The "Venice Agreement: Protecting Global Peatlands Locally" is a poetically binding declaration of local and regional-level best practices to be signed on World Peatlands Day (June 2nd, 2022).

Inspired in part by Turba Tol Hol-Hol Tol, the Chilean Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, the event will take place on June 1st and 2nd in Venice. If you cannot make it to Italy and still want to raise the voice of your local peatland community, you are invited to participate virtually on May 31st. The results of this remote participation will contribute directly to the body of the Agreement that will be developed in Venice.

In preparation for the Venice Agreement, we invite participants and other interested parties to join a (pre) Agreement brainstorm on May 24th. This two-hour session will be held online via zoom. Please register here and check your time zones in the attached flyer.

Invited participants to the Agreement will have prepared 3-minute video presentations of their peatland protection work that will be shared days prior to the brainstorm. Participants and interested parties who register to attend the brainstorm will receive access to the videos before the 24th. Please watch them before the brainstorm as a general introduction to each participant.

During the brainstorm we will present an overview of the Agreement and lay the ground for the declaration. We'll review the schedule of events in Venice and outline the ways in which others can participate remotely.

Who can be part of this? Anybody working toward peatland protection.

Where? Wherever peatlands need to be protected.

What for? To bring more local experience into the Venice Agreement.

When will we meet? We will meet virtually on May 24th to learn about the workshop’s objectives and agenda. Then there will be a 1.5 hour virtual follow-up meeting on May 31st, 2022 for virtual participants to share their best practices in advance of the Venice Agreement.

If you want to be a workshop organizer or have any doubts, please contact Nicole Püschel (npuschel@wcs.org).