Commencement of initial phase to further develop Global Network of NCSDs

Further to consultations during the Rio+20 process Stakeholder Forum, in partnership with the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) and courtesy to funds made available by Finland and Germany (GIZ), is pleased to announce the commencement of an initial phase to further develop a Global Network, aiming to strengthen NCSDs and enable them to more effectively meet their aims and obligations around engendering sustainable development at the domestic level.

The network is open to multi stakeholder bodies set up by Governments as NCSDs, or other government related bodies working on issues of sustainable development.

The initial phase will:

  • Raise awareness about the Network and its potential benefits;
  • encourage sharing of experiences in strengthening sustainable development policies and increasing creative ways of integrating sustainability thinking into society;
  • enhance cooperation between bodies on a bilateral, sub-regional and inter-regional basis for knowledge exchange, lesson learning, and capacity building;
  • facilitate the informed debate about the variety of modality of NCSDs; and
  • help to increase overall understanding of how sustainable development can be beneficial to both collective and individual interests.

Primary activities will:

  • Develop the already established website for the Network regarding both the quality and range of both qualitative and quantitative information, and creating new features for Councils to share information;
  • gather papers and think pieces, including information on recent activities such as the Peer Review on German sustainable development policies;
  • provide tools to explore points of collective interest in the follow up to Rio+20; and
  • establish an Advisory Board and seek its guidance on the evolution of the Network.

Stakeholder Forum will be contacting interested parties in the coming weeks to discuss next steps and the aims of the project. For more information please contact Jack Cornforth:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.