The Canadian Environmental Network’s International Program (RCEN-IP) is a network of Canadian environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) that do international work. The RCEN-IP provides a forum to work together on policy issues as well as national and international environmental issues. The RCEN-IP also works with Southern NGOs on policies and practices that achieve results that will protect the Earth and promote ecologically sound ways of life.   The RCEN-IP has an on-line searchable database for both Canadian and international NGOs who are working in partnership. It is also a place for NGOs to seek partners and network. Follow the link to the directory to search and add your organization. Ecological Governance – The role of international NGOs in achieving sustainable development March 2006-November 2007 The RCEN-IP, in cooperation with four of its IP member groups, completed four ecological governance projects in Nigeria, Honduras, Bolivia and Cameroon. The goal of these projects was to enhance and promote the role of ENGOs in developing countries in affecting change toward environmental sustainability by strengthening capacity to reach ecological governance. Read the Ecological Governance Toolkits and Case Studies Booklet developed through the RCEN-IP Innovation Fund Project Over the course of the project, the RCEN-IP also carried out a number of public outreach activities. Human Security and the Environment Meeting The Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) and One Sky held a two-day meeting in Ottawa on Thursday and Friday, February 22-23, 2007. Thursday’s meeting concerned policy dialogue on the subject of human security and the environment. Friday was a strategizing meeting for the RCEN International Program members on environmental international cooperation, including collaboration with CIDA within the context of ecological governance. The agenda for the February 22nd meeting as well as background documents can be found on One Sky’s website at www.onesky.ca (click on “Human Security and the Environment meeting”). Click here for a PDF of the agenda for the February 23rd meeting. UN-Habitat WUF3 Roundtable on the Environment THE RCEN-IP Teamnet presented an ecological governance poster at the RCEN Roundtable on the Environment which took place during the Third World Urban Forum (WUF3), held 19-23 June 2006 in Vancouver, B.C.   RCEN ACE 2006 Ecological Governance Workshop An Ecological Governance Workshop was held during the RCEN Annual Conference on the Environment, on October 19-21 2006 in Montreal, Quebec. Gail Hochachka (Research Associate with the Polis Project on Ecological Governance at the University of Victoria) was the presenter at this workshop. Click on the links below for the workshop agenda and participant package. Ecological Governance Agenda Ecological Governance Workshop Package CIDA ICD 2006 Ecological Governance Workshop The RCEN-IP organized a workshop for CIDA’s International Cooperation Days entitled International Management through the Lens of Ecological Governance in Ottawa on November 1, 2006. The speakers included Brigitte Gagné, Executive Director, Canadian Environmental Network, Jean Arnold, Executive Director, Falls Brook Centre, A. Bennett Hennessey, Program Supervisor, Armonía, Bolivia and Birdlife International Partner. Click here to read a PDF of the RCEN-IP Workshop Report. For additional details visit the CIDA ICD 2006 web page. For more information on the RCEN-IP Innovation Fund project, please contact Sarah Heiberg, National Caucus Coordinator, at (514) 880-9810 or at sarah@cen-rce.org.

International RCEN-IP Conference on Solid Waste Management in West Africa

Niamey, Niger 21-25 November 2005

The RCEN-IP organized the Niger Conference on Solid Waste Management from November 21st to 25th, 2005. A total of 44 participants from Canada, the US, France, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Senegal, Niger and Ghana attended the conference. A compilation of case studies on solid waste management and the export of products at the end of their lifecycle to African countries was distributed to conference participants to stimulate discussions at the meeting. Workshops were given on the following themes: Anarchic Waste Dumping; Waste Burning (dioxin and furan); International Legal Framework for Waste Management; and Civil Society Involvement in Promoting the 3R hierarchy (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). African NGOs developed a political position on solid and hazardous waste management and a political position on the export of products at the end of their lifecycle to African countries. The main outcomes from the conference were the creation of a West African network on waste issues, a policy paper on solid waste management and the adoption of the Niamey Declaration on Hazardous and Solid Waste. Please read the program (in French only) and general report for more information on the conference.

Renewable Solutions

The RCEN-IP organized a side event on December 1 & 2, 2005 at the Montreal Meeting on Climate Change

As a Parallel Event to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 11/MOP 1) which took place in Montreal November 28th to December 9th, 2005 the RCEN-IP, in cooperation with the Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance (CanREA), Citizens United for Renewable Energy and Sustainability (CURES), Stichting Natuur en Milieu and Hivos, organized a NGO Conference on Renewable Energy and Climate Change featuring the role of renewable energy, energy efficiency and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in meeting climate change and development needs. The goal of this two-day NGO conference was to create strategies and recommendations for moving the global transition to renewable energy forward (day one) and to develop practical recommendations on the future of the Clean Development Mechanism (day two) [click here for the proceedings of day 2]. Results from these discussions provided positive contributions to international negotiations through an official side event within the COP11 pavilion that was attended by 100 people and the submission of recommendations in a Renewable Energy Options Paper. More information on the conference can be found on the CanRea website.