Environment, Housing and Land Management Division

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY

National Action Plans for ESD

To carry out a comprehensive review of the Strategy’s implementation, the UNECE Steering Committee on ESD has set up a region-wide reporting mechanism. Progress in implementing ESD will be assessed by comparing the progress achieved in the three implementation phases of the Strategy (2007, 2010 and 2015).

There are formal and informal sources of information on the status of the Strategy’s implementation. Formal sources include reports submitted by Governments in accordance with the reporting requirements and format approved by the Steering Committee. In addition, various materials and statements provide information on the Strategy’s implementation. Informal sources include studies carried out by various stakeholders.

Following the request of the Vilnius High-level Meeting, UNESCO and UNECE streamlined reporting requirements. Thus, UNECE Member States will be able to submit a single report on the implementation of the UNECE Strategy that will also serve as a report on the implementation of the UN Decade of ESD. To provide a structure for processing the information received and facilitate comparison of reports, UNESCO and UNECE have developed a standard format for reporting (see English French Russian).

Following are the major elements of the reporting procedure :

• UNECE Member States should prepare their national implementation reports through a transparent consultative process involving all relevant stakeholders at the national/state level. Countries with a federal structure will submit one consolidated report based on subnational/state inputs.
• The first formal call for reporting will take place in 2010. Thereafter, Member States will prepare updated reports for 2015. However, they can already start reporting voluntarily by preparing reports for 2007.
• Reports should be submitted to the secretariat electronically as Word files. The text should be in English. Member States are also encouraged to provide the text in the two other official languages of the UNECE, French and Russian. UNECE will endeavour to have the reports translated from their original language into the other two official languages.
• Deadlines for submission to the secretariat will take into account UN document management procedures and will be communicated by the secretariat for each reporting cycle.
• Following the request of the High-level Meeting, reporting requirements were streamlined by UNESCO and UNECE. Thus, UNECE member States will be able to submit a single report on the implementation of the UNECE Strategy that would also serve as a report on the implementation of the UN Decade of ESD.UNECE will post the reports on its website. It will also ensure the distribution of hard copies to the UNECE Member States and key stakeholders. UNESCO will ensure access to the reports through its website and will use them for its work.
• The UNECE secretariat will prepare a UNECE-wide report on implementation of the Strategy for 2007, 2010 and 2015, highlighting the progress made, identifying challenges and drawing up recommendations.
• Key stakeholders are encouraged to provide the secretariat with their reports on activities that support the implementation of the Strategy.
• Meetings of the Steering Committee will be a forum for considering the implementation reports. The “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conferences will be informed of progress as appropriate and will be encouraged to hold joint environment/education sessions as needed.
  
  For further information you may wish to consult the following relevant documents