FGCU professor invited to Mexican Earth Day event

Florida Gulf Coast University professor of Environmental Studies and director for the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education Peter Blaze Corcoran was recently invited by Mexican President Felipe Calderón to participate in an event celebrating Earth Day in Mexico City.

During the ceremonies, President Calderón ratified the Earth Charter as a tool to help move Mexico forward during the current UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Corcoran and Earth Charter co-chair Steven C. Rockefeller were a part of the official Earth Charter delegation.

In an ecological reserve outside of Mexico City, President Calderón ordered the Mexican Secretary of Environmental and Natural Resources and Secretary of Public Education to implement environmental education into every classroom in Mexico to ensure that every child learns to care for the Earth. "For years we have learned to destroy the environment…today we will start to learn and teach how to conserve the environment," said President Calderón.

In addition, Calderón initiated a zerotolerance policy for those who infringe on the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. The reserve was established through the work of Homero Aridjis, the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education's 2007 Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture presenter.

Corcoran has worked in Mexico over the past decade on environmental education and Earth Charter efforts. He has advised the University of Guanajuato and has addressed many environmental education conferences throughout Mexico.