The 10th ESDN Workshop, entitled “Fostering Urban Sustainable Development: Potentials and Challenges for National and European Policy”, took place in Brussels on 28 January 2014. The workshop was organized by the ESDN in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. In total, 58 participants from 9 European countries attended the workshop.
The workshop facilitated an international exchange on overarching strategic policy initiatives on urban sustainable development at the UN, EU, Member State and sub-national level, covering environmental issues, regional development, economic and social policy fields. Accordingly, the workshop aimed to foster the exchange between experts to intensify co-operations and alliances between EU, national and local policies for urban SD.
Urban sustainable development: important policy topics, visions of sustainable cities, and multi-level governance challenges
Covenant of Mayors – local implementation of sustainable energy policies
Adam Szolyak: Policy Officer - Local Energy Actions and Retail Energy Markets Development, Unit Internal Market III, DG Energy, European Commission, Belgium
Council of European Municipalities and Cities (CEMR) – sustainable development in five thematic areas
Angelika Poth-Mögele: Director of Policy at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Belgium
Eurocities – integrated approaches on the economy, environment and society axis
Michael Klinkenberg: Policy Advisor on Environment Policy, Energy and Climate, Eurocities, Belgium
ICLEI Europe – local governments’ action for sustainability
Stefan Kuhn: Deputy Regional Director, ICLEI, Germany
Dialogue “Sustainable City” in Germany– strategic cornerstones for sustainable development in municipalities
Teresa Dorfner: German Council for Sustainable Development, facilitator of Dialogue “Sustainable City”, Germany
Global Task force of Local and Regional Governments for post-2015 development agenda towards Habitat III
Frédéric Vallier: Secretary General of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions(CEMR), member of Global Task force, Belgium
European Innovation Partnership Smart Cities and Communities: priority areas and governance set-up
Paul Timmers: Director, Sustainable and Secure Society, DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission, Belgium
Policy strategies and support for cities by DG Environment
Robert Donkers: Coordinator Urban Environment Policy, Unit ‘Knowledge, Risks & Urban Environment’, DG Environment, European Commission, Belgium
Cohesion policy and urban development activities of DG Regional and Urban Policy
Reference Framework for European Sustainable Cities (RFSC) – a toolkit for an integrated approach
A look at the history of the ESDN reveals that ESDN Workshops have played a prominent role in facilitating networking between European SD practitioners and policy advisors. This section of the website provides a one-stop-shop documentation of all ESDN Workshops so far. Please click on one of the Workshops for more details:
