1 / 32

What does a holistic approach mean:

Facilitating a holistic approach to sustainable development policy-making at the national level Annika Lindblom, FNCSD. What does a holistic approach mean:. Bottom-up attitude and procedures Ownership & leadership Horizontal and vertical coordination Sectoral integration LEARNING PROCESS.

atira
Download Presentation

What does a holistic approach mean:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Facilitating a holistic approach to sustainable development policy-makingat the national levelAnnika Lindblom, FNCSD

  2. What does a holistic approach mean: Bottom-up attitude and procedures Ownership & leadership Horizontal and vertical coordination Sectoral integration LEARNING PROCESS

  3. What does a learning process mean • All 3 SD dimensions are considered as equally important • Broad involvement of stakeholders and society in large in formulating the definition, content, means and measures of national SD policy (“SD concerns me”) • Dialogue and exchange of different views instead of consensus • Participation instead of consultation • Strong, powerful and preferably “neutral” leadership • Policy coherence horizontally • Policy coherence vertically • Sector integration and application > internal Cardiff process • Transparency and openness

  4. Potential controversies (EEAC Study 2005) • Bottom-up + ownership = anything goes ? • Bottom-up = lack of accountability, adapting ”business-as-usual” scenario? • Learning instead of planning = weak will for implementation, prioritization and qualitative measures? • High political leadership = too official and rigid with little space for creativity and innovation?

  5. Basic strategic SD policy definitions in Finland: United Nations: • Agenda 21 and Rio Conventions, 1992 • UNGASS (Rio+5), 1997 • Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation, 2002 European Union: • EU Strategy for Sustainable Development, 2001 Regionally: • Nordic Strategy for Sustainable Development, 2004 (revision) • Baltic 21, 1998 (first regional Agenda 21 globally) • Arctic Sustainable Development Programme, 2004 Nationally: • Government Programme for SD (1998) and its evaluation report (2003)

  6. Finnish interpretation of the concept Sustainable Development Sustainable development is a continuous, guided process of societal change at the global, regional and local level, aimed at providing every opportunity to present and future generations to lead a good life. (FNCSD 1995)

  7. International SD comparisons (1) • World Economic Forum’s Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) benchmark study, 2005 • Finland ranked # 1 (also in 2002 and 2003) • The ESI benchmarks the ability of nations to protect the environment over the next several decades • 146 countries; 76 variables > 21 indicators > 5 thematic categories • Environmental Systems (FI: # 11) • Reducing environmental stresses (FI: # 21) • Reducing human vulnerability to env. stresses (FI: # 1) • Societal and institutional capacity to respond to environmental challenges (FI: # 1) • Global stewardship (FI: # 27)

  8. International SD comparisons (2) • World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2004-2005 • Finland ranked # 1 among 104 economies • Three pillars: macroeconomic environment, state of public institutions, and technological readiness • ”…contribution to enhancing our understanding […] why some countries are so much more successful than others in raising income levels and opportunities for their respective populations, and in joining the upper ranks of international competitiveness.”

  9. International SD comparisons (3) • OECD’s Pisa Survey 2003 (latest) • Finland ranked # 1 among 41 countries • 250 000 students of 15 years old tested • World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2005 • Finland ranked # 5 among 58 countries • Five critical areas: • economic participation • economic opportunity • political empowerment • educational attainment • health and well-being

  10. De-coupling has been achieved in Finland to a certain extent.

  11. Implementing and facilitating the holistic approach in Finland: • Institutional framework: Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development • Long history of SD strategy work • Implementation: Integration of sustainable development into sectors • Holistic approach in preparing the new National Strategy for Sustainable Development

  12. Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD) • Set up in 1993 to promote cooperation between the government and other actors of the Finnish society • Promoter of sustainable development in Finland • Discussion forum for open dialogue: government receiving new initiatives and stakeholders being informed early about policies • Dialogue process is important, consensus building is not an explicit aim • Arena for building new partnerships and networks • Strengthening the stakeholder commitment

  13. 44 members, 37 deputy members convenes 4-5 times a year in meetings Commission seminars 1-2 times a year Prime Minister (Chair), Environment Minister (Vice-chair) 5 sector Ministers Ministries and gov’t agencies The Parliament Local government Academic sector Business and productive sector Interest groups Non-governmental organisations The indigenous Sámi-people Two churches Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD)

  14. Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD) • Under the FNCSD operates an inter-ministerial Secretariat (the sectoral SD “watchdogs”) • appr. 20 active civil servants from several ministries • preparing the meetings and working programme of the Commission • convening appr. once a month, continuous e-mail connection • Operational core Secretariat within the MoE • 4 civil servants + assistant (incl. Secretary General and Secretary of the FNCSD) • development, preparation and coordination of the Finnish SD policy and the meetings of the FNCSD and its Secretariat

  15. Five-year working programme of the FNCSD • Mandate from January 2003 till the end of 2007 • Priorities from the Johannesburg POI and the National SD Evaluation Report of 2003 • Thematic plenary sessions of the FNCSD • Trade, Poverty and Sustainable Development (September 2003) • Long-Term Goals for National Climate Change Policy (January 2004) • Finland on the Move (Sustainable Mobility) (March 2004) • Corporate Social Responsibility (June 2004) • Ecological Tax Reform (October 2004) • Reducing the Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea (January 2004) • Sustainable Welfare from Diverse Forests (March 2005) • Biological Diversity (May 2005)

  16. Latest developments • A sub-committee on Sustainable Education for the FNCSD – a special task to mainstream SD education and to take part in the UNESCO’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) • An ad-hoc Committee on Sustainable Consumption and Production, term till the end of May 2005 • Benchmark study on 9 European NCSD’s and on national SD-strategies – a special emphasis on the link to EU SD-strategy (EEAC activity) • New Regional SD Action Plans (Arctic, Nordic) • Decision to launch the New National SD Strategy process and on the mandate of the SD Strategy Group as a sub-committee to the FNCSD

  17. Long history of strategies and programmes for sustainable development in Finland:- 1990: Sustainable development in Finland- 1995: Finnish Action for Sustainable Development- 1998: Finnish Government Programme for Sustainable Development - 2000: Signs of Sustainability: Finland’s indicators for SD- 2003: Evaluation of sustainable development in Finland- 2005: Starting shot for a new National SD strategy process

  18. Finnish Programmes for Sustainable Development • Government 1998: Council of State Decision-in-Principle to promote ecological sustainability and the economic, social and cultural preconditions for achieving this end • Major Groups 1997-98: own SD programmes at the request of and in open dialogue with the FNCSD: • Local Authorities • Industry and Employers • Commerce and Trade • Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners • NGOs • Indigenous Sámi People

  19. Implementation of Government Programme Central goal: integration of sustainable development in sectoral policies and programmes (”national Cardiff-process”) • essential objective in the Finnish policy-making already before the Cardiff European Council in 1998 • Transport: a comprehensive environmental management system (guidelines 1994-2004) • Agriculture and forestry: Natural Resources Strategy (1997, revised 2002) • Energy: Energy Conservation Programme (2003-2006) and Action Plan for Renewable Energy Sources (1999, revised 2002)

  20. Implementation of Government Programme • Sectoral programmes significant national instruments in, e.g., solving environmental problems or promoting and implementing policies and measures • Integration policies have also strengthened the involvement of civil servants from different policy areas in sustainability issues and generated a sense of ownership among different sectors. • Principle of sustainable development is present in legislation and norms, as well as in various flexible instruments, such as taxation, environmental impact assessment, eco-labelling and voluntary agreements

  21. Implementation of Government Programme The greatest challenges in integrating sustainable development in Finland will be found from the cross-sectoral, multidimensional policy areas where joint action and common goals from different administrative branches are required. • Major challenge: horizontal strategies and programmes • National Climate strategy (1999-2001) and its revision 2005 • National Action Plan for Biodiversity (1997, revision for 2006-2010) • National Forest Programme 2010 (1998-1999) • Same principles are applied in national legislation, e.g. • Land Use and Building Act • Environmental Act

  22. Follow-up of sustainable development in Finland • The first Finnish set of sustainable development indicators was published in 2000 (three-year preparatory period): “Signs of sustainability” • Reclassification of indicators in 2004 to broaden the meaning of SD to better adapt to the changing environment and national priorities • 68 indicators in 8 categories: • Intergenerational equity • Human health and well-being • Distributional equity • Adapting to the future • Global responsibility • Environmental pressures • Preserving natural resources • Eco-efficiency and community structure

  23. Evaluation of the Government Programme; Report 2001 • Review the implementation of sustainable development policies and impacts of the Government Programme in different sectors • progress made, problem areas and future challenges • Based on reports and self-evaluation of different administrative sectors (Permanent Secretary level) and other interested parties, including those six stakeholder groups which drafted their own programmes for sustainable development • Conclusions: • thematic challenges will be dealt within specific theme meetings of the FNCSD • In December 2004: decision by the FNCSD to launch a new SD strategy process

  24. Macro-level: Global changes and the new economy The need to change production and consumption patterns The sustainable use of natural resources and reducing environmental problems Increasing social capital Strengthening democracy Micro-level (examples): Decoupling, eco-efficiency Ecological tax reform Extensive use of renewables Implementation of the Baltic Sea Programme Ecologically sustainable community structure Promotion of public transport Prevention of social exclusion Corporative social responsibility Green public procurement Innovation and education Future challenges

  25. Procedural challenges • Setting of measurable targets and linking the national indicator work directly to emerging objectives • Role of the Parliament has to be crystallized • Linkage between national targets and EU targets needs coordination and mutual recognition

  26. Strategy architecture: Strategy Group (SG) composed of 20 members from Ministries and stakeholder organisations Term: 1 September 2005 – 31 May 2006 Objective: to prepare a proposal for a National Strategy for Sustainable Development which is an ”over-generational” joint transition programme of Finnish administration and Finnish civil society towards a sustainable society. Chair: Ministry of Finance Vice-chair: Min. of the Environment Vice-chair: Min. for Social Affairs and Health Ministries of Transport, Energy, Agriculture & Forestry, Education, Labour, Foreign Affairs; Business and Industry Entrepreneurs and Commerce Local Authorities Agricultural Producers Environmetal organisations Youth Development cooperation Labour Unions Province/Lapland Holistic approach in the new national strategy-making process

  27. Holistic approach in the new national strategy-making process (a tentative work plan) • Inter-ministerial Secretariat identifies the emerging challenges and SD deficiency areas by July 2005 • The core Secretariat compiles and identifies the findings and produces a background document to the Strategy Group (SG) by September 2005 • A broad-based high-level seminar on the challenges will be arranged in September: what is the message we want to deliver to the SG • The SG will convene in September-October and chooses the themes with objectives and measures • The themes will be introduced to the FNCSD which will discuss the proposal and accept the themes in October 2005

  28. Holistic approach in the new national strategy-making process (a tentative work plan) • The Strategy Group will set up smaller workshops and ad hoc –groups to work with specific themes in detail; the workshops will convene during the autumn 2005 and report their findings back to the Strategy Group at certain intervals • National Indicator Network will be integrated into the work of the SG from the very beginning • The draft outcome of the work of the workshops and ad hoc –groups will be presented to the FNCSD by the SG in January 2006. • Broad national consultation via Internet in early spring 2006

  29. Holistic approach in the new national strategy-making process (a tentative work plan) • Proposal for the National SD Strategy finalized by the SG by June 2006 • Approval of the Strategy by the FNCSD in summer 2006 • Council of State reading • Parliamentary reading • National learning process as important as the end result • Commitment of ”old” and ”new” stakeholders • Creation of new partnerships and joint programmes

  30. National SD Strategy: Environmental sustainability including increased eco-efficiency Integration of sustainable development policies into sectoral policies and programmes Acceleration of strategic thinking on sustainable development to main stakeholder groups National SD Commission: Broad-based multi-stakeholder process based on active participation and genuine dialogue FNCSD is a permanent, recognized focal point for SD issues providing continuity without detrimental interruptions or sudden policy changes Sustainable development in Finland has become a part of everyday life in pursuance of becoming more professional and multidimensional Highlights of the Finnish SD policy so far

  31. Thank you for your attention! :-) www.environment.fi/sustainabledevelopment

More Related