Over the past couple of years Member States and stakeholders have been disputing if and how the European Union should contribute to the conservation of soils. In 2006, following a comprehensive stakeholder consultation, the European Commission tabled their thematic strategy for soil protection, including a proposal for a soil framework directive. H

The Freie Universität Berlin and the LIAISE Network of Excellence invite papers for the 2012 'Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change', which will be the 11th event in the series of annual European Conferences. This year's conference theme "Evidence for Sustainable Development" addresses the knowledge basis of ...

In January 2012 the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ - will host in Leipzig a four-day training event for young and early career researchers: the LIAISE Winter School. The focus of this event will be on Impact Assessment (IA) as a general procedural framework for policy appraisal in decision-making processes. ...

The LIAISE working papers series aims at collecting the output of research on IA and sustainable development from single and interdisciplinary fields of research, addressing sustainability both from social and physical sciences’ perspectives and ...

As the European Commission and the Member States prepare for policies to increase the efficiency of the natural resources use, some of the LIAISE partners are exploring potentials for modelling the impacts of such policies on the various aspects of sustainable development. The LIAISE concept of a Reference Model for Impact Assessment Tools ...

In the run-up to the 2012 World Summit in Rio de Janeiro, a major debate on a “Green Economy” is evolving. The OECD developed a Green Growth Strategy, published in May 2011 (see policy section below). The strategy recognizes the potential benefits of green growth and, unlike previous OECD publications, considers green growth as ...

The Green Week Conference 2011 will be held in Brussels from May 24 to May 27 with this year's theme: Resource Efficiency - Using less, living better. Improving resource efficiency is a flagship initiative of the European Commission and is a core topic of DG Environment. A number of policy initiatives are expected to establish and to implement...

The 2011 International Regulatory Reform Conference held in Amsterdam on March 10 and 11 in Amsterdam, organized by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Dutch government, brought together ca. 300 participants from Europe and abroad to discuss innovations and trends in tools for better regulation...

Impact Assessment remains high on the agenda of the European Commission as several recent publications underlined: The report of the European Court of Auditors with its evaluation of the IA practice, the Impact Assessment Board Report for 2010 or the publications of the roadmaps. A LIAISE survey among ca. 130 experts from 17 countries revealed...

LIAISE had its second Annual Meeting from 26 to 28 January, 2011 in Milan, Italy. About 60 LIAISE colleagues exchanged information and discussed on topics related to the LIAISE strategic goals, i.e. the Shared IA Toolbox and Research Agenda and the transformation of the Network of Excellence into a durable Centre of Excellence.