Best Practices from Finland Ment
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1 2 Contents 4 Foreword 22 Towards systemic Minister for Foreign Trade and Development changes in resource use Finnish Natural Resources Strategy Process 6 Towards a globally and nationally sustainable Finland 24 The Web Village Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development Innovative practice in education for sustainable development in Finland 10 Setting a trend in material use New centre promotes material efficiency 26 Empowerment of women makes local work more effective 12 Envimat Gender and climate change Versatile tool for assessing the environmental impacts of material flows caused by the Finnish economy 28 Succesfully funding community-level development in Ethiopia 16 Buildings for a better world Rural Water Supply and Environmental Programme The Marrakech Task Force on in Amhara Region Sustainable Buildings and Construction 30 Multi-stakeholder partnership 18 Mainstreaming National Adaptation New innovative B2B concept in a G2G framework Strategy to Climate Change 32 Vietnam: Improving 20 Finland emphasizes horizontal public water supply and integrative rural policy Finnish rural policy 34 Finland at a glance 3 Foreword Paavo Väyrynen Minister for Foreign Trade and Development 4 In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Finland has been one of the leading countries in the Environment (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro forged international benchmark studies measuring environmental a firm link between the environment and de- sustainability and economic growth. In our case it has been velopment. It approved the Rio Declaration on proved that competitiveness and environmental protec- sustainable development and an action plan for tion can be mutually supportive. This is a very important achieving it (Agenda 21). The United Nations message now that governments are planning new meas- World Summit on Sustainable Development in ures to tackle the economic crisis. Sustainable development Johannesburg 2002 urged the international and green growth should be at the very heart of the rescue community to move from words to concrete package nationally and globally. action in order to achieve sustainable develop- This is Finland’s third Best practices from Finland ment. Furthermore, the 2005 World Summit booklet. In this 2009 edition, we have chosen best practices endorsed the commitments made in Johannes- reflecting the current themes of the United Nations Com- burg. This booklet presents some of Finland’s mission for Sustainable Development – agriculture, rural own efforts, actions, projects and partnerships development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. conducted in Finland as well as with other The booklet has been prepared under the supervision of the countries and regions in order to promote eco- Ministry for Foreign Affairs, with important contributions logically, socially and economically sustainable from the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry development. of Agriculture and Forestry, the Finnish Environment Institute, the Finnish National Board of Education and the Finnish Innovation Fund (SITRA). The developed countries have a special responsibility to pro- The best practices range from policy frameworks mote ecologically sustainable development. In Finland, sus- to business solutions, from innovations and technology tainable development policies and programmes are already transfer to capacity building and facilitating cooperation well established and relatively effectively implemented. Our both globally and nationally. The cross-cutting nature of National Strategy for Sustainable Development was adopt- sustainable development is reflected in examples of wide- ed in 2006 by the Government and a large variety of societal ranging policy frameworks. Sustainable consumption and actors, which has guaranteed the wide promotion and imple- production is another important theme interlinking the mentation of the proposals of the strategy. A national pro- examples. gramme to promote sustainable consumption and produc- Sustainable development is a learning process for tion, published in 2005, has been largely implemented and the entire society. Although we are still learning, we are put into action. Finland’s Development Policy Programme also making progress. Both political leadership and com- that was adopted in 2007 sets targets to eradicate poverty mitment by the whole society are needed. Experience has in compliance with the Millennium Development Goals, helped us develop the contents of the sustainable develop- following the principles of sustainable development. A Na- ment policies in order to achieve a common view of how our tional Climate and Energy Strategy was revised in 2008 society and lifestyle should be improved. I hope that others and many other sector strategies and programmes are under may benefit from these examples when considering and revision. A National Resources Strategy was submitted to preparing action and policies related to sustainable devel- Prime Minister in April 2009. opment. 5 6 Towards a globally and nationally sustainable Finland Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development Established in 1993, the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development (FNCSD) was one of the first in the world. The Finnish Commission is considered unique because it is based on open dialogue between the Government, public admin- istration, business and industry, and civil society. The FNCSD has initiated national debate on several important themes, in- fluenced the content of Government Pro- grammes, and helped to build mutual polit- ical understanding concerning sustainable development issues. 7 GORILLA National Strategy for Sustainable Development ment and protection of natural resources with citi- as the framework of action zens’ well-being and a sound society so that the out- The Government set a new period for the current come is a competent and sustainable Finland. FNCSD in February 2008. The terms of the Commis- A sub-committee on regionally and locally sus- sion are five years in length and they are staggered tainable development was established in 2007 to pro- with the four-year Parliamentary election terms. This mote cooperation and support regional and local im- ensures that the Commission’s tasks are not too close- plementation of the National Strategy for Sustainable ly linked to the work of different Governments and Development. also allows the Commission to take a long-term ap- proach to important sustainable development issues. Objectives of the Commission work The foundation for the work of the Finnish Na- The most important objective of the Finnish National tional Commission on Sustainable Development is the Commission on Sustainable Development is to make National Strategy for Sustainable Development enti- sustainable development part of national policies and tled “Towards sustainable choices. A nationally and administrative practices. Finland’s public sector has globally sustainable Finland”, which was completed in to be a pioneer in making sustainable development a June 2006. It is a genuine national view of the devel- part of everyday life. opment of the Finnish society that has been jointly Sustainable development is considered as a learn- produced and approved by various societal actors. ing process for the entire society. The Commission The Strategy combines the sustainable use, manage- supports and promotes the work and dialogue be- ORGANISATION AND FUNCTIONS The Government Public Administration Parliament Municipalities and Regions Non-governmental Organisations Trade Unions Business and Industry Science and Research Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development Chairperson: Minister of Labour | Vice-Chairperson: Minister of the Environment Working Programme for the Commission Themes and meeting material Sub-committee on regionaly and locally sustainable development Raportteur Inter-ministerialInter-ministerial networknetwork secretariatsecretariat Sustainable development indicators -Contact Contact persons persons for for sustainable sustainable development development in in the the ministries ministries Preparation Raportteur Secretariat Secretariat within the Ministry of the Environment National indicator network 8 tween various societal actors in sustainable devel-op- Commission tasks ment issues. It also initiates discussion on matters of • To promote, evaluate and monitor implementation major significance from the perspective of national or of the National Strategy for Sustainable Develop- global sustainable development and on issues where a ment, and provide information on the results. national viewpoint is needed. • To obtain commitments from various societal actors The FNCSD convenes approximately four times to promote sustainable development policies in their per year for theme meetings. It also arranges semi- own activities and to strengthen the dialogue nars, tailored workshops and joint meetings. The particularly with the Finnish Parliament. Commission addresses the following issues, among • To serve as a high-level sustainable development others, during the 2008–2012 term: sustainable de- partnership network in relation to the government. velopment in Finnish development policy, the eco- • To link national sustainable development policies nomic impacts of Baltic Sea pollution, sustainable closer with the sustainable development work of the natural resource policy, sustainable de-velopment in United Nations, European Union and the regions. climate and energy policy, ecological and social inno- • To cooperate with European sustainable develop-