Workshop Series 'Communicating Product Sustainability'

Published on June 22, 2018

The Consumer Information Programme offers a workshop series to raise awareness and build capacity on the Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information. During the workshops, participants are guided through the 10 high-level principles of the Guidelines and discuss a hypothetical advertising to consider its positive and negative elements against the Guidelines. Participants are sensitized on what to look out for when providing such information (as a company), when receiving and validating it (as a consumer or civil society), or when setting institutional or policy frameworks around the issue (as a government or standard/ labelling body).

This workshop series is implemented by UN Environment and is financially supported by the governments of Germany and France. The objective is to communicate the Guidelines’ principles and enable participants to improve the way they communicate sustainability performance to consumers. This workshop series on the Guidelines is also an opportunity for participants to learn how to contribute to the implementation of SDG 12 (especially target 12.1 and 12.8) in an effective and practical way, while also linking to the other SDG targets under review due to the cross-cutting nature of the topic. They also include space to discuss challenges and solutions, lessons learned and exchange experiences on communicating product sustainability information. Feedback received and insights from the workshops also help to identify consumer information issues and can eventually feed into region- or sector-specific supplements to the global Guidelines. These workshops make it possible to promote cutting-edge discussions, capacity building and knowledge and skills acquisitions to the participants on the transformation towards sustainable consumption and production patterns. To date, 11 in-country workshops were organized in Brazil, Germany, China, Sri Lanka, France, Chile, Peru, Hong Kong, Thailand and Switzerland. Workshop in São Paulo, Brazil Date: 7th December 2017 Partners: UN Environment, UN Global Compact Brazilian Network, Akatu Institute Workshop in Berlin, Germany Date: 20th March 2018 Partners: UN Environment and the German Ministry of Environment, supported by the consultancy Adelphi and the German business association Econsense Workshop in Beijing, China Date: 11th June 2018 Partners: UN Environment, China Retail & Franchise Association Workshop in Colombo, Sri Lanka Date: 13th June 2018 Partners: UN Environment, National Cleaner Production Centre Workshop in Paris, France Date: 19th June 2018 Partners: UN Environment, French Ministry for Ecological and Solidary Transition, Entreprises pour l’Environnement, UN Global Compact France Workshop in Lima, Peru Date: 2nd July 2018 Partners: UN Environment, Peruvian Ministry of Environment, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, UN Global Compact Peru Workshop in Santiago, Chile Date: 5th July 2018 Partners: UN Environment, Chilean Ministry of Environment, UN Global Compact Chile Workshop in Hong Kong Date: 7th September 2018 Partners: UN Environment, WWF-Hong Kong Workshop in Geneva, Switzerland (Trade for Sustainable Development Forum) Date: 1st October 2018 Partners: UN Environment, ITC Workshop in Thailand Date: 13th October 2018 Partners: UN Environment, WWF-Thailand Workshop in Berlin, Germany (ISO TC 207 meeting) Date: 3rd June, 2019 Partners: UN Environment, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety In addition to the in-country workshops, the Guidelines were presented in 8 conferences and events to date: in New York, France at the OECD, Germany, Spain, India, Ukraine, and Costa Rica. Participants have the opportunity to: - Learn about this UN-backed initiative aiming to drive consumer information worldwide; - Build capacity on how to apply the 10 principles for product sustainability claims; - Discuss how to further improve consumer information in their country; - Network with peers and exchange experiences - Benefit from support to improve the way you communicate and to continue your journey towards sustainability leadership. The organising partners and speakers are comprised of relevant local organisations, all of which are engaged in the development or implementation of the Guidelines from a different standpoint. The Guidelines are written for the private sector, marketing and advertising professionals, labelling organizations, governments, trade unions and civil society. Participants across any of these fields are welcome. If you are interested in hosting a workshop in your region or for your sector, please e-mail us at ciscp@un.org.