Our Vision, Strategy and the Five Es

Economy

• Encourage people to live in, work in and visit the Isle of Man
• Add to our vibrant economy
• Enhance our reputation as an Island that cares and has a conscience
• Encourage a green economy and sustainable ecotourism
• Promote the value of the Isle of Man’s unique culture, heritage, and community
• Promote the diversity and quality of Isle of Man goods, produce and crafts

Enjoyment

• Celebrate and promote all that is special about the Isle of Man and its surrounding seas
• Encourage people to access and appreciate our nature, culture, heritage and community
• Encourage enjoyment and participation to foster health and wellbeing
• Celebrate, promote and help people access our heritage and culture, past and present
• Celebrate and contribute to our ‘sense of place’

Environment

• Connect people with nature and their surroundings
• Help people to understand the importance of, and the challenges facing, the environment
• Contribute to preserving and enhancing our land and seascapes and biodiversity
• Recognise and value the environmental, social and economic benefits we gain from our natural systems
• Inspire people to volunteer and take action in their environment

Engagement

• Engage our entire community in Biosphere’s ethos and aims
• Enable people to more easily connect with nature, culture, heritage and community life
• Engage our population on issues and challenges relating to conservation and sustainability
• Empower individuals to drive change and make a difference, no matter how small
• Inspire our community to be ambassadors for our Biosphere
• Encourage organisations to collaborate with each other to benefit our Biosphere

Education

• Ensure our people understand our Biosphere and its principles
• Foster understanding of how the way we live, and the decisions we take, affect our sustainability
• Encourage learning about, and adoption of, more sustainable ways of living
• Be a catalyst for good decision-making and innovative solution-finding
• Identify and encourage opportunities on Biosphere-related topics

Sustainability

A simple definition of sustainability is meeting the needs of today without compromising our ability to meet the needs of tomorrow. Biospheres strive to achieve that, accepting that change cannot always take place overnight and that balance must be achieved between competing needs.
The Man and the Biosphere Programme supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, known as the Global Goals, a blueprint for people, the planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships. The Goals were published in 2015 and the world aspires to achieve them by 2030.

António Guterres Secretary-General, United Nations, 2020

Everything we do during and after this crisis [COVID-19] must be with a strong focus on building more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change, and the many other global challenges we face.

STRATEGY

What does our Biosphere status mean for the Isle of Man?

Our Biosphere status celebrates what makes us special and tells the world we care about it, have a conscience and are committed to sustaining it. Islands need to be more self reliant than other jurisdictions, establish a local perspective on sustainability and find local solutions
to challenges. As an ‘entire nation’ Biosphere, the Isle of Man can work collectively to tackle issues that threaten sustainability and find balanced but innovative solutions that can be implemented locally and contribute globally.

HOW WILL WE FULFIL OUR STRATEGY?

• The Isle of Man Government will continue to support our UNESCO Biosphere, through its overall decision-making and by providing a dedicated officer and budget to enable us to participate in global UNESCO initiatives, devise and implement local projects, initiatives
  and events in line with the five Es and communicate successes.
• Our Stakeholder Partnership Group members will continue to oversee the delivery of UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man in a balanced way, jointly and through their own organisations, and will contribute to delivering projects and initiatives.
• A youth project will be relaunched to give young people a greater voice within Biosphere and support them to play a hands-on role in delivering projects and initiatives.

Further ways we will fulfil our strategy

Our schools and University College Isle of Man, as Biosphere Partners, will continue to foster the global young citizens of the future through their Biosphere engagement.

All our Partners will contribute to a sustainable future through their commitment to our Biosphere Pledge, driving positive change in their organisations.

Our entire community will be the most essential ingredient in our success as a Biosphere – in embracing the principles, delivering projects and effecting change.

We will measure our performance against the actions outlined in the application that we submitted to UNESCO – see biosphere.im/biosphere-isle-of-man/unesco-nomination-papers/ – and the 5Es and, from 2021, we will publish an annual report.

Full Strategy Document

If you'd like to find out more, you can read and download our full Strategy Document here,

Download and read now