EUROPE & NORTH AMERICA

This section gives an overview about issues and activities of the preparatory process towards the World Summit for Europe and North America, as well as information about activities of the Henirichy Boell Foundation in this region.

After Johannesburg - Where do we go From Here?

Conference 

November 21, 2002 -- Washington D.C., USA. The Heinrich Böll Foundation North America invites to the conference 'After Johannesburg - Where do we go From Here? An Agenda for the Next Decade'.
http://www.boell.org/200.asp
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Changing the Balance of Trade

Seminar 

July 9-10, 2002 -- Brussels, Belgium. Changing the Balance of Trade: Sustainability Assessment of EU Trade Policies. This Seminar will focus on how to change the current balance of EU trade policies towards sustainable development through the use of Sustainability Assessments (SA). SA is an innovative policy tool which is increasingly being used to shed light on the environmental and social impacts of trade liberalisation. MORE

Countdown for Johannesburg

Conference 

Conference, May 31 - June 1, 2002 -- Berlin, Germany: Where do we stand, ten years after Rio? Were does Germany stand? How can we provide sustainable livelihoods for all humans on Earth while staying within the limits of the ecological capacity of our planet? At this conference, key actors from the German government, international civil society and representatives from the South will seek answers from their different perspectives for the challenges for German politics. MORE

Civil Society in The UNECE region

Civil Society 

In the UNECE region (Europe and North America), ANPED, the Northern Alliance for Sustainability, has taken the lead in co-ordinating the Civil Society Process. ANPED co- ordinated the NGO input for the Ministerial Conference in Geneva, September 2001 but is also involved in the global NGO preparations for Johannesburg by attending global prepcoms and the Summit itself, and by providing information to NGOs involved in the process. [ ANPED on the web ]

From Rio via Doha to Johannesburg

Civil Society 

April 17, 2002: Brussels: Counterbalancing the WTO with Strong Environnmental and Social Rules. Public Hearing at the European Parliament, organised by the Heinrich Boell Foundation and Friends of the Earth Europe. MORE

WSSD Speakers Series

Civil Society 

The speakers series will bring together a wide range of actors from the European Commission, the European Parliament, NGOs, the private sector and EU governments to address a number of key issues on the WSSD agenda. MORE

NGO Strategy Sessions On Earth Summit 2002

Civil Society 

In the first half of 2001, the Heinrich Boell Foundation organised, in co-operation with the Stockholm Environmental Institute, several NGO strategic sessions that brought together Brussels based environment and development NGOs to how best to forge greater solidarity and cooperation within our NGO community in the run-up to the WSSD. MORE

Promoting the Euro-Med Sustainable Development Strategy

WSSD Challenges 

In the context of the preparations for Johannesburg, the European Commission, DG Environment, will elaborate an European-Mediterranean Sustainable Development Strategy. The "Euromed SDS" will be adopted by the Euromed Ministers of Environment in Athens, July 2002. It will be submitted to the WSSD as part of the EU contribution. To make sure that the Euromed SDS fully includes key sustainability concerns and objectives, and to promote effective implementation of the Strategy after its adoption in Greece, hbf will be taking part in the following activities in close co-operation with WWF and other Mediterranean NGOs. MORE

Sustainability and Solidarity - Europe's Way to the WSSD

Conference 

The conference "Sustainability and Solidarity", held in June 2001, brought NGO representatives and other participants from Africa, Asia, Latin-America, North-America and Europe together to talk about global sustainability issues and to strategize in the run up to the WSSD. Being held in Sweden and directly before the EU summit, the conference looked at the role of Europe and the EU in the world, and specifically at the impact of EU-policies and agreements on Southern countries. In an intensive exchange with European politicians, NGO representatives from the South and the East brought forward their viewpoints. MORE

UNECE Ministerial Meeting preparing for 2002

PrepComm 

Ministers of the memberstates, of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), met in Geneva on September 24-25, 2001, to prepare their contribution for the WSSD in Southafrica. The regional preparatory meeting, organised jointly by UNECE and UNEP, brought together some 550 delegates. Nearly all UNECE countries were represented at the highest level (note that despite its name, UNECE does also encompass North America). MORE

European Sustainable Development Strategy

WSSD Challenges 

The European Commission prepared a proposal for a long-term EU strategy on sustainable development for the Gothenburg European Council in June 2001. It contains a number of proposals for how the European Union can improve its policy making to make it more coherent and focussed on the long term, as well as a number of specific headline objectives and the measures needed to achieve them. MORE

Turkish Civil Society preparation for the World Summit

Civil Society 

Civil Society preparation or the World Summit is a focus of the Istanbul office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. The office tries to support turkish NGOs in capacity building and networking. Several workhsops have been held so far, some with the Turkish Environment Ministry, with the aim to review Agenda 21 implemantation and develop a Turkish civil society agenda.