Substantive activities

Substantive activities aim to inform sustainable development decision-makers within governments, industries and communities about alternative policies and practices that have been developed around the world. Since 1997, SDCN members have collaborated on building online products and services such as:

Water Resource Management

Coming soon

This module attempts to begin documenting successful small scale and community initiatives in sustainable water management around the globe. While the relatively larger initiatives undertaken by governments and very often supported by the bilateral and multilateral financial institutions are relatively well documented, information and knowledge about smaller initiatives in sustainable water management are comparatively difficult to access. The module is being developed by Development Alternatives in cooperation with REC, SEI, and ENDA

Public Participation

Launched March 2001

The Public Participation and Sustainable Development Module provides a conceptual framework about public participation and provides access to resources such as case studies, bibliography, related sites, regulations, research documents, etc. This module is being developed by FARN with the cooperation of IISD; REC and SEI.

Sustainable Cities

Launched December 2000

The Sustainable Cities Module gives an overview of urban sustainability issues while educating decision-makers with concrete examples and best practices. It is the result of the cooperation between REC, Development Alternatives, FARN, SEI, and ENDA.

Introduction to Sustainable Development

Launched June 2000

The Introduction to Sustianable Development Module contains a timeline of sustainable development history, background material on the most important aspects of the concept, and suggestions for further exploration. It was developed by IISD in consultation with all SDCN members.

EcoLegis

Launched March 2000

The EcoLegis environmental legal access facility offers online visitors the chance to search two bibliographic databases of current and past environmental legislation from Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. It is a product of REC and FARN.

Sustainable Livelihoods

Launched October 1999

The Search for Sustainable Livelihoods Module, which include RealMedia clips, shares knowledge emerging from household and community-level initiatives in India and Senegal. By sharing their experiences through the Internet with fellow NGO workers, development agencies, students and journalists, the module encourages them to promote sustainable livelihoods within other communities around the world. The module was developed by ENDA, Development Alternatives and IISD.

Sustainability Web Ring

Launched January 1998

The Sustainability Web Ring allows users to easily navigate over 190 web sites that deal with the principles, policies and best practices for sustainable development. It was developed by IISD in consultation with all SDCN members.

Rio+5 Virtual Forum

Launched February 1997

The Rio+5 Virtual Forum contains over 100 preparatory reports as well as RealAudio files and text summaries from the seven-day conference. The site was designed and operated in partnership between the Earth Council and IISD. SEI and ENDA were among organizations that provided regional mirror sites during the conference.

SD Gateway

Launched June 1997

The SD Gateway integrates the online information developed by members of the Sustainable Development Communications Network. In addition to providing access to over 1,200 documents available in SD Topics, we provide a calendar of events, a job bank, a roster of mailing lists and news sites dealing with sustainable development. It was developed by IISD in consultation with all SDCN members.