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EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND THE JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT: BEYOND WORDS, SCIENCE PROVIDES THE BASIS FOR ACTION

August 30, 2002

As a contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 26 August – 4 September 2002), the European Commission will sponsor and co-chair together with South African authorities a conference on Science and Technology. The event is planned to demonstrate that research is a powerful instrument for fostering capacity building in developing countries and strengthening partnerships with Europeans. The initiative, resulting from discussions between EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and Minister Ngubane of South Africa, is strongly supported by the European and international scientific communities and policy makers.

Commenting on the forthcoming event, Commissioner Busquin said, “Research has to play a crucial role in the understanding and resolution of problems related to sustainable development. It is the role of research to alert politicians to problems and issues before they are on the political agenda and to offer solutions on the basis of sound science; climate change is just one example where networking among scientists has prepared the ground for policy makers in this sense.”

The organisation of the Science & Technology Forum on Sustainable Development has to be seen against the background of Europe’s effort to help developing countries meet the goal of sustainable development and to prepare their move towards the knowledge-based society. Research policies and strategies will reflect the newly developed approach provided by the “Sustainability Impact Assessment” .

The Forum will take place on 2-3 September 2002 in The Wanderers Club, Ubuntu Village, Johannesburg, and will be followed by a Ministerial Session on the afternoon of Tuesday 3 September.

The Forum will be open by Minister Ngubane and will be in two parts:

1. The sessions on Monday and Tuesday morning will be dedicated to:
- A plenary session on the relationship between science and policy making
- Five thematic sessions on: health, energy, water, environment global monitoring and industrial technologies.

These sessions will include presentations of successful examples of partnerships between the EU and developing countries, as the European-Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Such positive partnership will be further promoted as part of Europe’s move towards the European Research Area, and more specifically, the EU’s 6th Framework Programme for research, which will be open to the participation of all countries of the world. The conclusions of the ACP meeting of Cape Town will also be discussed.

High-level research in this domain is increasingly complex, inter-disciplinary and costly, requiring a constantly `critical mass` of financial and human resources, and research infrastructure. This is the reason why the European Union, jointly with the South African Government, is organising this Forum on S&T to promote closer relationships with developing countries, thereby facilitating their move towards enhanced sustainability.

2. The Ministerial Session on the afternoon of 3 September will draw conclusions from the preceding events, and come up with recommendations on how to enhance the role of science and technology for Sustainable Development. Participants will discuss the conclusions and debate the political commitments and actions to be taken in the field of science and technology for Global Sustainable Development.

The agenda of the S&T Forum is available at: http://www.cordis.lu/eesd/src/ev090902.htm

European Commission, Research Directorate