The Ministerial Conference of Ministers of Education, is organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus with the scientific support of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development Management and Education in the Mediterranean/University of Athens and the technical support of the MEdIES Network of the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development.  The conference is organized in cooperation with the European Union, the Horizon 2020 Initiative to Depollute the Mediterranean, the League of Arab States, the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and intends to contribute to the UNESCO Global Action Programme on ESD.

The one and a half day Ministerial Conference will be a demonstration of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in addressing through Education for Sustainable Development serious problems threatening the sustainability of our region and it will be a direct contribution for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in particular, SDG 4 on Education. The Conference responds to the relevant provision of the Mediterranean Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (MSESD) that was developed through a long participatory process involving international and national experts from universities, government officials and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from the North and the South of the region and endorsed in Athens, by the Ministers of Environment of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in May 2014. The Conference will also play a significant role in the implementation of actions on ESD in the Mediterranean region and it will provide an excellent opportunity for participants to share their experience and best practices in the field.

The culmination of the Ministerial Conference will be the adoption of the Action Plan for ESD in the Mediterranean and the Ministerial Declaration regarding the strengthening and continuation of ESD beyond 2015. The Action Plan for ESD in the Mediterranean takes fully into consideration important International and Regional developments related to Sustainable Development and ESD that have occurred since 2014: Τhe revised Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) (2016-2025) which has recognised MSESD as an integral part of its implementation; the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD where the adoption of the Action Plan is one of the approved Commitments of the GAP; the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the outcomes of the UN Conference on Climate Change COP 21 (and will consider also those of the upcoming COP22 in Marrakesh, 2016) as well as the Implementation Framework of the UNECE Strategy on ESD (Batumi, June 2016). Its preparation is the result of a participatory process, negotiation and consensus that was achieved among Member States of the European Union and the Mediterranean region, international and regional organizations and all other interested parties aiming towards its adoption at the Cyprus Conference in a joint effort toward making our region safe, healthy, prosperous and sustainable.