RCE Cuenca del Plata

Date of RCE Acknowledgement:
December, 2015

Description of RCE and Geographic Region:
The RCE Cuenca del Plata seeks to become a regional leading platform to foster ESD and sustainability along with governments, private sector, academia, civil society and communities to advance the achievement of SDGs through stakeholder management, training, research and extension programs.
The Cuenca del Plata (Río de la Plata Basin) region is a vast extension that covers an important area at the south of South America. It features internationally recognized landmarks such as the Iguazú Falls in Misiones province, the famous Iberá wetlands, in Corrientes Province; the mighty Paraná River, the Paraguay, the Uruguay Rivers and the Río de la Plata rivers. The Cuenca del Plata Basin encompasses a wide range of environments, ecosystems, biomes and landscapes. It covers tropical jungles and massive wetlands in the north, gallery forests, grasslands and xerophile woods along the centre and western/eastern borders of the Mesopotamian region including deltas of world importance, as well as the Pampas: the vast prairies around its south and western borders within the Buenos Aires province.Its biodiversity is remarkable, with thousands of species of native flora and fauna between mammals, amphibians, reptiles and including almost twice the species of birds in Europe. In terms of water availability, the Cuenca del Plata basin is one of the richest on the planet, including the great Guarani Aquifer System, the 5th largest in the world. It is home to 100 million people.

Organisation Hosting RCE Secretariat:
Protágonos Civil Association

Goals and Objective:
Vision:
The Cuenca del Plata region, home to 100 million inhabitants, achieving the SDGs through integrated ESD at all levels in every sector of society.
Objectives:
RCE Cuenca del Plata will strive for excellence in the path to promote ESD and sustainability by providing support, training, research, extension programs and developing opportunities aimed at advancing the achievements of the SDGs to institutions, local governments, academy, industry and other stakeholders in the Cuenca del Plata region.
Specific Objectives:
To develop networking among regional key organizations
To create environmental awareness within communities
To support, design and monitor programmes and projects that promote social environmental awareness, conservation of nature, social economy, clean production processes and low impact practices
To develop a clear vision of sustainability for the region
To create resources and human capital towards sustainability at local governments in the region
To strive for excellence in training and supporting regional approaches to sustainability
To provide training to key actors to work towards sustainability challenges in the region
To develop information systems and fair working conditions among institutions
To carry out and coordinate strategic research efforts regarding local and regional challenges and combine the results into publications and online databases
To identify potential new valuable/strategic member organizations to strengthen RCE Cuenca del Plata across the region bringing the platform closer to people and the territory
To articulate with international, national, regional and local institutions and organizations to advance synergistic approaches towards SDG through education and strategic actions
To establish academic observatories to guide improvements related to ESD and SDG goals and targets

Key Partners:
Fundación Tecnológica del Plata (FUTEP) – RCE Cuenca del Plata Board member
Fundación Yvy Maraey – RCE Cuenca del Plata Board member