Opening Plenary Session
Opening Plenary Session - Monday, May 14 (13:00 - 14:30)
The conference organizers are pleased to announce that Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway will join the Opening Plenary Session.
Her Majesty has travelled extensively both in Norway and abroad, and is patron of a number of organizations. In 1972 Crown Princess Sonja participated in the establishment of a fund in her daughter’s name, HRH Princess Martha Louise’s Fund, which is devoted to helping disabled Norwegian children. She is deeply concerned about the plight of refugees and immigrants and frequently visits institutions for the elderly, children and the mentally retarded. In the 1970s she took an active part in several large fund-raising drives for the benefit of refugees. To gain a first-hand impression of the refugee situation, she visited several sites, including a camp for Vietnamese boat refugees in Malaysia. Every year the Queen enjoys long hikes and ski trips in the Norwegian mountains. She is an avid outdoorsman and a very competent regatta sailor. She is also a certified skiing instructor. (Source: Reisenett HM Queen Sonja)
Keynote presentations:
- Helen Bjørnøy, Minister of the Environment, Norway
- Aili Keskitalo, President, Sámediggi (The Sámi Parliament)
- David Sollitt, Executive Director, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)
- Sylvie Lemmet, Director of UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP-DTIE)
- Lelei LeLaulu, President, Counterpart International
This session is facilitated by Lone Lamark, Project Manager, Ecotourism Norway. Lone will also present on national ecotourism initiative in Norway.
