Launched in March, our joint three-year project with SECO enters its next phase at the beginning of September. Over the past few months, we have been conducting interviews and research, engaging with stakeholders and preparing to implement a range of activities that will set the basis for increasing the use of standards in these exciting and evolving landscapes.
A critical objective of the project is to stimulate learning and exchange around best practices for the use of sustainability standards in and between the emerging economies. The round of autumn workshops will facilitate collaboration and learning amongst ISEAL members, business leaders, governments and other key stakeholders. It will also support the roll-out of strategies developed in the project planning phase and further empower local actors to engage with global standards. A summary of the next project workshops can be found below.
Emerging Economies Stakeholder Workshops
Following a series of preliminary stakeholder workshops in July and August in Beijing, New Delhi and São Paulo, a second round is being held in the emerging economies of Brazil, India and China to develop flagship projects for demonstrating best practice and to explore how standards can be used to build sustainable value chains domestically. Although each country is positioned differently with respect to sustainability standards, there are aspects which are common to all three.
ISEAL aims to increase ownership of standards by public and private sector stakeholders and to better understand how to build domestic markets for sustainable products, in addition to using awareness of best practice to bridge national and international standards. ISEAL and its project partners believe that direct engagement with emerging economy leaders will enable sustainability standards to have a transformative impact on sustainable development.
Workshop Dates
- China workshop: Beijing, week beginning 12 November
- India workshop: New Delhi, week beginning 3 December
- Brazil workshop: to be held later in 2012
Sustainable Public Procurement Workshops
Towards the goal of helping to make government purchasing decisions more sustainable, ISEAL is hosting a number of workshops to facilitate discussions on good practice in the use of sustainability standards in sustainable public procurement globally. They will provide a forum for exchange on the best use of standards, for sharing tools and innovations and will help to increase the capacity of leaders to build strong sustainable public procurement networks. The first workshops will be focused on sharing and validating the results of ISEAL's research on the current use of sustainability standards in public procurement and will act as a vehicle to help inform future project strategies and activities.
Workshop Dates
- Brazil workshop: São Paulo, 23 October
- Europe workshop: London, 30 October
To learn more about the Emerging Economies and Sustainable Public Procurement project click here. Contact Norma Tregurtha, ISEAL's Senior Policy Manager, at norma@isealalliance.org, for further information on how to get involved.
Credibility Principles Consultation
ISEAL is leading a global consultation on what makes a standard credible, with the goal of reaching a globally agreed set of principles that will be used as an international reference for the attributes and qualities that constitute a credible and effective standard. The initial draft Credibility Principles produced through this process will be released and available for comment on 3 September, with a public consultation open until 7 December.
The Steering Committee for the development of the Credibility Principles, announced in June, brings together experts and leaders in the field of sustainability standards. They approve the draft Credibility Principles to allow them to go to consultation. Feedback is sought from all stakeholders that use, or are impacted by sustainability standards.
In addition to submitting your comments during the public consultation, there are five ISEAL led in-person workshops during which external stakeholders and interested parties can share input into the drafting of the Credibility Principles.
Workshop Dates
- North America workshop: Washington, 9 October
- Brazil workshop: São Paulo, 24 October
- Europe workshop: London, UK, 31 October
- China workshop: Beijing, week beginning 12 November
- India workshop: Delhi, week beginning 3 December
Individuals are also invited to provide feedback by completing a questionnaire, through direct comments in writing, or via an interview.
ISEAL is hosting an interactive webinar on 27 September at 16:00GMT to present the draft Credibility Principles. Click here to register.
For more information about how to get involved in the public consultation and join the listserv, please click here. If you would like to attend any of the workshops, or for further information, please contact ISEAL's Senior Credilbility Manager, Amy Jackson, at amy@isealalliance.org
We look forward to sharing the results of these workshops in the form of a new draft for consultation in February 2013.
*Note: Workshop dates subject to change.