Welcome to the Network of European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC) We have a new website: http://www.eeac.eu
So far around 30 advisory councils for environmental policy and sustainable development from 15 countries in the European Union are participating in the EEAC network. The councils collaborate in this network for a number of reasons, in particular to enrich the quality of policy advice on national and regional level by exchanging information with colleagues from other countries and to exert, where appropriate, an influence on policy developments at EU level by acting cooperatively.     Read more News!! ? EEAC Newsletter - July 2011
Workshop: Transitions to a Low Carbon Energy System in Europe Following to the European Commission's communication on The Low Carbon Economy Roadmap, the chair of the EEAC Working group Energy presented a discussion paper advocating a transition to a low carbon economy which at the same time must be an exit strategy to nuclear and fossil fuels, respect biodiversity and may contribute to "green growth". This paper will be presented at the forthcoming 19th EEAC Annual Conference on 16 September and further discussed in a workshop, to take place in Brussels on 4 October 2011. The workshop will feature flagship reports from Councils on transition processes and a panel discussion on Energy and Low Carbon Roadmaps. Go to the workshop page Download the discussion paper on the Commission’s Road Map Communication
EEAC at ESDN Annual Conference EEAC chair Miranda Schreurs (SRU, DE) gave a presentation at the ESDN conference 2011 (Szentendre, Hungary, 27-29 June): on Resources as subject of policies in Europe – key issues in the context of sustainable development and the question of consistency.  Conference link
EEAC Annual Conference 2011: UNCSD ? Rio20plus The EEAC Working Group Sustainable Development (WG SD) agreed on a statement for the two topics of the forthcoming UN conference on sustainable development in June 2012 (UNCSD, "Rio+20"): Green Economy and Institutional Framework. In both cases the work is based on surveys, analysis and collection of good practice in a number of member states. It will be first discussed at the EEAC Annual Conference 2011, which will take place on 15-16 September 2011 in Wroclaw, during the Polish EU Presidency. The 19th EEAC Annual Conference will be hosted by the State Environmental Council of Poland (PROS) and co-organised by the Belgian Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFFD) and the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE).  More information on the conference, venue and a draft programme can be found here. Read more Download the statement by the WG SD
EEAC’s participation in the preparatory process The EEAC participated in the First and Second Preparatory Meeting for the Rio+20 conference ("PrepCom"), the latter of which took place 7-8 March 2011. EEAC co-hosted one of the side-events, organised by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam (DE). The EEAC will contribute to the ongoing work of the Stakeholder Forum on SD governance and  is cooperating with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and its Sustainable Development Observatory, which is preparing an own initiative opinion for the Rio+20 topics. Read more
EEAC Annual Conference and Statement 2010: Sustainable Land Use From 14 to 16 October 2010 the EEAC held its 18th Annual Conference in Bruges, Belgium. On 15 October different aspects of land use were discussed in depth in four breakout sessions, with speakers from the EEAC councils, the European Commission (DG Environment, Agriculture, Regional Policy and the Secretariat General) and the European Environment Agency (EEA), as well as other European organisations (WWF, ELO, IEEP,...). Read more or download the Conference proceedings (4 MB, pdf)
The Working Groups Working Group Sustainable Development (WG SD) Read more on past and future meetings and the preparation of input for the UNCSD 2012 and contributions for the European Commission and EESC.
Working Group Sustainable Land Use   The WG Sustainable Land Use had prepared the EEAC Statement "Sustainable Land Use - A Central Challenge for Society", which was presented at the 2010 Annual Conference in Bruges. In 2011, the WG focuses on: - The discussion on public goods  - the impacts of the different policy fields on land use and vice-versa - the aspect of landscape. Read more
Working Group Energy The WG chair has launched a discussion paper, welcoming the long-term targets for a low carbon and competitive European Economy, formulated by the Commission Communication from March 2011.  The WG met on April 15 in Brussels, which is the last day of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW). Read more
Working Group Biodiversity Richard Jarvis, council member of the Countryside Council of Wales (CCW), is the new chair of the WG Biodiversity. A first meeting took place on 9 June in Brussels. Two priorities were discussed and will be further elaborated in the coming months: Green Infrastructure, which has already been a highlight in the WG's work in the last years, and Innovative Financial Instruments.  The WG Biodiversity will elaborate recommendations for EU policy initiatives, notably the European Commission's forthcoming Resource Efficiency Flagship and the planned communication on Green Infrastructure Read more
Working Group Marine   The WG Marine plans to prepare a WG Statement on "Marine Environmental Governance: towards the sustainable use of EU Seas". It will focus on the challenge of integrating Marine Spatial Planning, ICZM, Marine Conservation and Fisheries Policy in the context of the EU Maritime Policy, aiming to pursue a policy of sustainable use of the seas. Prof. Marleen van Rijswick, new member of the Wadden Sea Council (WSC, NL) is succeeding Fred Fleurke as co-chair of the WG. Read more
Working Group Governance   The WG Governance collaborates with the WG SD for the preparation of the Annual Conference 2011. The WG had finalised the background paper to the 2008 EEAC Statement "Sustainable development and the Governance of Long-term Decisions". This book can be downloaded (pdf. 1,4 mb) or paper copies can be ordered with the EEAC Office: info[at]eeac-net.org. Read more
News from previous years Copyright © 2000-2011 by European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils, Den Haag. All Rights Reserved. Last update: 19 July 2011