Open Briefing and Listening Session on Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development, and Land Issues for the World Summit on Sustainable Development

Please Circulate to Interested Colleagues

Wednesday, December 5, 2001 @ 3:00-6:00PM
Renaissance Hotel, Rooms 10 and 11
999 Ninth Street, NW, Washington DC

A Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development, and Land stakeholder discussion is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5, 2001 from 3:00-6:00PM in Rooms 10 and 11 at the Renaissance Hotel, located at 999 Ninth Street, NW in Washington DC. Union Station (red line) is the closest metro station to the hotel. The agenda for the meeting follows.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is hosting an open briefing and listening session to assist the U.S. Government in its preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). This session is open to all stakeholders and will focus on receiving citizen ideas on important on sustainable agriculture, rural development and land issues for WSSD.

Agenda:

3:00 Welcome and Introductions
3:15 Briefing on WSSD preparations
3:30 General Citizen Comment Period - 3 minutes each,
sign up prior to meeting
4:15 Break-Out Sessions to discuss sustainable agriculture, rural
development and land issues for WSSD
5:15 Reports from Break-Out Sessions
5:45 Summary and Closing
6:00 Adjourn

For general background information on WSSD, please visit the official WSSD website at www.johannesburgsummit.org and the United Nations Sustainable Development website at www.un.org/esa/sustdev. For background information on SARD issues, please see the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-8) Decision on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development at www.un.org/documents/ecosoc/docs/2000/e2000-29.htm#Decision 8/4.

Additional information on this session will be available on the NationalCommission for Science and the Environment website at http://cnie.org/ over the next several weeks. If you have any questions concerning the logistics of this meeting, please contact Adela Backiel, USDA Director of Sustainable Development (adela.backiel@usda.gov) or Jennie O'Connor, USDA-Forest Service (jmoconnor@fs.fed.us).