ASEF’s Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum) facilitated a training exercise, ‘Workshop on Sustainable Development Goals for ASEAN Member States’, 2-4 September 2013 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The training helped in promoting awareness about the latest discussions on the Post-2015 Development Agenda with a focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was organised in partnership with the French Regional Delegation to ASEAN in Indonesia and the ASEAN Secretariat, which hosted the training at its premises in Jakarta.
Participants from various backgrounds, with each ASEAN member state sending representatives from ministries and agencies responsible for national development and environmental programmes, actively took part in this training. It was facilitated by ASEF staff and experts from its ENVforum partners. It was an occasion to discuss future prospects for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Participants analysed major challenges faced in formulating the next set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to build on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They took part in a highly interactive negotiation simulation on SDGs. The 2-day simulation was designed to resemble as closely as possible the negotiation scenarios that will shape the next SDGs’ priorities for ASEAN’s regional development agenda. The exercise helped to cement the participants’ knowledge by applying it to overcome policy obstacles through negotiation.
The training also featured a presentation on the findings of the ENVforum’s on-going ‘Small Planet’ research project. This research features a recommended set of SDGs to be adopted by the international community based on extensive analysis of country-specific policies and priorities.