Canadian Earth Summit Coalition (CESC)

The Canadian Earth Summit Coalition (CESC) was formed in December 2001 following a series of meetings of environment and development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) throughout the fall. As there are many groups in Canada individually involved in WSSD preparatory or related activities it was seen as a useful exercise to meet on an ad-hoc basis to discuss collective strategies and activities. These groups had several conference calls and one face-to-face meeting on Thetis Island, B.C. to strategize regarding civil sector participation in the Rio +10 process. The December meeting was a broader coalition of groups who met in Ottawa and subsequently adopted the name CESC.

The Coalition continues to hold conference calls and meetings to share information and advocate for a greater voice in the Canadian government position.

The Coalition also has a listserv. If you're interested in joining, please contact Nikki at nikki@onesky.ca.

Terms of Reference

The group is open to any non-governmental organization, academic institution, network or individual that is involved or interested in the Earth Summit process. The group is intended to be limited in size... due to limited resources. There are currently no restrictions on participation but should it become an issue the following simple guidelines should suffice.

Groups are encouraged to delegate representation and to stress consistency in participation. The majority of the work should take place via electronic listserve. This is a closed list which is being coordinated by Nikki Skuce of One Sky. This is a private listserve and should be treated as such. As in all e-mail correspondence one should not assume strict confidentiality, however, participants are asked to limit the circulation of e-mails to the members of the listserve only. A list of the participants can be accessed at anytime.

We will try to keep telephone calls to approximately one hour in length as per the times that have been posted. Agenda items can be posted to Nikki Skuce or brought up at the beginning of each call.

The group will not speak or represent any of the organizations involved at any time. Members of the group will be given the option to "sign on" to a group initiative or action. Membership in the group does not restrict any individual group in any way whatsoever. Individual members can do whatever they like but in participating in the group it is inferred that they will not speak for the group and that the private nature of the conversations will be respected.