Network of Institutions for Sustainable Development (NISD)

UNEP’s Economics and Trade Branch (ETB) has recently entered into agreements with a number of institutions including national training and research institutes, regional organizations, universities, and international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with a view to establish a collaborative network of institutions. These institutions play a leading role in capacity building at national and regional level and have a wealth of experience in training, research, formal education and outreach activities. The role of the Network is to help countries address the challenges of sustainable development by promoting capacity building efforts in different regions. It builds on existing capacities and knowledge of its members while ensuring at the same time that capacity building activities respond to national and regional needs and priorities.

In March 2004, UNEP and the Korean Environment Institute jointly invited current and potential collaborating institutions to an international meeting held in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. The institutions present welcomed the initiative to establish the Network of Institutions for Sustainable Development (NISD) as a vehicle to enhance information exchange, capacity building, outreach activities and the dissemination of publications and training materials on trade and economic-related issues in the regions. Based on the outcome of the meeting a concept note was drafted to summarize the purpose, objectives, expected results, and priority areas of the Network. The institutions agreed that the overarching purpose of the Network would be to promote the integration of environment and sustainability issues into economic and trade policies through the development and implementation of capacity building activities.

Since the first meeting, a number of new activities have been initiated by NISD members such as national and regional training workshops in South Korea, Tunisia and India. Other institutions are involved in country projects, research programmes or the development and translation of reference and training material. A NISD newsletter has been initiated to share experiences.