The IISD Blog

ACC Wrap up

Samantha Darling — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:40:00 GMT

Just one last note, folks, on the Arctic Change Conference in Quebec City last week.

We finished the conference strong, both thoroughly enjoying the last days.

For Jessica, the final day of the conference started with a breakfast meeting with Sharina Dodsworth of the Nunavut Department of Environment, Lucette Barber and Robin Gislason with Schools on Board about her up-coming work in Iqaluit with the elders of the community. This was followed by the challenge of an never-ending shopping list from her family up North, as Jessica went directly North from the conference. The familiar sight of bags of massive amounts kids clothes, deodorant, and toothbrushes filled our hotel room as she helped her family prepare for christmas. She was able to make contacts with Pitsey Moss-Davies and Looee Okalik who are with the Inuit Circumpolar Counsel.

Sam spent Thursday morning at the plenary session and at a topical session on Seafloor Mapping in the Arctic (including the Northwest Passage and the Beaufort Sea. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to explore a little of old Quebec, before attending the poster session and manning our respective booths. Jessica also interviewed James Kuptana, a Schools on Board field program participant.

The conference banquet was even better than their lunches, and enhanced by a performance by Artcirque, a circus based out of Igloolik. Jessica got us a backstage look, as her uncle is part of the troop.

Friday was filled with sad goodbyes, as we parted ways, Jessica to the North and Sam to the west.

We wish you all the best, and look forward to another meeting of the minds!

Cheers!

Sam and Jessica

CYL Interns at Arctic Change 2008

Jessica Kotierk — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:01:00 GMT

Hey Again,

Sam and I (Jessica) are relaxing after the grand, first, official conference day. This conference is the largest, international gathering of Arctic scientists so the day was packed with over 900 people. Following opening remarks, we went into different sessions, Sam to technical talks on climate modeling and permafrost variability - things she would like to study further - she even saw a project she was involved in be discussed!. I attended the outreach session which included a presentation by my Schools on Board mates and an afternoon series which emphasized community-based programs with Inuit and scientific knowledge exchanges.

We had the excitement of the poster presentation time which involved sharing our posters. There were many scientific and outreach poster to browse and booths to visit. Schools on Board and Students on Ice have quite a presence. There are Schools on Board field program participants and the Students on Ice Executive Director made a presentation.

I have had a great time seeing people from growing up in Ottawa and have taken the chance to meet some new ones that I will be working with as part of my Schools on Board placement. I know that Sam has been able to get friendly with my University of Manitoba and Schools on Board crew.

Tomorrow we hope to jump right into exploring Quebec City!

Later,

Jessica and Sam

Thought Leaders - IISD's Lynn Wagner

Marlene Roy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:24:00 GMT

The outcomes of international sustainable development negotiations, such as those on climate change or trade, are critical and analysts are keen to know which negotiating processes produce favourable results. Despite years of research, however, there is still much to know. One of the un-resolved assumptions was that problem-solving processes more often lead to win-win situations as compared to bargaining processes. Now that assumption has been tested and the findings published in a new book by IISD's Lynn Wagner.

"Problem-solving and Bargaining in International Negotiations" uses new empirical analysis of international negotiations to confirm that negotiations using more problem-solving approaches are linked to integrative outcomes. Problem-solving behaviour includes developing conceptual formulas and framing issues in terms of shared values among negotiators. Alternatively, bargaining behaviour "emphasizes negotiators' use of procedures to extract concessions and movement from their original, incompatible positions," leading to compromise outcomes.

Even though the thirteen cases studies in the book focused on non-environmental negotiations, the research is applicable across negotiation processes. One key insight is that problem-solving approaches usually come from the parties with less negotiating power; the onus is on them, but the opportunity is there to search for outcomes that will satisfy all negotiators' needs. With multiple countries participating in environmental negotiations, the complexity of exchanging information, a critical problem-solving behaviour that can help negotiators identify integrative options, increases. In these situations, the multi-lateral environmental agreements' scientific bodies' role in exploring and framing the issues to be negotiated may set the tone for the search for win-win alternatives through problem-solving behaviours. Moreover, this has implications for multi-lateral environmental agreement implementation. As Lynn notes, integrative outcomes are "expected to satisfy all negotiators, which should increase the degree of implementation as well as the agreement's stability."

Lynn is continuing to do research on this topic. She is currently applying the case studies to determine relationships between problem-solving and bargaining processes, justice and outcome durability.

Publishing and Ordering Information: http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=27842

Citation

Wagner, Lynn M. (2008) Problem-solving and Bargaining in International Negotiations. International Negotiation Series. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 175p.

Abstract: Many analysts theorize that negotiation processes determine negotiated outcomes, but none have empirically tested this hypothesis across multiple cases of international negotiation. This book examines the process-outcome relationship in thirteen bilateral and multilateral negotiations involving the United States. Declassified reports from U.S. negotiators about discussions with their counterparts provide the primary data source through which the author constructs the case studies and performs a content analysis of negotiator statements to compare process and outcome. The book seeks to advance our understanding of the relationship between negotiation process and outcome as well as to provide empirically-based guidance for decision makers when selecting a negotiating approach.

Published and related research:

Wagner, Lynn M. and Deborah Davenport. (forthcoming) "Earth Negotiations from a Comfy Couch: International Environmental Policy Impasses and Creative Dispute Resolution Processes"

Abstract. Organizers of international environmental negotiations have recently employed creative dispute resolution processes in several negotiating fora. To facilitate negotiations in the UN Forum on Forests on the question of whether the international community should pursue negotiations on a legally binding agreement for forests, for example, negotiators met in resort-type settings to informally discuss the issues several months prior to official negotiating sessions. Likewise, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change moved the discussion of several issues, including future obligations for emission reductions, to informal "workshops" and "dialogues," even using a ballroom full of round tables and comfy armchairs for the presenters to take the negotiators' minds off the official negotiating positions they represent. Meanwhile, the chair of the final negotiating session for the Biosafety Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity had negotiating groups draw color-coded teddy bears named for various virtues to determine the speaking order, among other unusual techniques, to build trust among negotiators and keep their focus on shared goals. We examine these cases in an effort to understand better how these Track II-type conflict resolution methods have been and can be integrated into ongoing negotiations.

Chasek, Pamela and Lynn Wagner. (2008) "Putting The Practical Negotiator to the Test: Two examinations of the formula-details proposition." In Conflict Management and African Politics: Ripeness, Bargaining, and Mediation, eds. Terrence Lyons and Gilbert Khadiagala. Abingdon: Routledge..

Abstract. In The Practical Negotiator (1982), I. William Zartman and Maureen R. Berman lay out a type of phased process analysis that examines behavior during the different phases or stages in negotiations using what they call a three-stage approach: "diagnosis-formula-details". This innovation was aimed at clarifying "the nature of the process of negotiation" (1982, 9), by identifying stages of negotiation and the different types of problems and behaviors associated with each stage. The Chasek and Wagner paper describes evidence of a diagnosis-formula-details progression in each of two sets of thirteen case studies and elaborates on factors that influence the relationship between process and outcome in international negotiations. Both studies also address the importance of early negotiation stages on later stages and outcome. One study focuses more on initial procedural decisions and their implications during the diagnosis phase, while the other study suggests that discussions of needs and alternatives should extend beyond the diagnosis phase if the outcome is to integrate the needs of the negotiating parties.

Wagner, Lynn M. (2007) North-South Divisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Negotiating the Private Sector's Role in Three Rio Agreements. International Negotiation 12: 83-109.

Abstract. This paper analyzes negotiations in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention to Combat Desertification to develop a better understanding of the divisions between delegates from the North and the South in these talks. It focuses on discussions related to technology transfer from North to South. These transfers and the financial flows that the private sector could bring with it are closely related to what many believed was a bargain reached in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit between developed and developing countries. During subsequent negotiations, delegates from developed and developing countries have followed a fairly predictable "script" on these issues: developed countries generally insist that the private sector, as the owner of the technology, must be involved in its transfer, while developing countries have insisted that developed country governments should honor their past commitments and promote the transfers. This study describes the script as it has developed under the three Rio bodies, examines variables that have contributed to the development of the script and, based on this analysis, identifies opportunities to move the talks forward.

Wagner, Lynn M. (1999) Negotiations in the UN Commission on Sustainable Development: Coalitions, Processes and Outcomes. International Negotiation 4, 2: 107-131.

Abstract. This research examines state coalitions' negotiation processes during four sessions of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). It asks whether coalition type affects the negotiation process and whether process affects the negotiated outcome. Negotiation analysts expect convergent bargaining behaviors to lead to compromises between negotiators' positions and problem solving behaviors to lead to the integration of these positions, with the latter assumed to be the superior outcome. The CSD negotiations offer an empirical test of these hypotheses, as well as hypotheses regarding expected negotiation processes for different coalition types. The study uses data gathered by the author at CSD sessions in 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998 and finds support for the process-outcome hypotheses. The examination also provides a basis from which to offer lessons for future CSD sessions. The paper explores how changes in process timing, third party roles, and issue framing could encourage a problem solving process and integrative decisions at the CSD.

Lynn's bio: http://www.iisd.org/about/staffbio.aspx?id=350

Student Day at the Arctic Change Conference in Quebec City

Samantha Darling — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:47:00 GMT

As part of the CYL internship program, Jessica and I (Sam) are in Quebec City for the Arctic Change Conference put on by ArcticNet. On Monday, Jessica has presented and I participated in the Forum jeunesse sur les changements climatiques en Arctique (FJCCA) 2008. She did a wonderful presentation on her work as an IISD CYL intern with schools on board and their traditional knowledge collection kits.

Today, Tuesday, was Student Day at the ACC, where presenters included Martin Fortier and Mary Simon, all speaking on Arctic issues that are at the fore-front of everybody's minds. We attended workshops that addressed these issues in smaller groups. Jessica attended the Northern Training and Involvement workshop, while I sat in on the Science and Communications workshop. Discussions touched on topics that we, as a CYL group, have identified already as things that bear further thought and discussion. A main topic coming out of the Northern Training workshop is once again the issue of opening a University in the North and the ramifications that it might have on the transmission of knowledge, who's knowledge and to whom. From the Science and Communications workshop, there was a discussion of researchers doing outreach in the communities where their research takes place and whether it should be considered a matter of civic duty.

Overall, the last two days have been jammed packed with meeting new people and tons of information. This is all made even better for me by the snow outside and the beautiful lights of old Quebec!

Cheers

Jessica and Sam

Internet Governance Forum - Scenarios Workshop

Tony Vetter — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:23:00 GMT

The Global Connectivity team attending the 3rd Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad, India hosted a very successful workshop "Can Internet governance change global futures? Or will global futures change Internet governance? Using scenarios to map the relationship between Internet Governance and other global challenges."

The workshop drew around 100 participants from all stakeholder groups. The aim of the exercise was to demonstrate the relevance of the Internet's future to larger global sustainable development challenges.

Following a short introduction of the scenario methodology, participants worked in four groups to describe possible Internet futures. Each group uncovered different aspects of sustainable development connected to specific Internet issues.

The summaries will be incorporated into a publication, which will be made available at http://groups.iisd.org/internetscenarios.

In the discussion that followed, the ability to talk about groups of Internet issues (ranging from security to infrastructure to institutional arrangements and how these issues were interconnected) was highlighted as an advantage over isolated, single-issue dialogues that have occurred in some IGF sessions. The process was found to have potential as a blueprint for other Internet Governance Forum events.

Second Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators, Marrakesh, 2-4 November 2008

Fiona Marshall — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:07:00 GMT

On 2-4 November 2008 a group of approximately 50 representatives of developing country governments met in Marrakesh, Morocco for the Second Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators. The forum was organized by IISD, the South Centre and the Moroccan Department of Investment.

The forum followed on from the first annual forum of developing country investment negotiators, held in Singapore in October 2007.

Participants at the second annual negotiators’ forum included government investment negotiators from countries as diverse as Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Ecuador, China, Sudan, Iran, Peru, Syria and Swaziland, to name a few of the approximately 40 countries that took part.

Speakers included representatives of developing country governments sharing their firsthand experiences in investment treaty negotiations and investment arbitrations; representatives of regional organizations negotiating development-minded international investment agreements; law professors specializing in international investment law; and experts from the South Centre and IISD.

The forum opened with a thought-provoking address by the former Attorney-General of Pakistan who described his country’s experience when faced with its first investment treaty arbitration. He said that, like many countries, Pakistan had signed bilateral investment treaties (BITs) because it was fashionable to do so and under the impression that BITs would not “bite”. He noted that this impression had since been dispelled by the various high-value investor claims that Pakistan has since faced, several of which sought more than Pakistan’s annual health and education budget combined. He described the difficulty for a host state in mounting a defence to an investor’s claim when it has little expertise in the area and government record-keeping of treaty negotiations and of investor communications is poor. Although he did not discount that arbitration can be a useful tool, he expressed concern with the current way in which three private lawyers sitting as the arbitral tribunal have more power than the host state’s highest court. He also expressed concern about the intrusive powers that tribunals have to access government files.

The forum had six sessions, each opening with speakers with experiences to share in that area followed by questions and comments by participants. Topics discussed included:

· Recent developments in investment negotiations in bilateral, regional and multilateral treaty instruments

· Recent developments in the definition of investment and other key terms and the importance of defining terms and concepts in international investment agreements

· Recent developments in investor-state arbitration rules and procedures and the importance of transparency in the investor-state arbitration

· Defining investor obligations and ensuring development policy space for host countries

· The need to be aware of the linkages between international investment treaties and investment contracts

· The opportunities and obstacles in international investment agreements for addressing climate change and clean energy

A number of up-to-the-minute background papers were prepared for the forum and these, together with the forum agenda, are available here.

Some of the key points noted during the forum were:

· As there are now more than 2,600 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) worldwide, BITs are a fact of life for most developing countries – they cannot not easily escape them.

· The fundamental function of investment treaties is to keep the balance between investors and host states. There is a need to rebalance treaty rights and obligations to take account of host states’ right to development and to regulate in their own interest.

· It is important to negotiate investment treaties for the specific needs of one’s own country and not to accept other countries’ model treaties without careful negotiation.

· During negotiations, treaty provisions should not be accepted without carefully understanding their meaning and their interaction with other provisions in the treaty (as well as their effect on the country’s other investment treaties through the “most favoured nation treatment” standard).

· Although some arbitral tribunals have recognized investor obligations and the importance of development policy space for host states, the lack of precedent in international arbitration means that the only certain way to ensure these issues are addressed is through express provisions in the treaties.

· It is necessary to understand how investment contracts can interact with investment treaties to expand host states’ treaty obligations, eg through treaty umbrella clauses.

· International investment agreements may potentially be used to help to address climate change and clean energy needs but they may also present obstacles in doing so. Coordination between investment and climate change negotiators would help to address these points.

There was strong support from participants for the need for a third annual negotiators’ forum. Subject to funding, this will be held in Ecuador in fall 2009.

Final thoughts - MobileActive08

Tony Vetter — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:59:00 GMT

So much happened during the three days of MobileActive08 it is difficult to do justice reporting on all of the connections participants made with each other as a result of attending the conference. The list-serve established for conference participants to communicate with each other is still ringing with energy and affirmations that the “conference was life changing”.

The format of the conference seems to have had a great deal to do with this. The second half of day 2 and the morning of day 3 were dedicated to providing space for participants to identify topics or possible initiatives they wanted to explore further with others. The schedule board established for assisting with this process quickly filled up and once again participants faced difficult choices regarding which sessions to attend.

I had a very interesting discussion the day before with Nithya Ramanathan, one of the speakers from my workshop exploring state of the art mobile applications in the field of environmental sustainability, regarding possible future mobile applications that could build on the work of the UCLA Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) where she does her research. We decided to host one of these spontaneous sessions on day 3 to explore the topic of large scale information gathering using mobiles for advocacy. It ended up being well attended by representatives from environmental organizations such as Greenpeace; civil society organizations for ending poverty and injustice; as well as those working to challenge current practises of extractive industries. We discussed the merits of gathering information via mobiles for anecdotal evidence versus scientific data.

The one challenge facing the collection of scientific data via mobiles is its defensibility it term of accuracy and the reliability of its source. The merits of facing such challenges with overwhelming and compelling volumes of data was explored. Ultimately an approach of engaging a user base to strengthen our understanding of facts already established with the aim of using data or information they can provide to make the case they support more compelling or convincing to decision makers was thought the most realistic and worthwhile goal to pursue.

Examples to support this that were explored included having asthmatics citywide regularly reporting on difficultly they were having with their condition and correlating this with air pollution readings. The connection between the two is already well established scientifically but having such data collected via mobiles and presented real time on a website could help put pressure on decision makers to take action against air pollution in our cities.

Like the other participants at MobileActive08 I was quite happy with all of the connections I was able to make there. I will not list them all here but one of particular interest worth mentioning is Greenpeace China. Until this conference I was not aware that Greenpeace had a chapter active in China. It is apparently listed as a corporation instead of an NGO to avoid government restrictions placed on NGO activities there.

They are exploring how to use ICT applications to build cases for and organize challenges against the unsustainable practices of many industries operating in China while working within the constraints that an organization such as Greenpeace faces in China. At the conference they were reaching out to other organizations expressing interest in partnerships and possibilities for having their experiences with this documented and compared with those elsewhere around to globe. MobileActive08 can claim credit for having helped create an invaluable space for Greenpeace China and many other organizations looking to explore how mobile applications can help them achieve their goals of social change.

Days 1 and 2 - MobileActive08 Conference

Tony Vetter — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:07:00 GMT

Through its involvement in global processes aiming to leverage ICTs for achieving development goals IISD has noted a lack of interaction between stakeholders of the global connectivity system primarily concerned with the economic development potential of ICTs, and sustainable development stakeholders focused on grassroots social development and environmental issues (http://www.iisd.org/infosoc/issd/).

For me MobileActive08 has been a real-time demonstration of what is possible when the ICT experts and grassroots social development communities effectively work together. The collaborative sessions of the first two days of the conference brought together many beginner users of mobile tools from the NGO community, experienced designers and “hackers” of these technologies. How they met on common ground was the power of this conference for many participants.

I was fortunate to have organized a workshop exploring state of the art mobile applications in the field of environmental sustainability where such dialogue flourished. Hernán Nadal of Greenpeace Argentina shared his experiences using SMS for organizing their campaign to change forestry laws. The details he shared regarding his experiences with service providers and how their pricing models, biased towards cooperate use, pose particular challenges for NGOs attempting to scale their use of SMS services was of particular interest for many participants.

Barry Coetzee shared a homegrown strategy for delivering a bulk SMS capability equivalent to such corporate services that iVeri Payment Technologies developed for their NGO partner the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI). It is these kind of partnerships and sharing of best practices between NGO project staff and technology experts that is really going to move forward the effective use of the institutions and ICT tools for achieving sustainable development objectives.

I have been fortunate to have witnessed firsthand countless examples at MobileActive08 of how this happening in the emerging field of mobile applications for social change.

Day 0 - MobileActive08 Conference

Tony Vetter — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:55:00 GMT

MobileActive08, "Unlocking the Potential of Mobile Technology for Social Impact” (http://www.mobileactive08.org/) is a conference bursting at the seams. Or as the organizer Katrin Verclas would say, it is a field in its own right, one that did not even exist three years ago. As a sign of the level of activity associated with this emerging field, registration numbers, which were intentionally capped at 300, could have easily swelled to more than 450 according to Katrin. Apparently people have been Twittering each other trying to find people willing to scalp their passes to the event.

Why the popularity? If the informal gathering I joined Sunday evening at the Wish Cafe in the heart of Melville is any indication I would say it has to do with the optimism people feel regarding the potential for mobile technology to be a successful tool for achieving social impact. With the ITU projecting global mobile subscriptions to surpass 4 billion by the end of this year it is clear that mobiles are being adopted in developing regions, including those inhabited by the majority of the world’s poor, at unprecedented rates.

With this access technology already in the hands of many of the intended beneficiaries of NGO led social development initiatives, some of the energy spent in the past to overcome the challenges of technology adoption can be increasingly directed towards the development of innovative applications for achieving social impact that builds on uses of this access technology already evolving in these settings. The participants that I have met so far are keen to share and exchange their experiences working on leading edge applications in this field which is sure to further add to the energy of this event.

One person I talked with characterized the participants set to convene at MobileActive08 as “geeks on a mission.” Given the range of exciting and innovative applications people shared with me at the informal gathering their missions seem very well thought out embodying many well learnt lessons from ICT4D initiatives of the past. I look forward to reporting on more details as the conference unfolds.

Impression of Youth Events At IUCN Congress

Faiza Farah — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:33:00 GMT

Day 3: Tuesday October 7, 2008

Today we attended two Youth Forums. The first was regarding Intergenerational Partnerships fostering Ethical Leadership for a Just, Sustainable and Peaceful World. This event was about bringing the IUCN family together: the Secretariat, The Commissions. And the Members together to discuss how to better integrate intergenerational issues as it was recommended in Bangkok, at the previous IUCN Congress in 2004 and inline with the Earth Charter principles.

The Second Youth Forum dealt with shaping the European Youth Perspective for Sustaining the Future. A European Youth Group called AEGEE, who are made up of different European University Students from all over Europe, organized this session. This forum discussed how these students are integrating sustainability issues facing Europe into their work plans. They stated that they are doing this in two ways: first, by creating Environmental Working groups within their local universities, the second aspect is that they are involved in two-year projects regarding sustainable issues.

Day 4: Wednesday October 8, 2008

Today we attended two other Youth Events. First we attended a session organized by The Pacific Youth Forum, made up of students from the different Islands in the South Pacific such as Fuji and the Cook Islands. This event focused on bringing awareness to the Sustainable issues facing the islands and how the Youth can better get involved in finding solutions together with traditional elders and political leaders on their respective Islands. These Youth work to bring change in their region through the use of song and dance. We were luckily enough to be able to watch several traditional performances which they gave.

The second session we attended was one that highlighted the wonderful achievements of Youth around the world as they work to improve the current state of conservation of natural resources and wildlife on Earth. These Youth, who were from Nepal, Canada, Russia and Rwanda, shared with us their experiences. One of the Youth participants of this event from Rwanda, Edwin Sabuhoro, had won the WCPA scholarship for his accomplishments in protecting and conserving Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, which were highly endangered.

The Sustainable Leaders workshop is tomorrow. We have been preparing for it, working hard to get the word out at other events to increase youth and other interested participant numbers.

Day 5: Thursday October 9, 2008

The Workshop went superb. We had an amazing turn out. It was an alliance workshop sponsored by IISD along with IUCN:WWCP, IUCN:CEC, World Wildlife Fund, LEAD International, RAMSAR, IIED and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. A key highlight was the signing of the MOU. This was signed between IUCN, LEAD International, WWF, and IISD. This is an agreement that signifies that collaborative work that will be done together between these organizations in training the New Generation of Sustainable Leaders. The signing of this agreement will hopefully move the process forward at a faster pace. Julia Morten-Lefevre, the Secretary-General of IUCN, pledged her commitment to this agreement and expressed her enthusiasm.

The high number of interest participants who attended was an overwhelming response. We did not have enough seats for everyone, so we had many participants who were standing in the back and seating on the floor. We were so happy to see that so many people had so much interest in the workshop and for working towards creating training opportunities for the New Generation of Sustainable Leaders. We thank Carolee Buckler, Heather Creech, Elise Rusingizandekwe, Kristy Faccer, Laura de Kreji, Bernard Coetzee, Edward Kellow, Catherine Mutambirwa, Moia Hartop, Robert Soutter, Dominic Stucker, Gillian Martin Mehers, Djinn Pourkiani, Marion Oliver, Laura Normand, to everyone else for all their hard work and involvement in putting together this event and a special thanks to Julia Morten-Lefevre.

The closing ceremony was insightful and entertaining. There was a presentation given on Biomimicry: Innovations Inspired by Nature, a representative for the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and a beautiful performance from musicians from around the world.

Now the congress is over. It has been an exciting time for many of us. This congress has taught us a great deal and has given many of us an insight to what and where we would like to go from here. We have had many networking opportunities and chances to develop and build our capacities.

We look forward to the Next IUCN Congress.

Faiza Farah

High level commitment at IUCN Congress to build capacity of new generations of young professionals to meet conservation and sustainability challenges

Carolee Buckler — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:53:00 GMT

An exciting event will be taking place today at the IUCN Congress. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, The International Institute for Sustainable Development, Leadership for Environment and Development, and WWF International - the World Wide Fund For Nature, will establish a consortium to coordinate next generation leadership training across the IUCN Secretariat, Membership, Commissions and beyond.

The memorandum of understanding provides a general framework and a guiding tool in identifying and carrying out specific collaborative projects and activities to accelerate efforts to train the next generation of sustainable development leaders.

The world is on the cusp of dramatic global change and we will need strong leadership to help us adapt and mitigate the effects of such things as climate change over the next 10 to 20 years, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

"The goal of the consortium is to ensure sustainable development work being done today is continued into the future," says Heather Creech, IISD Director of the Knowledge Communications.

This will require a new generation of leaders prepared in fundamentally new ways to think and act in a way that matches the scale of the challenge. The consortium will focus on equipping young professionals with the knowledge, skills and values necessary to lead for success in an era of unprecedented challenges.

The joint initiative is being officially launched on Thursday, October 9, 2008, with the signing of the MOU by Julia Marton-Lefevre Director General of IUCN, Heather Creech, Director of Knowledge Communications IISD, Edward Kellow, Director of Training, and WWF Gordon Shepherd, Director of International Policy Thursday at the World Conservation Forum.

Where:

Supporting the Next Generation of Sustainable Development Leadership Workshop

Fourth IUCN World Conservation Congress; Barcelona, Spain

When: Thursday, October 9, 2008
Time: 14:30-16:00h
Location: CCIB 127

Impressions of IUCN Congress

Faiza Farah — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:08:00 GMT

Here we are at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. What a turn out. We are here with a possible 7,997 other participants.

With so many participants you have to be extremely organized and this Congress sure is because things have been moving smoothly. Carolee arrived on Saturday and Elise and I arrived on Sunday. We went to go register ourselves and get our badges late in the afternoon on Sunday right after arriving from the airport. There wasn't even a line-up, but there was one for trying to get into the opening ceremony and that was a long line-up.

The opening ceremony began at 5:00pm and it was a real treat, to say the least. We had the pleasure of listening to the Director General of IUCN, the Princess of Thailand, the Prince Of Spain and Mohammed Yunnus, to name a few.

We also watched wonderful performances by Cirque Du Soleil.

The Congress has three official languages: English, French and Spanish and depending on the speaker the language can quickly switch from one of these into another. Lucky for many of us there are as many language headsets available as there are participants.

Today we attended a workshop of Leaders for Nature and had the chance to meet other Young participants at an Event organized and hosted by IUCN and IISD called ‘Sailing to Barcelona.' Here we are with a couple of the people who came to the event.

It has been an exciting and busy start and we are looking forward to the days ahead!!!

CSIN Learning Event #28 Proceedings Now Available Online!

Christa Rust — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Hello Readers,

I wanted to let everyone know that you can now access the presentation, event recording and proceedings of the 28^th CSIN Learning Event, Measuring Success - Indicators for Strategic Approaches to Sustainable Community Planning, which took place on September 30^th 2008 with Alaya Boisvert, Sarah Cheevers and Karen Stroebel on the CSIN website http://www.csin-rcid.ca/learning_events.aspx.

Cheers,

Christa

CSIN Learning Event on Sustainable Community Planning Tuesday September 30, 2008 11am CT

Christa Rust — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:13:00 GMT

As the coordinator of the Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network (CSIN), I wanted to let my blog readers know about an upcoming Learning Event on the topic of Sustainable Community Planning as it may be of interest to. For those of you unfamiliar the network, CSIN aims to accelerate progress toward sustainable development by furthering sustainability indicator best practices in Canada. Using a variety of tools and resources, sustainability indicator and reporting practitioners from Canada and abroad exchange ideas, data and methods, and circulate announcements. Based on a community of practice approach, over 600 new and experienced practitioners share lessons learned, and discuss relevant issues of theoretical, strategic, technical and practical importance. Membership in CSIN is free and open to sustainability indicator and reporting practitioners.

One of CSIN’s most exciting knowledge transmission tools are our online Learning Events. Using web-conferencing technology, practitioners gather around the virtual meeting table to learn about each other's initiatives and to get feedback on their own work. Learning Events are designed and presented by CSIN members themselves and are open to all members. The networks next Learning Event is planned for Tuesday September 30th 2008 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. central time. The event is hosted using a virtual meeting room power by Elluminate Live software. The use of this virtual meeting room has been generously donated to CSIN by Thompson Rivers University.

The 28^th CSIN Learning Event will feature a presentation of the key findings of leading sustainability indicators research conducted in early 2008. The research was carried out at the Blekinge Institute of Technology by four Canadian Masters students enrolled in the Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability program. The review process was enriched with input from top Canadian experts in the field. Measuring Success – Indicators for Strategic Approaches to Sustainable Community Planning investigates how communities can identify and design indicators to measure and monitor the performance of their sustainability planning efforts. In summary, the research suggests process indicators provide the structure in which to monitor planning at every level and across disciplines so that appropriate socio-ecological indicators can then be derived, while simultaneously ensuring more effective governance. A brief overview of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) – the foundation upon which the research is built – will be provided to offer a science-based and principled definition of sustainability, as well as a method for structuring, evaluating and informing the design of indicators. The presentation will encourage participation and attempt to enable as much discussion as possible about the relevancy, applicability and utility of the research.

For information on becoming a CSIN member or to register for this Learning Event please contact csin@iisd.ca.

Future Leaders in Barcelona

Carolee Buckler — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:11:00 GMT

I have the pleasure of inviting everyone interested in the future of sustainable development to a workhop hosted by IISD at the 4th IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, October 5 to 14, 2008.

Our workshop "Supporting the Next Generation of Sustainable Development Leadership" will be held Thursday, October 9 from 14:30 - 16:00 in room 127 at the CCIB, the international convention centre in Barcleona. This session is for institutions, donors and young professionals who want to work together to shape training for the future.

The objective of the workshop is to establish a consortium of leading international sustainability organizations to co-ordinate next generation leadership training as a global endeavor. Our goal is to ensure that the sustainable development work being done today is continued into the future.

The workshop will begin with several short presentations by researchers and young professionals on the current status of leadership training, followed by facilitated breakout groups designed to develop a series of concrete steps to increase international investment in sustainable development leadership training. A paper on, "Supporting the Next Generation of Sustainable Development Leadership," will also be released at the workshop.

Our partners for the workshop include, LEAD International, WWF International, International Institute for Environment and Development, World Business Council for Sustainable Development - Future Leaders Team, Ramsar International, IUCN World Commission on Parks and Protected Areas, and the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication.

There are also a number of planned activites for younger people taking place at Congress. These include the delivery of the following seven workshops:

Turning the tide: A Pacific youth vision of leadership on climate change; Inspiring business to become Leaders for Nature;
Ecosystem Scenarios: a fresh perspective on 2050 (Learning Opportunity);
Intergenerational Partnership with the IUCN: Fostering ethical leadership for a just, sustainable, and peaceful world, A vote to future generations for safeguarding present resources;
Investing in the future: young leaders and protected areas ;
Sustaining our Future: shaping the role of youth in Europe ; and
Supporting the Next Generation of Sustainable Development Leadership.

Each morning at 8:45 a.m., we are inviting young people and anyone interested in networking and sharing their thoughts on the previous day's sessions to gather in front of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication Stand.

The work above has been a result of a number of individuals within IUCN and its member organizations who believe building the capacity of the next generation of leaders is essential to ensuring a sustainable future.

We look forward to seeing you there!