In a previous mail, we have informed you already about the documentation of the ESDN Conference 2006 at www.sd-network.eu. Please note that we have now added a 30-page Proceedings paper that summarizes the keynote presentations and the working group discussions. Since the working groups on evaluating and reviewing SD strategies did not report to the plenary, the proceedings provide a comprehensive picture of the discussion in all groups. We thank the rapporteurs for documenting and summarising the working group discussions.

EU SDS adopted by the European Council: Update of the ESDN Quarterly Report

After an intensive negotiation process under the Austrian Presidency, the Brussels European Council adopted the renewed EU SDS on June 15-16, 2006 (see paragraph 17 of the Presidency Conclusions).

As announced earlier, the first ESDN Quarterly Report on the EU SDS was updated recently in order to take this development into account. The update summarizes some key features of the renewed EU SDS. By highlighting those parts of the EU SDS that refer explicitly to policy making at the Member State level, it gives national and sub-national SD coordinators a “quick guide” overview of what the EU SDS may imply for their work.

Please note that paragraph 42 (p. 28) of the renewed EU SDS refers explicitly to the European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN). It states that MS “could make use of the existing European Sustainable Development Network with the aim of facilitating the exchange of good practices and experiences. It could gather views on specific priority themes and issues to be discussed by Member States in order to exemplify and document good policies and practices. This network could also be used to enhance the mainstreaming of sustainable development issues, vertical integration and coherence between the EU, national and sub-national levels of policy-making.”

Registration for the OECD/UNCSD Expert Meeting on SD

Please note that registration for the OECD/UNCSD Expert Meeting on Institutionalising Sustainable Development that will take place in Stockholm on 31 August and 1 September 2006 closes at July 10. For the programme and the registration form, please click here.

Upcoming ESDN activities

• We would like to document some good and interesting SD strategy practices on the ESDN homepage (either in the public or in the forthcoming membership section). To help us with this task we would appreciate if you could briefly inform us about interesting cases you know about or you have heard of.
• The next ESDNewsletter and Quarterly Report will be published in September 2006.
• For September, we also plan to circulate a revised version of the “ESDN Joint Understanding” that will take the discussion in the concluding session of the ESDN Conference 2006 into account.
• Based on the ESDN Joint Understanding we will organize the ESDN membership issues.
• As a next step later this fall, we plan to open a password-protected membership section on the ESDN homepage. This section will provide the opportunity to establishing moderated working groups/task forces with posting and upload functions.

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