The morning session will feature high-profile keynote speakers, including Michael Müller, the German Secretary of State, and Atsushi Inaba, Research Center for Life Cycle Assessment National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan. Afternoon sessions allow for in-depth discussion on the Japanese Top Runner and Eco-Town initiatives as well as green procurement and material flow indicators with respect to their relevance and prospects in Germany and Europe. All participants will be invited to a follow-up discussion on options for multi-stakeholder collaboration between Japan and Germany.

The conference is jointly organised by the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, and the International Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan, with support from the Japanese-German Centre, Berlin. It takes place under the ‘Resource Efficiency Network’ initiative, established in March 2007 by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Environment Agency. The conference is part of the project “Resource Strategies in Japan”, funded by the German Federal Environment Agency.

German and Japanese actors are technological pioneers, both countries are highly export-oriented and strongly dependent on imports. In the field of resource efficiency the two countries have complementary strengths: Germany primarily leading in the field of environmental technologies, and Japan is a forerunner in strategic issues of resource management. The opportunity to exchange best practices and promote mutual learning presents a mutually beneficial opportunity to address issues that are of crucial importance for all parties involved in the policy dialogue.

The conference language is English.

Further Information

For more information on the conference, please contact Raimund Bleischitz, raimund.bleischwitz@wupperinst.org, or Michael Kuhndt, michael.kuhndt@scp-centre.org.

Further information is also available at: www.ressourcenproduktivitaet.de/3/

Resources

An agenda and background papers for the workshops will be provided before the conference.