Editorial

Welcome to a further volume of IJSHE. This issue will once again showcase a number of interesting initiatives, perspectives and results of projects on sustainability in universities around the world.

In this editorial, I would like to make readers aware of a consultation launched to prepare for a review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Late in the summer 2004, the European Commission launched a broad 12-week consultation on the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. The results of this consultation will serve as an important input to the review of the strategy mandated in 2001. This review will include an assessment of progress made since 2001 and a roadmap outlining what needs to be done to achieve long-term sustainable development. The consultation will gather the views of the public at large, stakeholders and experts in the field and it was open for contributions until 31 October 2004.

Adopted in 2001, the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) aims to achieve a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. Its basic aim is to ensure that economic growth, environmental quality and social inclusion go hand-in-hand, thereby increasing citizens’ welfare. This strategy, which was endorsed by the Heads of States at their meeting in Gothenburg in June 2001, has the following four basic components:

• 1.

  It sets out a broad vision of sustainability based on the core idea that the economic, social and environmental dimensions of societal development must go hand-in-hand.

• 2.

  It identifies six trends that are clearly not sustainable, in other words six priority issues where problems arise and which pose severe or potentially irreversible threats to our well-being. These are: climate change, public health, poverty and social exclusion, ageing society, management of natural resources, and mobility and transport. For each of these issues, the strategy identifies a number of objectives and policy measures to help achieve these objectives.

• 3.

  The strategy seeks to improve the way in which policies are made. It calls for a new approach to policy-making to ensure that policies in different domains are designed to work together in a coherent fashion.

• 4.

  The strategy sets out a commitment to regular monitoring of the strategy and specifies that it will be “comprehensively reviewed at the start of each Commission’s term of office.”

The current review, which was monitored by this journal, will examine the progress made since 2001 and reflect on what needs to be done to achieve long-term sustainable development. To prepare for this, the Commission services launched this public consultation, which was meant to gather views on sustainable development, including past achievements and ideas on where to go from here. The consultation consisted of two steps:

• 1.

  A short on-line questionnaire with general “tick the box”questions about the Sustainable Development Strategy. This is aimed at everyone that is interested in sustainable development, including the general public and non-experts in the field as well as stakeholders and experts.

• 2.

  A more lengthy and detailed consultation document and questionnaire, with additional questions about the respective parts of the Sustainable Development Strategy. This second step allows for longer replies and is aimed at stakeholders and experts in the field.

Due to both the scope and relevance of the Consultation, IJSHE will report on its results once they are available. In the meantime, for those who are interested in such processes, the consultation can be accessed on the“Your Voice in Europe” site at: http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice and on the Sustainable Development web site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/sustainable/pages/consult_en.htm. The latter also includes further information on the Sustainable Development Strategy and the upcoming review.

Enjoy your reading!

Walter Leal FilhoEditor