ICSU-UNESCO Regional Science and Technology Workshops for Rio+20

Between April and October 2011, ICSU and UNESCO held five Rio+20 regional science and technology workshops: for Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Arab States, and Europe.

The regional workshops were a great success, bringing together natural scientists, social scientists and engineers from across each region, along with high-level policy-makers and representatives of other stakeholder groups. This gave each region’s scientific and technological community the opportunity to prepare joint positions and concerted inputs for the Rio+20 process, and to discuss their views with policy-makers and other key actors.

The workshops are part of ICSU’s ongoing preparations for the Rio+20 conference, which will take place in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The overall aim of the workshops is to integrate region-specific knowledge, priorities and concerns from the scientific and technological community into Rio+20.

The results of the workshops are now being presented by ICSU delegations at the intergovernmental Rio+20 Regional Preparatory Meetings (RPMs). The RPMs for Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Arab States have now taken place. The European RPM will take place at the beginning of December.

ICSU has a key role to play in Rio+20, as it is co-organizing partner for the ‘Scientific and Technological Community’ Major Group, together with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO). This is one of nine ‘Major Groups’ (non-governmental stakeholder groups) which will participate alongside governments in the Rio+20 conference, and in all stages of the preparatory process for the conference.

The regional workshops were organized by ICSU and UNESCO, with the exception of the Europe workshop which was organized by the European Group of ICSU National Members, in cooperation with ICSU and UNESCO. All workshops are held in cooperation with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and other regional stakeholders.

regional-workshop-FINAL-low-res-2.pdf Workshops synthesis report:

concept-paper_ICSU-UNESCO-Rio20-regional-workshops-Final_14Sept2011.pdf Workshops concept paper: