The Organization of American States (OAS), as a co-sponsor of the World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability, which will convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 1-3 June 2012, is conducting a series of “hemispheric dialogues” on sustainable development themes, intended to generate recommendations on institutions and governance for sustainable development for both the Congress and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), which will convene immediately following the Conference. The second in the series will address “Governance and Public Participation and Gender Mainstreaming in Sustainable Development Decision-Making,” and participants will discuss institutional structures, policies, and procedures to facilitate public participation in sustainable development initiatives, with a particular focus on how best to promote gender mainstreaming. Future dialogues will address: biodiversity and forest ecosystems in economic growth and equity; energy and climate change; integrated water resources management; oceans governance; forest governance; improving environmental performance of the private sector; and risk management and emergency legislation.  

date: 27 October 2011   venue: Organization of American States   location: Washington, District of Columbia, US   contact: Claudia deWindt   phone: +1-202-458-6914   fax: +1-202-458-3560   e-mail: cdewindt@oas.org   www: http://www.oas.org/en/sedi/dsd/rio+20/default.asp