Representatives of local sustainability initiatives were invited to gather in Leipzig on 29 and 30 September 2008 for the second nationwide training and networking congress. This congress aimed to improve the effectiveness of local sustainability processes and present new forms of co-operation between science, business, local authorities and sustainability initiatives.

The competition for the "German Local Sustainability Award ZeitZeichen", worth a total of 10,000 euros, has already begun. In addition, a second prize called "Zeitzeichen-Ideen 2008" was awarded this year, which was aimed at new projects and ideas to be realised in 2009. The deadline for applications was 30 June 2008 and the award ceremony took place in autumn at the Netzwerk21 congress.

The major event was supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Federal Environment Agency and various sponsors. The IZT organised the congress together with the Green League Berlin and two Leipzig partners.

15 years after the "Conference on Environment and Development" in Rio, there was a wealth of experience on the implementation of Agenda 21 in municipalities and federal states. It formed the basis for improving and making the work more effective and for a new strategic, tactical and methodological orientation of LA 21 and sustainability initiatives. A key challenge in this context was to work more towards sustainability management in municipalities, to link municipal decision-making processes to sustainability criteria and to integrate frequently encountered parallel processes into a municipal sustainability process. The further work of sustainability initiatives requires the creation of continuous opportunities for exchange, further training and co-operation. With this in mind, the first Network21 Congress was organised by the Federal Ministry for the Environment in 2007. The congress took place on 17 and 18 September 2007 at the Catholic Academy in Berlin. With over 250 participants, a wide range of workshops on topics and fields of action relating to sustainable development (including climate protection, sustainable urban development, education for sustainable development, child and family-friendly communities, biodiversity) and the first presentation of the "German Local Sustainability Award ZeitZeiche(N)" to long-standing sustainability stakeholders, this congress was extremely successful.

The congress should establish itself as a nationwide exchange and networking platform and take place in a different municipality every year. The next congress was to take place on 29 and 30 September in Leipzig. The IZT was co-organiser of the 2007 and 2008 congresses and was responsible in particular for the development of strategy papers, the implementation of workshops and the congress documentation.

The congress was funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Environment Agency and supported by sponsors. Other partners included the municipal umbrella organisations, the German Council for Sustainable Development and the Service Agency Communities in One World.

 

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