SER has the support of a wide range of European regions – the international network of regional governments for sustainable development.

In our first working phase (2002 – 2004) we produced various policy reports and case studies on regional best practice, focussing on the following cross-cutting themes and specific topics:

Core Themes

	Spatial Planning
	Sustainable Governance
	Indicators for SD
Specific Topics
	Post-Industrial Regeneration
	Rural Depopulation / Demographic Change
	Low Carbon Economy
	Sustainable Tourism
	Sustainable Production and Consumption

At the end of our first 2 year working phase we produced a policy report providing a synthesis of the network’s findings and also an executive summary, outlining our key recommendations on regional governance, leadership and networks for SD. The report demonstrates the power of sustainable development as a unifying idea for public policy. It shows that SD is the only way forward which ensures the improvement of all peoples’ quality of life - simultaneously protecting and enhancing the Earth’s life-support systems. Sustainable regions are competitive and worth living in.

All reports and case studies produced by our partner regions can be found here:
policy studies ; case studies

Now we are taking the next step in our evolution. Our aim is to present and generalize for each of our working themes the best knowledge available on how to make regional sustainable development really happen. This is to be done to the benefit of the regions in Europe but also to drive the message through to the national and international level.

Why is it needed?

Regions are the central driver of sustainable development and emphasise the importance of mutual learning. Yet, it is obvious that sustainable development is still not the main driver of policy development for all regions.

Many regions and SD related organisations are keen to share knowledge and experience to tackle unsustainable trends. But too often SD policies and strategies are developed in isolation and often do not consider economic, social and environmental impacts - they focus on one or two of these.

Our aims

SER aims to:

	provide a platform for interested parties to teach and learn from each other, to adopt and implement SD principles and strategies in order to ensure long-term and sustainable regional prosperity;
	link up relevant initiatives, networks, organisations, and individuals all working on sustainable development, and provides opportunities for networking;
	link up relevant initiatives, networks, organisations, and individuals all working on sustainable development, and provides opportunities for networking;
	provide leadership in bringing together SD expertise to discuss what works well and what could be done better;
	help to provide a clear voice for European regions on the SD agenda.
	Low Carbon Economy
	Sustainable Tourism
	Sustainable Production and Consumption

SER is steered by a committee of regions from all over Europe. They are complemented by organisations and networks working on relevant sustainable development themes.

Main working topics

The cross-cutting theme for the initial programme of events is
‘Sustainable Economy / Regional Sustainable Production & Consumption’.

Within this, we aim to explore:

	Innovation & System Building – co-operation between market, research and the public sector at the regional level
	Procurement and Political Leadership at regional level
	Low Carbon Economy
	Education for Sustainable Development, Learning and Public Engagement
	Spatial Planning and Sustainable Regeneration
	Corporate Social Responsibility
	Governance for Sustainable Development
	Sustainable Communities

Plenary sessions, seminars and workshops will be chaired by senior level speakers/facilitators and are focussing on the following dimensions:

What are today’s problems?
What can we as regions achieve?
How can we improve our future?

True sustainable development can only happen in co-operation

New and innovative ideas not only need consolidated knowledge but also a platform to share expertise, to discuss and argue with people coming from a variety of different backgrounds.

The work of SER demonstrates the power of sustainable development as a unifying idea for public policy. The tendency of individual specialism and competition can’t be the main and only driver to ensure regional prosperity, but collaboration, multi-disciplinarity, and partnership.

If you are interested in getting involved in our work, i.e. by presenting case studies and discussing your experiences with experts and practitioners from other European regions and organisations at one of our events, or for any further questions and comments please contact SER’s secretariat:

email us