OECDCivSoc                     April 2009 Newsletter 13

Calendar of recent or upcoming OECD events with Civil Society

Recent or upcoming OECD publications

Recent OECD Observer articles

Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD

Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD

OECD Observer magazine

This Newsletter has been prepared by the Public Affairs Division of the OECD for the purpose of informing the public of OECD cooperation with civil society. The Public Affairs Division acts as a clearing house for information about OECD dialogue with civil society. OECD staff who are in contact with civil society through consultations, workshops or other activities contribute to this newsletter.

The Kyoto event was aimed at developing broader, shared visions of progress for societies in Asia and the Pacific – visions developed from the bottom up.  The world’s future will be determined in significant part by what happens in the growing countries of Asia and the Pacific. The sheer scale of population and economic growth will guarantee that the path of the world’s progress will be heavily influenced by developments in this region. Key themes included: energy and climate--towards a low-carbon society; public health, poverty and new technology; economic, social and environmental vulnerability; peace, good governance and democracy; and new institutional arrangements to measure and promote societal progress. To view presentations from speakers, visit http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/49/18/41933429.pdf

To find out more about the Project and upcoming events, visit www.oecd.org/progress. Registration for the OECD Third World Forum, “Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life” will open in the coming days.
The Forum will be held in Busan, Korea, from October 27-30.

The focus of CELE is the interaction between the users and their environment, and how the physical environment supports needs of education: www.oecd.org/edu/facilities

IMHE addresses crucial issues facing higher education institutions today, including:

Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO)
AHELO is a ground-breaking initiative to assess learning outcomes on an international scale by creating measures that would be valid for all cultures and languages. As many as 30,000 higher education students in over ten different countries will take part in a feasibility study to determine the bounds of this ambitious project, with an eye to the possible creation of a full-scale AHELO upon its completion.
For more information: www.oecd.org/edu/ahelo
Contact: karine.tremblay@oecd.org

Support for Quality Teaching in Higher Education
Why promote teaching quality in higher education? IMHE launched a review into the quality of teaching to better determine the diversity of initiatives and the different responses of institutions.
For more information or to join the review: www.oecd.org/edu/imhe/qualityteaching
Contact: fabrice.henard@oecd.org

Review on Institutional Governance Guidelines
The growing responsibility of institutions created a need for more effective management and clearer organisational structures. IMHE completed a review of literature to explore the diversity and common features of guidelines that exist at national and international levels.
For more information contact: fabrice.henard@oecd.org

Developing a Knowledge Base
To bridge theory and practice, IMHE organises seminars and conferences and publishes reports. For more information on IMHE meetings www.oecd.org/edu/imhemeetings
Contact: valerie.lafon@oecd.org

Forthcoming conferences
29-30 June 2009
Higher Education at a Time of Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Contact: oecd2009@cbs.dk

12-13 October 2009
Quality Teaching in Higher Education, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Contact: fabrice.henard@oecd.org

13-15 September 2010
IMHE General Conference, OECD Conference Centre, Paris, France
Contact: valerie.lafon@oecd.org

If you are interested in IMHE activities or if you want to join IMHE:
www.oecd.org/edu/imhe or write to: imhe@oecd.org

The FSC gathers operators, regulators, R&D and governmental decision makers from 16 countries. Recently, the FSC has explored means of communicating about safety through the use of “analogues”:- examples drawn from nature or from manmade constructions, that can help all stakeholders to grasp, and regulators to assess, the technological arrangements proposed for handling radioactive waste.

Use of analogy and analogues to help understand and to build confidence
A topical session was held on 4 June, 2007 on the use of analogues to help understand and to build confidence in radioactive waste, management approaches and safety cases.

The symbolic dimension of radioactive waste management
In parallel, the FSC has looked into what can be called the “symbolic dimension” of radioactive waste management.

Dialogue with and amongst stakeholders in France
With its National Workshops and Community Visits, the FSC provides a setting for direct exchange among stakeholders of many backgrounds, in an atmosphere of mutual respect and learning. The seventh FSC workshop was held in early April 2009 in the east of France, in the Meuse/Haute Marne region.

FSC flyers and publications, including the proceedings of the events mentioned above, are made available at http://www.nea.fr/html/rwm/fsc.html. They will be of interest to all those dealing with socio-technical decision making.

15 April, Singapore: APEC-OECD Symposium on initiatives promoting a safer Internet environment for children The Symposium will address policy agendas and best practices for protecting children from risks related to their use of the Internet and more generally ICTs, including security, privacy, and consumer aspects, as well as illegal or harmful online contents. The event will gather representative from governments, business, and civil society.

May 2009

27-28 May, Helsingør, Denmark: High-level OECD Conference ICTs, Environment and Climate Change The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will host a high-level OECD Conference on how ICTs can improve environmental performance and mitigate climate change in all sectors of the economy. The outcomes of the conference will be particularly relevant in the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark (COP15). The event will gather representative from governments, business, and civil society. For more information please consult: www.oecd.org/sti/ict/green-ict.

June 2009

15 June, Paris: OECD Corporate Responsibility Roundtable on Consumer Empowerment and Business Behaviour The aim of the Roundtable, held annually, is to assist and encourage more effective use of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The OECD Guidelines are the sole multilaterally-endorsed instrument to describe what constitutes responsible business conduct towards consumers. The sessions cover evolving consumption patterns and their impact on business conduct. They specifically focus on corporate responsibility practices of enterprises towards consumers including environment, health and safety, and the financial issues. The event will gather representative from governments, business, and consumer organisations. For more information, please consult: www.oecd.org/daf/investment/guidelines.

23-24 June, Paris: OECD Forum 2009 "The Crisis and Beyond: For a stronger, cleaner, fairer economy" This 10th Forum takes place in the midst of the worst financial and economic crisis for 60 years. Never before has the public's contribution to government policy discussions been so critical. The OECD Forum is a "multi-stakeholder summit" which brings together business and labour leaders, civil society personalities, government ministers and leaders of international organisations to discuss the hottest issues on the international agenda. Register before 8th May for our Early bird discount. For further details see the OECD Forum 2009 website.

24-25 June, Paris: Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level 2009 under the chairmanship of Korean Prime Minister HAN Seung-soo. This is the first time that Korea, which joined OECD in 1996, will chair an OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. For further details, see www.oecd.org/mcm2009

29-30 June 2009, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark: Higher Education at a Time of Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities
Contact: oecd2009@cbs.dk

October 2009

1-2 October, 2009, Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia: Sustainable School Facilities; Contact: alastair.blyth@oecd.org

12-13 October 2009, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey: Quality Teaching in Higher Education
Contact: fabrice.henard@oecd.org

27-30 October, Busan, Korea: OECD Third World Forum, “Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life”

December 2009

7-18 December, Copenhagen, Denmark: United Nations Climate Change Conference

2010

18-19 January 2010, London, UK: Safer Schools, Safer Communities Contact: hannah.vonahlefeld@oecd.org

13-15 September 2010, Paris: IMHE General Conference Contact: valerie.lafon@oecd.org.

Recent or upcoming OECD publications of interest to civil society

Already published
	OECD Factbook 2009  More Fifth edition of a comprehensive and dynamic statistical annual from the OECD containing more than 100 indicators covering a wide range of areas.
	Education Today: The OECD Perspective  More Examines early childhood, schooling, transitions beyond initial education, higher education, adult education, lifelong learning, outcomes and returns, equity, and innovation.
	Highlights from Education at a Glance 2008  More This publication is an ideal introduction to the OECD’s unrivalled collection of internationally comparable data on education and learning.
	Managing Water for All: An OECD Perspective on Pricing and Financing  More Examines key issues related to water resources management, including governance, inadequate investment and maintenance and the need for an integrated policy approach.
OECD Insights: Sustainable Development: Linking Economy, Society, Environment More Analyses the concept of sustainable development: what it means; how it is affected by production, consumption and globalisation; how it can be measured; and what can be done to promote it.
Development Co-operation Report 2009 More This edition of OECD's annual Development Co-operation Report provides key statistics and analysis on the latest trends in international aid.
	Is Informal Normal? Towards More and Better Jobs in Developing Countries More Provides evidence for policy makers on how to deal with informal employment in developing and developed countries alike – an issue of crucial importance.
	Online Identity Theft  More This book defines identity theft, studies how it is perpetrated, outlines what is being done to combat it, and recommends specific ways to address it in a global manner.
The Changing Boundaries of Social Enterprises  More This book contains recommendations for national and local policy makers and presents a set of international best practices for social enterprises.
Promoting Consumer Education:. Trends, Policies and Good Practices More This publication examines the approaches that governments use to promote consumer education in OECD and some non-OECD countries, highlighting the policies and measures that have been particularly effective. It also analyses recent trends, the role of stakeholders (governments, business and civil society), steps being taken to evaluate the effectiveness of current programmes and the principal challenges.
OECD Private Pensions Outlook 2008  More A new OECD publication that guides readers through the changing landscape of retirement income provision, distilling the complexity of private pension systems in a way that is accessible. A special feature covers the effects of the financial crisis on pensions and private pensions policy.
Forthcoming:
Society at a Glance 2009 More Provides a concise quantitative overview of social trends and policies across the OECD and includes a wide range of information on social issues.
OECD Rural Policy Reviews: China More Focuses on the overall economic context for regulatory reform, the government’s capacity to manage regulatory reform, competition policy and enforcement, and market openness.
Government at a Glance 2009 More This publication fills a gap in internationally comparative data and general knowledge on how governments work, providing an array of key indicators.
Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness: Findings, Recommendations and Good Practice More This book is a resource for implementing the recommendations on civil society and aid effectiveness emerging from the Accra High Level Forum and its preparatory process.
OECD Insights: International Trade: Free, Fair and Open? More This publication reviews world trade, trade rounds, trade barriers, growth and innovation.
OECD Insights: International Migration: The Human Side of Globalisation More This book offers an introduction to international migration, outlining its current scale and nature and introducing some of the key challenges in managing migration and helping immigrants to integrate.
International Migration Outlook: SOPEMI 2009  More Migration is one of the biggest policy challenges of the 21st century. This book gives the reader detailed analysis of recent trends in migration movements and policies in OECD countries.
Communications Outlook 2009  More The Communications Outlook provides the reader with an extensive range of indicators on development and performance as well as regulation analysis of different communications networks.
OECD Economic Outlook, June 2009  More This June 2009 issue of OECD's twice-yearly OECD Economic Outlook provides analysis of recent economic developments and economic projections for OECD and major non-OECD countries through the end of 2009.
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2009-2018   More This book helps to explain the main drivers that determine future developments in markets and trade for agricultural products and biofuels.

Recent OECD Observer articles

Observer No. 270/271: The economy: Working for a solution By John Evans, General Secretary, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) Working families have an enormous stake in the response of governments and the international institutions to the crisis. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2783/ Social urgency Secretary-General Angel Gurría has called for closer collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the OECD in response to the global financial crisis. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2788/News_briefs.html#Social Public trust? “Are you confident that governments can help avoid a global depression?” An OECD Observer online opinion poll shows  the importance for governments to win public trust in the current crisis.  http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2788/News_briefs.html#Public New pension era By Colin Melvin, CEO, Hermes Equity Ownership Services The credit crunch could usher in a new paradigm of stewardship for pension fund trustees and the dawn of a more accountable capitalism. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2779/ OECD MNE Guidelines: A responsible business choice By Paul Hohnen, Consultant on responsible business initiatives and sustainable development The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are being widely used by companies seeking to be recognised as leaders in responsible business practice and sustainable development. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2772/ Observer No. 269: A model to celebrate By Peter A. Barnes, Tax Counsel-International, General Electric In half a century the OECD Model Tax Convention has established itself as a model for international business. Here is how. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2742/ Do multinationals promote better pay and working conditions? By Alexander Hijzen and Paul Swaim, OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2767/ Observer No. 268: Big screen, little screen By Tim Horan, Executive Vice President, ITI Group, Poland The Internet’s open standards have accelerated the convergence of voice, data, video and wireless services, generating new business models, products and services, as well as vibrant new markets. Few sectors exemplify this convergence more than television. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2678/ Print screen By Larry Kilman, Director of Communications World Association of Newspapers Newspapers are holding their own in the Internet economy. http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2679/ Removing road blocks on the information highway By David J. Hanger, President of the European Federation of Magazine Publishers http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2670/

Since its creation, the OECD has had co-operative activities with civil society, principally through the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC). Over the last decade, this co-operation has been complemented by increasing activities with other civil society organisations. For further information about OECD cooperation with civil society, see the OECD civil society web page or contact: CivilSociety@oecd.org