While employed by the Eden Project, Pete Whitbread-Abrutat participated in – and partly led – a ten-day workshop in Morocco on the theme of ‘Biodiversity Conservation: What Role for Environmental Education?’. The first week involved a familiarisation road trip of Morocco’s major ecosystems and their related communities, guided by an expert Moroccan ecologist and renowned politician. Ecosystems and communities visited included Mediterranean agricultural systems, cork oak forests, montane coniferous forests, alpine and desert, including isolated oasis agricultural communities.
The second week in Rabat, Pete led a formal workshop between a diverse group of Eden Team members and Moroccan Government environment and education representatives, NGOs and research institutes. The workshop involved presentations, discussions and activities and field trips exploring the role of environmental education in conservation. The workshop took place in three languages Arabic, French and English and proceedings were later produced.