ESF 2008-2011

South East Region

_{Sustainable Development}

Sustainable Development can be defined as: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (Brundtland Commission Report, "Our Common Future", 1987)

Increasingly, people all round the world are beginning to understand that 'business as usual' is not a sustainable option and in 2006 the EU adopted its renewed Sustainable Development Strategy. This strategy recognises that economic, social and environmental objectives can reinforce each other and they should therefore advance together. As a result sustainable development is a regulatory cross-cutting theme across all of the EU Structural Funds including ESF.

Although within the current programme the strategic priorities of jobs and skills will remain the main drivers for ESF activity, there is also a strong emphasis on making sure that the environmental aspects are better integrated into delivery arrangements. To achieve this, the UK has adopted a Sustainable Development Mainstreaming plan, which aims to both educate and to develop an integrated approach to environmental sustainability by 2010. As part of this plan and in order to meet the cross-cutting sustainable development theme of the programme, over the coming months the LSC will be encouraging providers to develop and adopt policies covering a range of environmental issues. There will be more information in future editions of Noticeboard but in the meantime to find out more about Sustainable Development please visit the European Social Fund Division page on Sustainable Development, or the Sustainability Online Resource and Toolkit for Education (SORTED) website which looks specifically at areas including Leadership and Management.

A new Sustainability page has also been added to the Current Programme page on the South East ESF LSC website. You can find it here. This page will be updated with any information regarding sustainability as it becomes available.