“Towards an Economy compatible with Sustainable Development Principles: "Green" Strategies in the context of Sustainable Development”
Ghent 4 - 6 July 2010
The ESDN Conference 2010 was hosted by the Belgian EU Presidency and took place in Ghent on 4-6 July 2010. The conference aimed to reflect on linking economic growth and sustainable development based on the results of the 5th ESDN Workshop that took place in Madrid in March 2010. More specifically, the conference elaborated on how best to address environmental and social challenges in strategies and activities that link economic growth and sustainable development, particularly in the “Europe 2020” strategy, UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative and the preparation of UNCSD 2010 as well as the OECD’s Green Growth Strategy. In so doing, the conference participants discussed innovative approaches of sustainable development, how to achieve coherence among policy sectors, and reflected on governance mechanisms, policy tools and monitoring schemes. The conference will comprised three sessions: (i) Linking economic growth and sustainable development – addressing environmental and social challenges, (ii) From green growth towards an economy compatible with sustainable development principles (parallel working groups), and (iii) Moving towards a sustainable economy: criteria, tools and mechanisms.
