European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils

Welcome to the Network of

European Environment and Sustainable Development
Advisory Councils (EEAC)

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.

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Follow-up of the 2009 EEAC Statement "Towards Sustainable European Infrastructures"

Workshop "Scenarios and Policies for Decarbonisation of the European Power Sector"
On March 22, the WG Energy will hold a workshop in the premises of the EESC (European Economic and Social Committee) in Brussels with the title "Scenario's and Policies for Decarbonisation of the European Power Sector". This event is also registered under the activities within the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW). The workshop's purpose is to bring some of the scenario writers on energy together and to discuss common and diverging assumptions, methods and outcomes. Eventually this will lead also to some shared policy conclusions. Christian Hey, chair of the Working Group Energy, initiated this event, as a follow-up to the EEAC 2009 Statement where 10 steps towards decarbonisation are highlighted. The workshop will focus on an analysis of the Eurelectric study "Power Choices - Pathways to Carbon-Neutral Electricity in Europe by 2050" whic was prepared by the WG Chair. download the analysis (pdf. 160 kb).
Read more and register here.
The Statement 2009

The EEAC held its 17th Annual Conference, 22-24 October 2009 in Dubrovnik. Infrastructure policies are an area where it is crucially important to think “a long way ahead”, as EEAC requested in its 2008 statement. Transport, Energy and Biodiversity Networks need to be shaped in such a long term perspective. In this light a new EEAC statement "Towards Sustainable European Infrastructures" (pdf. 500kb), was endorsed by 19 member councils. The WG Energy prepared this document. A press release summarises the highlights of the 2009 Statement.
The EEAC 2009 statement and press release can be viewed in different languages on our press page.
The annual conference was hosted by the Croatian Council for Sustainable Development (SORZO) and co-organised by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU).
Read more

EEAC Annual Conference 2010

Looking forward to next year, the Annual Conference will be held in Bruges during the Belgian EU-presidency on 14-16 October. The event will be organised by the Minaraad, in cooperation with the Walloon Environmental Council for Sustainable Development (CWEDD) and the Belgian Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFFD) on the topic "Sustainable land use" for which a policy statement will be prepared by the WG Agriculture.

The Working Groups
Most of the Working Groups have scheduled their initial meetings for 2010. WGs Agriculture, Biodiversity, and SD will cooperate on the 2010 EEAC Statement.

The Working Groups SD, Agriculture and Biodiversity met on 1 and 2 March in Brussels to work back-to-back so that on the final day, the WG Agriculture, responsible for the content of the 2010 EEAC Statement, will have enough input to elaborate further content. In their midst, was a representative of a new future member of the EEAC: Prof. Gisehler Kaule of the Environmental Council of Baden-Württemberg.

the Working Group Agriculture (WG Agriculture) held its meeting in the Minaraad offices on 2 March in the morning. Among the participants the WG welcomed a delegation of the newly formed Dutch council RLI (Councils of Environment and Infrastructure), which combines the secretariats of the former Dutch councils RLG and VROMRaad. Most of the meeting was filled with a discussion on the theme and its elaboration for the 2010 EEAC Statement, which eventually is to be made concrete in a paper to be written by the WG Chair by the end of March. The scoping should be finished by then, so that the elaboration of the actual statement can proceed in April-May.

A first push towards the theme has been provided by the report "Land use in an Era of Global Change" (pdf, 5,27 MB) and in a later stage by a kick-off paper delivered by Jose Lima-Santos (CNADS, PT) in December.

Please note that Jos Gysels had to step down as WG chair for personal reasons, and Jan Verheeke is stepping in for him (Director, Minaraad, BE) jan.verheeke@minaraad.be
Read more

The Working Group Sustainable Development (WG SD) had its first meeting of 2010 in the office of the Belgian FRDO-CFDD on 1 March in the afternoon, back-to-back with meetings of the WGs Agriculture and Biodiversity on the next day at the EEAC offices. Special attention went to the EEAC Rio+20 declaration and possible input of national councils and of EEAC. The development of both the EU SDS and the post Lisbon "EU 2020" Strategy were also discussed: The WG chairs had contributed with a paper to the consultation (see below). Also on the agenda were discussions around growth and GDP; in this context, a report by the UK SDC (Jackson, 2009) entitled Prosperity without Growth? was published in 2009. Finally, the WG's input for the EEAC 2010 Statement on Sustainable Land Use was addressed at the WG meeting.
Download: “Reconstructing the Lisbon Strategy for a Sustainable New Europe (100 kB, pdf.)”.

Read more

The Working Group Biodiversity (WG Biodiversity) followed directly to the WG Agriculture meeting. It was very brief, so that members who attended both meetings, could continue the discussion on the theme for the 2010 statement. The meeting ended with a discussion on a draft letter of the WG Chair tot he European Commission. Eventually, six topics were raised to be taken into account: mountain biodiversity, inland waters biodiversity, marine and coastal biodiversity, protected areas, biodiversity and climate change and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Read more

The Working Group Energy (WG Energy)
On March 23, after the WG Energy workshop on 22 March "Scenarios and Policies for Decarbonisation for the European Power Sector" (see above) the WG will meet in Brussels. There the chair will present its conclusions. Also the feedback of the dissemination of the 2009 Statement on national and EU level will be discussed. The WG also intends to contribute to one of the priority topics identified by the Forward Looking Paper, namely "Going beyond the New Green Deal".
Read more

The Working Group Marine (WG Marine) is holding, as announced during the Annual Conference, a kick-off meeting initiated by CNADS. The meeting will take place on 12 March in Lisbon and will focus among others on the EU's Maritime Policy - Implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and will further discuss future topics and decide upon the way ahead.
Read more

The Working Group Governance (WG Governance) will concentrate on Rio+20 and the financial crisis as topics to work on in 2010. Concerning the first topic, the WG will cooperate with the WG SD. So far, no further planning has been made.
The WG also finalised the document "Sustainable development and the Governance of Long-term Decisions" last year. This book can be downloaded (pdf. 1,4 mb) or paper copies can be ordered at louis.meuleman[at]rmno.nl.
Read more

News from our members

Abolishment of the RMNO (NL) - On 31 December 2009 the RMNO closed its offices after 28 years of service and expertise in the relation of knowledge policy and society. The EEAC would like to express its gratitude for the RMNO’s intensive contribution and the leading role it has taken within the EEAC: the fact that RMNO hosted the EEAC office in 2002-2005 and the EEAC Conference in 1997 and has been chair of the WG Governance for the last two years mentions just a few examples. RMNO-documents will still be accessible for a few months on www.rmno.nl and the website www.knowledgedemocracy.nl. A text containing the closing agreement can be downloaded from the RMNO website (Dutch, pdf, 4 Mb).

Common secretariat for RLG and VROMraad (NL) – From 1 January on, the RLG has its office on the same address as the VROMraad. This will be a temporary solution as both councils will merge into a ”Council for the Living Environment” (Raad voor het Leefmilieu). A date for the merger has not yet been established. read more

NFFT new Hungarian member council - The EEAC would like to welcome the Hungarian National Council for Sustainable Development (NFFT) as its newest member. The council presented itself at the Annual Conference in Dubrovnik and was accepted unanimously in the plenary session. The EEAC is looking forward to a long-term and fruitful cooperation.

News from previous years

Copyright © 2000-2010 by European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils, Den Haag. All Rights Reserved.
Last update: 8 March 2010

Welcome to the Network of European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC)
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
Follow-up of the 2009 EEAC Statement "Towards Sustainable European Infrastructures" Workshop "Scenarios and Policies for Decarbonisation of the European Power Sector" On March 22, the WG Energy will hold a workshop in the premises of the EESC (European Economic and Social Committee) in Brussels with the title "Scenario's and Policies for Decarbonisation of the European Power Sector". This event is also registered under the activities within the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW). The workshop's purpose is to bring some of the scenario writers on energy together and to discuss common and diverging assumptions, methods and outcomes. Eventually this will lead also to some shared policy conclusions. Christian Hey, chair of the Working Group Energy, initiated this event, as a follow-up to the EEAC 2009 Statement where 10 steps towards decarbonisation are highlighted. The workshop will focus on an analysis of the Eurelectric study "Power Choices - Pathways to Carbon-Neutral Electricity in Europe by 2050" whic was prepared by the WG Chair. download the analysis (pdf. 160 kb). Read more and register here. The Statement 2009 The EEAC held its 17th Annual Conference, 22-24 October 2009 in Dubrovnik. Infrastructure policies are an area where it is crucially important to think “a long way ahead”, as EEAC requested in its 2008 statement. Transport, Energy and Biodiversity Networks need to be shaped in such a long term perspective. In this light a new EEAC statement "*Towards Sustainable European Infrastructures" (pdf. 500kb), was endorsed by 19 member councils. The WG Energy prepared this document. A press release summarises the highlights of the 2009 Statement. The EEAC 2009 statement and press release can be viewed in different languages on our press page. The annual conference was hosted by the Croatian Council for Sustainable Development (SORZO) and co-organised by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Read more*
EEAC Annual Conference 2010 Looking forward to next year, the Annual Conference will be held in Bruges during the Belgian EU-presidency on 14-16 October. The event will be organised by the Minaraad, in cooperation with the Walloon Environmental Council for Sustainable Development (CWEDD) and the Belgian Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFFD) on the topic "Sustainable land use" for which a policy statement will be prepared by the WG Agriculture.
The Working Groups Most of the Working Groups have scheduled their initial meetings for 2010. WGs Agriculture, Biodiversity, and SD will cooperate on the 2010 EEAC Statement. The Working Groups SD, Agriculture and Biodiversity met on 1 and 2 March in Brussels to work back-to-back so that on the final day, the WG Agriculture, responsible for the content of the 2010 EEAC Statement, will have enough input to elaborate further content. In their midst, was a representative of a new future member of the EEAC: Prof. Gisehler Kaule of the Environmental Council of Baden-Württemberg.
the Working Group Agriculture (WG Agriculture) held its meeting in the Minaraad offices on 2 March in the morning. Among the participants the WG welcomed a delegation of the newly formed Dutch council RLI (Councils of Environment and Infrastructure), which combines the secretariats of the former Dutch councils RLG and VROMRaad. Most of the meeting was filled with a discussion on the theme and its elaboration for the 2010 EEAC Statement, which eventually is to be made concrete in a paper to be written by the WG Chair by the end of March. The scoping should be finished by then, so that the elaboration of the actual statement can proceed in April-May. A first push towards the theme has been provided by the report "Land use in an Era of Global Change" (pdf, 5,27 MB) and in a later stage by a kick-off paper delivered by Jose Lima-Santos (CNADS, PT) in December. Please note that Jos Gysels had to step down as WG chair for personal reasons, and Jan Verheeke is stepping in for him (Director, Minaraad, BE) jan.verheeke@minaraad.be Read more
The Working Group Sustainable Development (WG SD) had its first meeting of 2010 in the office of the Belgian FRDO-CFDD on 1 March in the afternoon, back-to-back with meetings of the WGs Agriculture and Biodiversity on the next day at the EEAC offices. Special attention went to the EEAC Rio+20 declaration and possible input of national councils and of EEAC. The development of both the EU SDS and the post Lisbon "EU 2020" Strategy were also discussed: The WG chairs had contributed with a paper to the consultation (see below). Also on the agenda were discussions around growth and GDP; in this context, a report by the UK SDC (Jackson, 2009) entitled Prosperity without Growth? was published in 2009. Finally, the WG's input for the EEAC 2010 Statement on Sustainable Land Use was addressed at the WG meeting. Download: “Reconstructing the Lisbon Strategy for a Sustainable New Europe (100 kB, pdf.)”. Read more
The Working Group Biodiversity (WG Biodiversity) followed directly to the WG Agriculture meeting. It was very brief, so that members who attended both meetings, could continue the discussion on the theme for the 2010 statement. The meeting ended with a discussion on a draft letter of the WG Chair tot he European Commission. Eventually, six topics were raised to be taken into account: mountain biodiversity, inland waters biodiversity, marine and coastal biodiversity, protected areas, biodiversity and climate change and sustainable use of biodiversity. Read more
The Working Group Energy (WG Energy) On March 23, after the WG Energy workshop on 22 March "Scenarios and Policies for Decarbonisation for the European Power Sector" (see above) the WG will meet in Brussels. There the chair will present its conclusions. Also the feedback of the dissemination of the 2009 Statement on national and EU level will be discussed. The WG also intends to contribute to one of the priority topics identified by the Forward Looking Paper, namely "Going beyond the New Green Deal". Read more
The Working Group Marine (WG Marine) is holding, as announced during the Annual Conference, a kick-off meeting initiated by CNADS. The meeting will take place on 12 March in Lisbon and will focus among others on the EU's Maritime Policy - Implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and will further discuss future topics and decide upon the way ahead. Read more
The Working Group Governance (WG Governance) will concentrate on Rio+20 and the financial crisis as topics to work on in 2010. Concerning the first topic, the WG will cooperate with the WG SD. So far, no further planning has been made. The WG also finalised the document "Sustainable development and the Governance of Long-term Decisions" last year. This book can be downloaded (pdf. 1,4 mb) or paper copies can be ordered at louis.meuleman[at]rmno.nl. Read more
News from our members Abolishment of the RMNO (NL) - On 31 December 2009 the RMNO closed its offices after 28 years of service and expertise in the relation of knowledge policy and society. The EEAC would like to express its gratitude for the RMNO’s intensive contribution and the leading role it has taken within the EEAC: the fact that RMNO hosted the EEAC office in 2002-2005 and the EEAC Conference in 1997 and has been chair of the WG Governance for the last two years mentions just a few examples. RMNO-documents will still be accessible for a few months on www.rmno.nl and the website www.knowledgedemocracy.nl. A text containing the closing agreement can be downloaded from the RMNO website (Dutch, pdf, 4 Mb). Common secretariat for RLG and VROMraad (NL) – From 1 January on, the RLG has its office on the same address as the VROMraad. This will be a temporary solution as both councils will merge into a ”Council for the Living Environment” (Raad voor het Leefmilieu). A date for the merger has not yet been established. read more NFFT new Hungarian member council - The EEAC would like to welcome the Hungarian National Council for Sustainable Development (NFFT) as its newest member. The council presented itself at the Annual Conference in Dubrovnik and was accepted unanimously in the plenary session. The EEAC is looking forward to a long-term and fruitful cooperation.
News from previous years Copyright © 2000-2010 by European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils, Den Haag. All Rights Reserved. Last update: 8 March 2010

Welcome to the Network of

European Environment and Sustainable DevelopmentAdvisory Councils (EEAC)

Follow-up of the 2009 EEAC Statement "Towards Sustainable European Infrastructures"

EEAC Annual Conference 2010

The Working Groups Most of the Working Groups have scheduled their initial meetings for 2010. WGs Agriculture, Biodiversity, and SD will cooperate on the 2010 EEAC Statement.

News from our members

News from previous years

European Environment and Sustainable Development
Advisory Councils (EEAC)

The Working Groups
Most of the Working Groups have scheduled their initial meetings for 2010. WGs Agriculture, Biodiversity, and SD will cooperate on the 2010 EEAC Statement.