Think Pieces

National Councils for Sustainable Development: Lessons from the past and present

2014-03-18T17:50:57+00:00

By discussing best practices and common trends regarding the purpose, composition and functions of NCSDs, this paper hopes to provide existing NCSDs with a resource to help them learn from other circumstances, both past and current, to ultimately become more effective facilitating the delivery of sustainable development at the national level. It may also be useful for countries that are considering the creation or modification of NCSDs during the next few years.

The report is arranged around three main topics: Purpose and mandate; Composition and membership; and Functions and activities

Download the document in English or in Spanish.

What role can NCSDs and similar bodies play in the design and delivery of the SDGs

2014-03-18T17:47:49+00:00

The following report provides comparative analysis to inform the National Councils for Sustainable Development can develop their thinking on how their priorities and possible roles in developing and monitoring national targets could be integrated into the framework of the Sustianable Development Goals. It also hopes to inform the intergovernmental discussions on SDGs, primarily through the Open working Group, UN High Level Political Forum and other relevant SD processes and mechanisms.

Download the document in English or in Spanish

The governance of scaling up successful sustainability practices: How can National Councils for Sustainable Development organise the wider use of national and regional examples?

2014-03-18T17:51:31+00:00

The paper was co-authored by Jack Cornforth, Stakeholder Forum; Ingeborg Niestroy, PublicStrategy for Sustainable Development; and Derek Osborn Stakeholder Forum. It begins by exploring the governance of scaling up, looking at different factors which affect the transferability of successful sustainable development practices from one place to another; then looks at examples of mechanisms for scaling up, suggesting some key factors to be taken into consideration by NCSDs looking to improve coordination between national sustainable development priorities and international sustainable development concerns; and ends by suggesting some practical activities the Global Network could facilitate to assist NCSDs with scaling up efforts.

The full report is available here.

Fostering Knowledge Management and Citizen Participation via E-Governance for Achieving Sustainable Balanced Development

2014-03-18T17:52:10+00:00

Accorrding to Zurn (2000), the fundamental principle of any political community is the mutual aknowledgement as autonomous individuals, each with a right to personal self-fulfillment besides their alignment towards unity and integration for national development and its balanced contrbution to the globe.

Download the think-piece here.

Germany’s Council for Sustainable Development  and  the German Case of Framing National SD Policies

2014-03-18T17:52:45+00:00

The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) is a multi stakeholder body advising the German Federal Government. The 15 RNE members were appointed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. The RNE was first established in April 2001 by then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

The Council works through a secretariat directed by General Secretary Dr. Günther Bachmann, with an annual total net budget of €1,9 million. Regular working meetings and a couple of various additional dialogue conferences, leadership fora and expert panels are part of a robust working mode.

To read a full report click here.

National Strategies for Sustainable Development

2014-03-18T18:08:19+00:00

This report has been prepared to assist government managers and policy-makers in taking strategic and coordinated action toward sustainable development at the national level. This action is most commonly referred to as a national sustainable development strategy-a process that represents a transition from the traditional fixed plan "towards operating an adaptive system that can continuously improve.

Download report here.

Sustainable Development Councils at National and Sub-National Levels Stimulating Informed Debate: Stocktaking

2014-03-18T17:53:17+00:00

The paper captures the diffusion of Sustainable Development Councils (SCDs), providing analysis of different models regarding tasks and function, as well as good practice examples and some insights on failures and challenges. As there is little data available for the global picture, the article focuses on Europe, where it is based on surveys and other studies.

To read the full report click here.

Participating or just talking? Sustainable Development Councils and the implementation of Agenda 21

2014-03-18T17:54:44+00:00

Sustainable Development Councils were among the few specific recommendations for institution building to come out of Rio in 1992. At their best the councils manifest Agenda 21's call for new participatory arrangements. At their worst they represent the frustrations and unmet challenges of the thirteen years since Rio. In this paper, Jonathan Rosenberg and Linus Spencer Thomas compare attempts to establish councils in three Caribbean states: Grenada, Dominica, and St. Lucia. The cases offer lessons in the survivability of deliberative bodies concerned with sustainable development policy and raise questions about their efficacy.

The full paper is available here.

Stimulating informed debate – Sustainable Development Councils in EU Member States. A compilation of tasks, capacities, and best practice

2014-03-18T17:54:07+00:00

Sustainable Development Councils (SDCs) cumulate and widen the functions of individual organisations of civil society. Through their link to a wide range of political actors and leadership in sustainability, and the expertise combined in the council, they build up additional weight to the political sounding and creativity provided by civil society organisations (CSOs). The Brundtland Commission and subsequently Agenda 21 have promoted to establish SD councils, both however more with the concept of a formal representation than with the aspiration of nowadays SDCs to fostering dialogue among stakeholders, and between stakeholders and government, as well as monitoring progress and encouraging initiatives and innovation for SD.