The WEEC International Environmental Education Network: a worldwide network of debate and research. The Network was established to give the Congresses continuity. This will consequently favor discussions about the key issues in environmental education; the exchange of thoughts, experiences and proposals from one Congress to the next; and the creation of a worldwide community of research and practice in environmental education and sustainability.

The summoning of an international meeting on environmental education has been anticipated for a good many years. The idea first got underway at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, becoming a concrete reality in 2003 with the First World Environmental Education Congress (1st WEEC) held in Espinho, Portugal.

The NGOs that drafted an “Alternative Treaty on Environmental Education” in Rio in 1992 had pledged to hold a “Planetary Meeting of Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies” within 3 years, but nothing more was ever done.

The 3rd Congress in Torino (Italy) 2005 (3rd WEEC) brings the phase of consolidating the Congresses to an end and paves the way for the series of biennial Congresses to follow. Significantly, the 3rd WEEC in Torino in 2005 occurs during the inaugural year of the Worldwide Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), proclaimed by the United Nations for the ten-year period of 2005-2014. With the Congresses in Espinho (2003) and Torino (2005), the great international assemblies on environmental education return to Europe after having been absent since 1997 (Thessaloniki Conference "Environment and Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability").

The Congresses of 2007 in Durban (SouthAfrica), and Montréal (Canada) of 2009, confirm the continuity of the network. The topic of the Congress in Durban: "Learning in a chancing World" has opened the opportunity for critical reflection on the role of education - practice and theory. The topic of Congress in Montréal, "Live together on Earth", invites the participants to contribute to the most important project of our humanity: to learn to live better the Earth.

Brisbane (Australia) will host the 6th Congress in 2011 (19-23 July), while the 7th Congress will be hosted by Morocco in 2013.