UN and government officials at the first annual Sustainable Development Transition Forum (SDTF) in Incheon, Republic of Korea, called for strengthening national sustainable development councils and communities of practice, among other measures to improve governance of sustainable development.
11 April 2014: UN and government officials at the first annual Sustainable Development Transition Forum (SDTF) in Incheon, Republic of Korea, called for strengthening national sustainable development councils and communities of practice, among other measures to improve governance of sustainable development.
Fifty-five representatives of government, international organizations and civil society attended the SDTF, which took place from 9-11 April 2014. The meeting followed up on recommendations of an international workshop on ‘Strengthening Planning and Implementation Capacities for Sustainable Development in Post-Rio+20 Context’ in November 2012, and was organized by the UN Office of Sustainable Development (UNOSD).
Several organizations, including the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, the Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES) and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) offered a selection of short courses to participants on: engaging in the post-2015 intergovernmental process; systems thinking; mainstreaming environment and sustainable development goals into national planning; implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); green growth; and adaptive governance.
Further discussions explored the governance and practice of sustainable development mainstreaming, and sought to identify countries’ capacity building and knowledge sharing needs for the next two years.
Participants adopted the 2014 Incheon Communiqué, titled ‘Ready to deliver the Post-2015 Agenda?’ It advises: advancing multi-stakeholder institutions and processes, including strengthening National Councils for Sustainable Development and similar institutions; ensuring integrated planning through vertical and horizontal collaboration across sectors and among all levels of government; implementing cross-cutting policies and programmes; promoting monitoring, reporting and accountability; and coordinating the work of Communities of Practice that are helping countries share tools and platforms for delivering the post-2015 development agenda. In closing remarks, Yoon Jong-soo, UNOSD Head of Office, urged participants to use the Incheon Communiqué in communicating their vision for energizing sustainability transitions everywhere. [2014 Incheon Communiqué] [Meeting website] [Meeting agenda] [UNOSD Closing Remarks]
***
SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of SDTF meetings can be found here.