: The institutes are specialized departments of

3808-433: The initiative to create the backbone of an ecological network that runs from the Barents to the Black and Adriatic Seas . The European Green Belt as an area follows the route of the former Iron Curtain and connects national parks , nature parks , biosphere reserves and transboundary protected areas as well as non-protected valuable habitats along or across the (former) borders . In 1970, satellite pictures showed

3876-425: The natural assets along the former Iron Curtain. The route of the Green Belt follows the course of the borders which during the second half of the 20th century divided the eastern European communist countries and the western capitalist countries. It is divided into four regional sections: The historical starting point of the initiative was the Green Belt Resolution of Hof (Germany) in December 1989, one month after

3944-436: The necessity for an international organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China , the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944. Upon the proposal of CAME and in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), held in San Francisco from April to June 1945,

4012-582: The organization that support UNESCO's programme, providing specialized support for cluster and national offices. UNESCO awards 26 prizes in education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information as well as peace: International Days observed at UNESCO are provided in the table below: As of July 2023 , UNESCO has 194 member states and 12 associate members. Some members are not independent states and some members have additional National Organizing Committees from some of their dependent territories . UNESCO state parties are

4080-445: The organization's fields of competence. As member states worked together over time to realize UNESCO's mandate, political and historical factors have shaped the organization's operations in particular during the Cold War , the decolonization process, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Among the major achievements of the organization is its work against racism, for example through influential statements on race starting with

4148-401: The organization: West Europe (5), Central America (1), North America (2), West Africa (1), East Asia (1), and East Europe (1). To date, there has been no elected Director-General from the remaining ten regions within UNESCO: Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central and North Asia, Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, Australia-Oceania, and South America. The list of

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4216-440: The others being other planning restrictions (Local Plans and restrictive covenants ) and developers' land banking . Local Plans and land banking are to be relaxed for home building in the 2015–2030 period by law and the green belt will be reduced by some local authorities as each local authority must now consider it among the available shortlisted options in drawing development plans to meet higher housing targets. Critics argue that

4284-421: The regions is carried out by several hundred stakeholders from nature conservation and sustainable development who contribute either on a project or voluntary basis. Observations by biologists revealed that the military practice along the borderline led to wildlife conservation in numerous ways: It has been proposed to develop not only the natural but also the cultural heritage of the Soviet period : following

4352-419: The result of a newer administration taking advantage of land that was left available by its predecessors is debatable. Green belts were established in England in 1955 to simply prevent the physical growth of large built-up areas; to prevent neighboring cities and towns from merging. In the UK, green belt around the major conurbations has been criticized as one of the main protectionist bars to building housing,

4420-499: The ultimate result of the decision to green-belt a city as one to prevent housing demand within the zone to be met with supply, thus exacerbating high housing prices and stifling competitive forces in general. Another area of criticism comes from the fact that, since a green belt does not extend indefinitely outside a city, it spurs the growth of areas much further away from the city core than if it had not existed, thereby actually increasing urban sprawl . Examples commonly cited are

4488-461: The world's living species, such as the komodo dragon of Indonesia, the panda of China, the bald eagle of North American countries, the aye-aye of Madagascar, the Asiatic lion of India, the kākāpō of New Zealand, and the mountain tapir of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. UNESCO and its specialized institutions issue a number of magazines. Created in 1945, The UNESCO Courier magazine states its mission to "promote UNESCO's ideals, maintain

4556-848: Was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations ' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation . UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the events of World War II , is to advance peace , sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective through five major programme areas: education, natural sciences , social / human sciences , culture and communication/information. UNESCO sponsors projects that improve literacy , provide technical training and education, advance science, protect independent media and press freedom , preserve regional and cultural history , and promote cultural diversity . The organization prominently helps establish and secure World Heritage Sites of cultural and natural importance. UNESCO

4624-455: Was readmitted by the UNESCO General Conference that July. UNESCO implements its activities through five programme areas: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information. UNESCO does not accredit institutions of higher learning. The UNESCO transparency portal has been designed to enable public access to information regarding the Organization's activities, such as its aggregate budget for

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