The current standing committees and Forum on Sustainable Development needs to evolve from their present form so as to represent a group from civil society. It also requires an elected representative committee to organise and undertake future activities which meet the objectives of the Forum. This document outlines suggestions on the proposed structure for the Forum, which includes an elected committee as well as annual fees which can be used to fund the Fora and other activities.
The original purpose of the Sustainable Development Forum was to bring together organisations involved in sustainability to discuss how they could cooperate and network and assist New Zealand in the path towards sustainability. Discussions at past Fora have indicated that there are two possible major objectives for this Forum:
a) a networking and database function which enables organisations to continue networking and to access information on sustainability;
b) an advisory role to government and to New Zealand society on the path towards sustainability
The Forum needs to be publicly and professionally credible. Its membership would represent relevant civil society groups as well as expertise in the area of sustainable development.
In order to operate successfully, an elected committee is required to organise and manage the Fora, arrange the database and networking and the advisory body, handle the annual fees and undertake other tasks as deemed appropriate. This committee should include a Chair and two co-Chairs, a Treasurer, a Secretary and 7-9 members, all elected on from the Forum members at the annual general meeting (AGM) for rotating two year terms. Committee members should be nominated 10 days prior to the AGM and the election of committee members should be held by closed ballot.
For this first AGM, an interim Committee should be selected from the current Steering Committee (Appendix 1) , which is comprised of those who have been willing to devote time and energy into the establishment of the Forum and which provides good regional representation. This Committee would be charged with the establishment and ongoing management of the Forum, the Advisory Council, funding and organising the website and other activities.
Currently the Forum is comprised of representatives of New Zealand organisations which are focused on achieving sustainable development in New Zealand. Presently many organisations are represented by two members which enables them to provide backup should one not be available. Some represent more than one organisation. It is recommended that each organisation hold and be invoiced for a single membership which allows for a single vote. Should an organisation wish to send more than one representative to a forum, it is suggested that the additional representative be charged sufficient to recover the cost of their attendance. This would also be the charge to any non-member representatives who wish to attend.
Funding will be required to hold the biennual forum and to support the database and networking task force and the advisory council. Fees should be charged for membership to support these activities. However, funding should not be onerous and it is recommended that it be set at $50 per year to be reviewed at the AGM. Fees would be invoiced to organisations rather than representatives.
This function has been achieved to some degree by the two fora which have enabled a wide range of organisations focused on sustainable development issues to meet and discuss their priorities. A steering group has been established to set up networking capabilities, a website and determine how a database would be run. It is recommended that the elected committee appoint an ongoing subgroup to continue to oversee the networking and database.
Associate Professor Klaus Bosselmann provided an outline of models which could be used as a basis for a New Zealand model for any such council. The issues that these raised include:
a) the government is currently not going to establish or fund an advisory council;
b) not all members of the current Forum are interested in an expert advisory council.
A number of those whose expertise lies in sustainable development or have been working in this field for some time are primarily interested in the formation of such an advisory group and see the formation of such a group as essential for their participation in the Forum. Others have recommended that this group should have primarily a facilitating role rather than an advisory role. In addition, the question of whom the council would be advising has also been raised with the lack of interest from the government in such an advisory body.
The members of the steering group committees consider that the Forum could assist in any facilitating role while the advisory council could be a specific body set up to comment or provide advice. Those who were interested in such a body would be registered as such as well as being members of the Forum, while others who were uncomfortable with the concept of an advisory council rather than a facilitating body would be registered as members of the overall Forum only.
The role of this advisory council which represents elements of civil society, would be:
a) to comment on national and local government policy and actions with respect to sustainable development;
b) to comment on overall aspects of New Zealand society with respect to sustainable development;
c) to provide expert advice and recommendations which will lead New Zealand towards sustainability;
d) to encourage the government (national and local) to officially accept the council as an advisory council from civil society.
Commentary and advice would be presented to the public through magazine, newspaper and journal publications as well as other media as appropriate. Funding will be needed to support such publications and the committee will need to identify mechanisms which will be successful in reaching the public. This could include dissemination of material through the member organisations.
Since this council will, of necessity, need to be comprised of experts on sustainable development which is very broad, it is suggested that, rather than having an elected committee, a core group or Advisory Board could be established from the list of registered members. This group of 6-8 people will be responsible for setting up sub groups to comment on specific policies. These groups would be selected from the registered members and the selection of task force members will be based on their field of expertise as related to the specific policy and their availability. The elected committee should have the responsibility of appointing the Advisory Board.
Some consideration will have to be given to the membership of the advisory council. Since these members would be selected on the basis of expertise, rather than on the organisation, they would be individual members rather than representatives of an organisation. It would be most effective if those offered membership would have to provide some evidence of expertise in the field of sustainability. This would give added weight to any recommendations, advice or comment from the advisory council and could also make it a sought-after role. Two options are available – to make the overall advisory council limited in number or to specify the level of expertise required to join the council (ie, some training in sustainable development as well as work expertise in the field). The latter option would allow those who are new to New Zealand but have significant expertise in sustainability to provide their voice to those in the group. It is suggested that the Advisory Board be required to evaluate the options for membership of the advisory council and recommend a final option to the committee.
Funding may be required for the Advisory Council and this will depend on the type of publications that are produced by the Council and other costs. It is recommended that the Board assess funding requirements and seek sources of funding from government, industry and NGOs and other civil society groups. Some consideration will need to be given to levying a fee for membership of the Council but this should not be too high as members will already be donating time and expertise to the Council.
1. A Committee of 12-14 members of the Forum be elected on an annual basis for a two-year term to organise Fora and manage the database and networking functions;
2. The membership of the Forum be comprised of representatives from organisations
which are focused on achieving sustainable development in New Zealand, with each member organisation having one representative member. Other representatives may attend Fora but will need to pay costs and will not be entitled to vote.
3. An annual fee be charged to members to cover the costs of the Forum.
3. Sub groups be established and appointed by the Committee to continue the work the current standing committee has undertaken on development of the network and database on sustainability;
4. An Advisory Council be established to consist of members with expertise in the field of sustainability who will provide advice, recommendations and comment on sustainability in New Zealand;
5. An Advisory Board of 6-8 members be appointed from the Council by the committee to determine the issues which require consideration by the Council and to select the expert members who will prepare a communication on that issue. The Advisory Board will also set out the requirements for membership of the Council.
Current Steering Committee Members