The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) is holding its Ninth Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) from 13 to 15 December 2006 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Each SDC is designed to be a forum for dialogues on sustainable development with practitioners, civil society and policy-makers. The SDC series has been established as a prime Conference in South Asia on development issues and attracts leading intellectuals and policy-makers. Some 136 panelists from 11 countries participated in the Eighth SDC in December 2005. An anthology of peer-reviewed SDC papers is launched at the succeeding Conference. The published books form part of the curricula on development in some educational institutions in Pakistan. They are also frequently quoted in research publications. An anthology of the previous SDC titled “At the Crossroads: South Asian Research, Policy and Development in a Globalized World” being jointly published by SDPI and Sama Editorial and Publishing Services will be launched at the Ninth SDC.
The overarching theme of the SDPI’s Ninth SDC is “Missing Links in Sustainable Development (SD): South Asian Perspectives”. The concept of SD is essentially an interdisciplinary one. Economists, environmentalists, anthropologists, political scientists and others have advanced rigorous theories to explore the various dimensions of sustainable development. Yet, often their findings and suggestions have not been noticed beyond disciplinary boundaries; they have been ignored in the policy arena and thus could not contribute to solving problems at the grassroots level.
The South Asian region has posed a challenge for SD. It hosts the largest number of the world’s poor, is characterized by the widest gender gaps in access to resources, and by latent and violent conflicts over the equitable distribution of natural resources.
The deliberations in the Ninth SDC are expected to lay the framework for several elements of analysis – all of them prerequisites to adopting a meaningful, interdisciplinary approach for appropriate solutions to identified and potential problems that affect the welfare of societies.
There will be one main plenary (one hour and 30 minutes) each day in which prominent keynote speakers will be invited to address significant areas of sustainable development. Each day’s plenary will be followed by two concurrent sessions (two hours and 30 minutes long) on selected sub-themes. Each concurrent session will consist of four to five presentations by invited speakers. This year’s sub-themes includes globalization, gender, peace and people’s rights, education, health and the state of the environment.
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