Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production

CSCP Logo

The Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (or CSCP) is a non-profit limited liability. It was jointly founded by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2005 to establish an internationally visible institution for scientific research, outreach and transfer activities on sustainable consumption and production (SCP).[1] The Centre contributes to the Plan of Implementation agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 to promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production (SCP).

Principles

Following the aim of a One-Planet-Living, the key areas to accelerate the implementation of SCP are the development of national action plans on SCP, the integration of SCP into urban development planning and the mainstreaming of SCP in poverty eradication efforts. CSCP has thus decided to work on the socio-economic aspects of SCP and strategies for bringing about change by linking SCP to national and local development goals. CSCP works on making societal, public sector and private sector actors aware of SCP policies and programmes and their related positive effects on human development in local and global communities. These activities aim to enable developing countries to leapfrog to sustainable consumption and production patterns by harvesting the economic and social benefits that are derived from the implementation of sustainability across the life cycle of products and services. The CSCP supports new models of economic development such as closed-loop economies, investments in long-term and cost-effective solutions, and creating public/private partnerships that can provide better access to sustainable environmental services for the poor.

Work

The scope of the Centre’s activities comprises development, testing, implementation and monitoring of projects and programmes, enabling leapfrogging sustainable consumption and production patterns and practices, knowledge transfer, multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary networking and international partnerships. The programmes developed and carried out by the organization are built on three milestones: capacity building, establishment of infrastructures to support sustainable innovations and encouraging bottom-up participative models for sustainable innovation and its ripple effect on lifestyles.

Projects

The CSCP conducted various projects with and for diverse actors, such as national and European ministries, the European Commission, UNEP, multinational companies,[2] as well as SMEs, European research institutes[3] and non-governmental and civil society organisations. The work of the CSCP can be divided into three core areas: 1) Sustainable Lifestyles, 2) Sustainable Infrastructures, Products and Services 3) Sustainable Business Models.

Applied research

The CSCP had been working together with the retail and food sector on resource efficiency and hot-spot analysis. It also hosts a sustainability council, which includes consumer groups, CSOs, to provide advice to the sustainability labeling process of a leading retail company. On the political field the CSCP also supported the first phase of the EU Retail Forum and coordinate a Retail project with the European Topic Centre on SCP.

The CSCP also contributes to developing the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED)[4] Task Force report on international practices and experiences with sustainable consumption and production. The CSCP also co-organizes workshops to promote knowledge exchange to support and refine policy recommendations.

Networking and Communication

The CSCP also works on enabling and engaging dialogue with different stakeholders, NGOs, consumer groups and policy makers, for example by creating a platform on Sustainable Lifestyles (http://www.vision2050.net) and on Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship (http://www.scaling-up.net). It also coordinates large-scale international projects, such as the SWITCH Network Facility (http://www.switch-asia.eu/), the SPREAD Sustainable Lifestyles project (http://www.sustainable-lifestyles.eu/) or the Action Town project (http://action-town.eu/).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Researchers Networks". UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics. Paris. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rewe startet Nachhaltigkeitswochen 2013". Köln Nachrichten. Cologne. August 5, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Partner der HdWM". University of Applied Management Studies. Mannheim. September 7, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ "China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED)". China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. China. July 18, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
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