Sustainable Development

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2008: Preparation of the EEAC Annual Conference "Sustaining Europe for a long way ahead"
2007: Follow-up of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy
2006: "Getting it straight and keeping up the pressure. A Dialogue paper"
2005: Co-chairmen paper "Beyond Lisbon" and Benchmark study "Sustaining Sustainability"
2004: Public Consultation to the Review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy
2002-2003: Statement "Strengthening Sustainable Development in the EU"
2000-2001: Greening Sustainable Development Strategies

2008: Preparation for the EEAC Statement and Annual Conference "Sustaining Europe for a long way ahead"

Co-chairs: Michel Ricard, President, French National Council for Sustainable Development (CNDD) and Tim O'Riordan, Commission Member, UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC)

Main outcomes 2008

2008: In preparation for the EEAC Annual conference 2008, the Working Group developed the Statement "Sustaining Europe for a long way ahead, Making long-term sustainable development policies work", which looks into challenges for the long-term policy making in Europe. The statement was endorsed by 15 member councils and thus turned into a EEAC Statement. The WG also prepared a Background Paper, designed to provide more analysis and supporting evidence for the Statement. It is meant to be a bridge between the endorsed EEAC statement and the accompanying Theme Papers. The Background Paper was issued on behalf of the WG members only, without councils' endorsement. The WG has, partly in collaboration with others and with other Working Groups, notably the Working Groups Governance and Biodiversity, prepared Theme Papers on eight key topics: Governance, Social Justice, Demography, Markets, Education, Culture, Diversity, and Budgets. They are analysing how far these key themes and ways of working are suitably fashioned for promoting a sustainable long term. Besides preparing for the annual conference the WG also followed-up on the EU SDS progress reporting and on the Dutch experience of the peer review of SD policies.
April 2008: The WG SD held an inspiring and challenging 2-day meeting at Sunningdale kindly hosted by the UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC). Some WG members also followed the SDC's invitation and joined the council's plenary meeting in London, where participants discussed the work of the WG SD, EEAC and the involvement of the SDC. The WG continued with its preparation of the EEAC Annual Conference 2008 "Sustaining Europe for a Long Way Ahead": the individual theme papers were presented by the anchor authors, and a draft for a WG/EEAC statement by the WG co-chair was discussed. Also, final arrangements regarding invited speakers and the programme of the conference day on 10 October were decided.

Download the 2008 EEAC Statement, the Background Paper and the accompanying theme papers

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2007: Follow-up of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy

Chair: Günther Bachmann, Director, German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE)

Main outcomes 2007

2007: Follow-up of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS).
June 2007: Participation in the European Sustainability Berlin Conference (ESB07) during the German Presidency of the EU. Follow up of the SDS peer review in the Netherlands that had just finalised and presentation of the Background Paper "Stimulating informed debate: Sustainable Development Councils in EU member states - a compilation of tasks, capacities, and best practice, a study on the role of SD councils stimulating informed debate and involving civil society (a special background paper was drafted for the WG).
November 2007: The proposed outline of the Theme Papers was discussed during the WG SD meeting on 22 November 2007 in Paris. A draft of the Theme Papers was delivered in April and based on them, the drafting of the 2008 statement was initiated.

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2006: "Getting it straight and keeping up the pressure. A Dialogue paper"

Co-chairs: Günther Bachmann, Director, German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) and Derek Osborn, Commission Member, UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC)

Main outcomes 2006

February 2006: This dialogue paper was destined to fit into the ongoing EU Sustainable Development Strategy review process. It was discussed by the EEAC Steering Committee and subsequently submitted to the Austrian Presidency and the EU Commission.

Download "Getting it straight and keeping up the pressure. A Dialogue paper"

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2005: Co-chairmen paper "Beyond Lisbon" and Benchmark Study "Sustaining Sustainability"

Co-chairs: Günther Bachmann, Director, German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) and Derek Osborn, Commission Member, UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC)

Main outcomes 2005

January 2005: In the course of the 11^thEEAC Annual Conference in Florence in October 2003, the WG Sustainable Development decided to carry out a project to strengthen the capacity of member councils and to provide further advice on the review of the EU SD Strategy during 2004. The result of this initiative is Sustaining Sustainability, a benchmark study on national strategies towards sustainable development in nine EU member states and their link to the EU SDS. It focuses on the governance of sustainability including horizontal and vertical coordination, and the links between government and non-governmental actors. It particularly explores the role and impact of advisory councils for sustainable development and environment in these SD processes.

Sustaining Sustainability was co-financed by the ten councils that took part, and supported by EEAC. The councils participated actively by facilitating the research in their own countries, through council and/or secretariat members having been interviewed, and the key contact persons have been engaged in reviewing drafts of the individual country analysis. With this setting the study created a true sense of ownership, and was itself a 'learning process' and 'capacity building', as the gained insights and knowledge remain in the network.

The book is the second issue of the EEAC publication series and published by Lemma, Utrecht (www.lemma.nl) and can be ordered there.

Download full version of Benchmark Study "Sustaining Sustainability"
June 2005: The WG Sustainable Development met for a workshop to discuss the results of the benchmark study "Sustaining Sustainability". Representatives of 14 councils from 13 countries and regions were present. With input from five countries that had not participated in the study, the scope could be broadened. The aspects of horizontal and vertical coordination, monitoring and review, as well as engaging civil society were addressed. A particular focus was the role and actions of (SD) councils in these aspects of SD processes, for which recommendations were developed. On the basis of discussions at the workshop a paper on "Monitoring the EU SD Strategy – a 10-point conceptual frame" was finalised afterwards and submitted to the EESC and the European Commission (DG Env and SecGen).
October 2005: During the 2005 Annual Conference in Oxford, the co-chairmen of the WG Sustainable Development elaborated a document entitled "Beyond Lisbon. Beyond Fossil Fuels" on the European Sustainable Development Strategy and on Sustainable Energy. The document was sent as a chair's letter to Mr. Barroso.

Download Co-chairmen paper: Beyond Lisbon

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2004: Public Consultation to the Review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy

Co-chairs: Günther Bachmann, Director, German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) and Derek Osborn, Commission Member, UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC)

Main outcomes 2004

April 2004: Comhar Ireland's National Sustainable Development Partnership, and the Irish Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government hosted a conference in Kinsale, Ireland, on Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development in EU 25. In the course of the Kinsale conference the representatives of EEAC councils agreed on a document to be known as the ‘Kinsale Challenge’ making a number of specific recommendations to the EU and the Member States about the Lisbon and the EU Sustainable Development Strategy Review, particularly requesting that the Lisbon process should take account of the EU SDS review so that the sustainability dimension can be better reflected in it.
October 2004: the WG Sustainable Development gave input to Public Consultation to the Review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. This contribution was a compilation of individual councils' input in response to the questionnaire launched by the European Commission SEC(2004) 1042 in July 2004. In the context of the EU SDS review, the chair of EEAC, together with the co-chairs of the WG Sustainable Development, sent a letter in October to the newly appointed President of the Commission, Mr. Barroso, highlighting the exciting opportunity that this review offers for moving Europe decisively forward towards to goal of sustainability. The letter drew attention to some key issue that the review was expected to address and offered the assistance of the EEAC network in the process of the review and its implementation.
Download the WG Sustainable Development contribution to the EU SDS review
Download the letter to President Barroso

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2002-2003: Statement "Strengthening Sustainable Development in the EU"

Chairs: Jan de Smedt, Executive Secretary, Belgian Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFDD)

December 2002: The Working Group endorsed the statement "Strengthening Sustainable Development in the EU" which was then sent to EU Commission President Prodi, selected Commissioners as well as the Danish and Greek Foreign and Environment Ministers.
Download the Statement "Strengthening Sustainable Development"
October 2003: During the 11^th EEAC Conference in Florence, the WG's chairs presented the Chairmens' paper. This paper was published in November 2003. It was a contribution to the review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and the preparation of the EU Spring Council in 2004.

Download Chairmen's' Paper
April 2003: Members of the WG Sustainable Development were invited to meet with national governmental experts on sustainable development strategies at a workshop in Vienna to discuss the evolution of national strategies and their relationship to European Sustainable Development Strategy. Among other conclusions, the participants believed that the content for a national strategy should be both general and detailed at the same time, start with a general vision and the analysis of trends, then move on to principles and objectives, providing concrete targets and indicators and pay attention to policy processes (i.e. important actors and their role in the implementation process) and review processes.

Download conclusions of the Vienna SD Workshop

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2000-2001: Launch of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy

June 2000: In 2001, the European Union issued its first Strategy for Sustainable Development. At its Annual Conference in Sesimbra in June 2000, EEAC identified this Strategy as an issue of vital and fundamental importance. Internationally, it formed the contribution to Rio + 10. It also fleshed out the concept of 'sustainable development', which is still one of the EU's formal objectives and the key goal of the environmental integration duty contained in the Treaty.
More info on the contribution to the EU Sustainable Development Strategy 2001
February 2001: As a follow up of the ad-hoc group on the 6 EAP, the EEAC network established a WG Sustainable Development to contribute to forming the EU Sustainable Development Strategy, and consider what must be done to move the EU towards a more environmentally sustainable path.
Greening Sustainable Development Strategies is the statement the Working Group produced in February 2001 in the course of the conference organised in Stockholm by the Swedish Environmental Council (MVB). The statement followed the initial meetings with European Commission officials, and it was drafted in consultation with all the advisory councils that make up the EEAC network.

More information on the Greening Sustainable Development Strategies Conference in Stockholm

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