MAKING GLOBALISATION SUSTAINABLE

The World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened by the United Nations to provide renewed political impetus for a comprehensive effort to push forward the sustainable development agenda throughout the world and respond to the new challenges and opportunities that have arisen since the Rio Summit, held in 1992. The Johannesburg Summit resulted in a consensus on a plan of implementation and a short political declaration. The Department of Human Ecology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Institut de Gestion de l'Environnement et d'Amenagement du Territoire of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the University Centre for Development Co-operation (UCOS) and the Brussels Office of the British Council organised a symposium on "Making Globalisation Sustainable? The Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development and beyond". It took place on 12 November 2002, at the VUB, attended by about three hundred participants. These proceedings are a result of the symposium, which provided a forum for policy-makers and academics to review the Summit and to analyse implications for the European Union and its Member States, the developing countries and North-South relations. It proved an excellent opportunity to debate on the main issue: the way forward beyond the UN Summit of Johannesburg! The organisation of the symposium and the publication of these proceedings have been made possible by the financial support provided by the VUB and the ULB, the British Council, the Belgian State Secretary for Energy and Sustainable Development, the Flemish Inter-University Council (VLIR) and the Brussels-Capital Region.