2.3 Working groups
The numerous groups working on specific themes or countries and regions, provide NGO representatives with the opportunity to come together and exchange ideas and experiences. Most working groups have an informal character but participants also regularly organise more formal meetings or keep in touch with the developments related to a theme in other ways. The working groups vary in nature, activities and focus. The working groups highlighted here are representative for the various working group initiatives that exist in the Netherlands. Within a broad environmental and development context, these working groups focus on the following specific themes: tropical forests, sustainable land use, sustainable consumption and production, wetlands and women.
This working group consists of representatives of NGOs, research institutes, consultancies and ministries who are active in the field of policy, research, management and protection of forests outside the Netherlands. Its main objective is to support NGOs and local groups concerned with forest management, protection and conservation in Southern countries. The NGO platform also attempts to influence policy making in other multilateral forestry aid programmes at international level through lobbying the Dutch government and through campaigning in collaboration with NGOs and interest groups abroad. Both ENDS and the Dutch Committee for IUCN (NC-IUCN) coordinate the NGO platform.
The project group Church & Environment is part of the Council of Churches of the Netherlands. Their primary target group consists of church people at local, regional and (inter) national level. Kerk en Milieu is an ecumenical project group, meaning members of different churches work together within the project group. Its aim is to work towards the development of sustainability at all levels, from community to international level. This involves not only the ecological, but also the social, spiritual, political and economic dimensions of life.
Church & Environment participates in the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN), a network of church people who are concerned about the environment. The network pays attention to themes like climate change and water. The project group is also involved in the campaigns of the World Council of Churches. The WCC is active in the field of climate change and has an official status as observer within the UN climate negotiations.
The Working Group Ecology and Development was established in 1975 as an independent network of experts who are active in the realm of international nature protection. The aim is to ‘ecologise’ the Dutch development cooperation. The Working Group is part of the Van Tienhoven Foundation, the Dutch Commission for International Nature Protection. The Foundation and the NC-IUCN both support E&O.