Enhancing and Conservation of Ecosystem through Philatelic Education in Europe: Think Green Concept (IV) - The Second Research Study on First-Day Covers

Abstract

EUROPA stamps are special stamps issued by European postal administrations and bears the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme. EUROPA stamps underline cooperation in the posts domain, taking into account the promotion of thematic philately. They also build awareness of the common roots, culture and history of Europe, and its common goals. As such, EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world. Europa Stamps 2016 are very special stamps with the “Think Green” theme aimed to create awareness and give a wakeup call - its time to protect our environment for the better future of the new generations, and to contribute to socio-economical development. In this paper, we propose an insight into the history of European preoccupations for natural heritage conservation and for environmental protection and bring into the discussion only the significant concerns in promoting ecological educational via thematic issues (in this case, Think green! issues). In this context, the main objective was to identify, index, and describe the main philatelic pieces - in particular first-day covers - issued in European countries (starting with Italy and ending with the Vatican), from the beginning of issuing.