25 January 2012: The synthesis report of the five regional science and technology workshops organized by the International Council for Science and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now available. The results of the workshops were presented at the regional preparatory meetings for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

The workshops aimed to give natural scientists, social scientists and engineers from the regions the opportunity to prepare, in collaboration with policy-makers and other key actors, joint positions for the Rio+20 regional preparatory meetings (RPMs). The synthesis report of the five workshops highlights key issues considered and overarching recommendations made. Recommendations address, inter alia, scaling up investments, building capacity, strengthening science-policy links, and cooperation between the scientific and technological community, and other parts of civil society, the private sector, governments and intergovernmental bodies. In addition to recommendations made by all the workshops in general, the report also highlights recommendations specific to each of the regional workshops.

The regional workshops were held as follows: for the Asia Pacific region, from 16-18 April 2011, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; for Africa, from 30 May-1 June 2011, in Pretoria, South Africa; for Latin America and the Caribbean, from 3-5 August 2011, in Mexico City, Mexico; for the Arab States, from 12-14 October 2011, in Cairo, Egypt; and for Europe, from 12-14 October 2011, in Helsinki, Finland. The workshops were organized by ICSU and UNESCO, except for the Europe workshop which was organized by the European Group of ICSU National Members, in cooperation with ICSU and UNESCO. All workshops were held in cooperation with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and other regional stakeholders. [Publication: Rio+20 Regional Science and Technology Workshops]