The Aarhus Convention
The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25th June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in the 'Environment for Europe' process.
The Aarhus Convention is a new kind of environmental agreement. It links environmental rights and human rights.
The Leipzig Charter
The key policy issue of the informal ministerial meeting in Leipzig on 24 and 25 May 2007 has been "Strengthening European cities and their regions - promoting competitiveness, social and territorial cohesion in Europe and in its cities and regions". This key policy issue of the German Presidency picks up the thread of the European Council decisions on sustainable development and applies them in concrete terms to the spatial development of urban neighbourhoods, cities and regions.
The main results of the German Presidency as well as the conclusions have been summarized in two policy documents which have been adopted at the conference:
the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities (PDF) and the Territorial Agenda of the EU (PDF).
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Christophe Beaurain (2003):
Gouvernance environnementale locale et comportements économiques, Développement Durable et Territoires, Dossier 2 : Gouvernance locale et Développement Durable.
Text (French)
European Parliament- DG for Internal Policies of the Union - Policy Department Economic and Scientific Policy (2008):
Energy/emission saving policies in urban areas – sustainable cities: Best practices “Building efficiency and household emissions and energy use”
PDF (English)
European Parliament- DG for Internal Policies of the Union - Policy Department Economic and Scientific Policy (2007):
The possibilities for success of the sustainable communities approach and its implementation
PDF (English)
European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT)(2002):
Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent
PDF (English)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2007):
Sustainable Neighbourhood – from Lisbon to Leipzig through Research (L2L)
PDF (English)
Loinger, Guy (2000):
Collectivités locales, territoires et développement durable
PDF (French)
Maciejewska, Beata and Dariusz Szwed (2007):
The green city of the new generation
PDF (English, also available in polish)
Urbact Partecipando Network:
European Handbook for Participation
PDF (English)
Urban Task Force (2005):
Towards a Strong Urban Renaissance
PDF (English)
Secrétariats de la commission d’avis ONG (2000):
Note Strategique sur l’evolution du Role des ONG Belges
PDF (French)
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General Information on Sustainibility