Organized by the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), the Earth System Governance Project, and the POST2015 project (hosted by the Tokyo Institute of Technology and sponsored by the Ministry of Environment, Japan).
Aim of the workshop
This workshop brings together international scholars and practitioners with expertise on global environmental governance to discuss some key questions relating to the governance of, and governance for, the post-2015 development agenda. The scope of the workshop will be on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with particular focus on how integrated SDGs (of development and environmental agenda) could be governed in the post-2015 era. This workshop is intended to provide input into the ongoing international policy process on SDGs, as a part of the Post-2015 Project (POST2015), funded by the Ministry of the Environment in Japan.
One of major research and policy challenges in the field of sustainable development is the agreement of the post-2015 development agenda. This challenge emerged as a direct result of the formal ending of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. At the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20”), governments agreed on a process to develop Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and integrate them into the post-2015 development agenda. Therefore, the international community has been contemplating what future SDGs should look like and what governance mechanisms are necessary to make the goals effective.
The invited participants of this workshop will discuss governance scenarios for the implementation of integrated goals and targets. The discussion focuses on multi-level governance from global to regional, national and local levels and how they could effectively interact with each other. Reform of international environmental and sustainable development governance has long been called for and debated in academic and political arenas. For example, the idea of Sustainable Development Council emerged from the ‘Hakone Vision on Governance for Sustainability in the 21st Century’ in order to re-structure institutional framework for sustainable development. This proposal differs from other institutional reform options in that a Sustainable Development Council will not only be concerned about environmental matters but sustainable development in general. An idea such as this may be subject to the discussion as an institutional device for governance transformation.
The outcomes of this workshop will be brought together as a policy-oriented report soon after the workshop.
Practicalities
The workshop will be held in New York City, on 31st January and 1st February 2014, back to back with the 8th Session of the Open Working Group on SDGs and is on invitation only.
Contacts
For any inquiries on the workshop or the project, please contact project secretariat, Masahiko Iguchi (miguchi@valdes.titech.ac.jp)
