Planning Committee Meeting Minutes
Meeting #4
Thursday, 18th January, 2007
1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Conference Room A

Committee Co-Chair

Richard Jordan

Handouts Distributed

Agenda
Minutes from 3rd Planning Committee Meeting (12/21/06)
Participant Sign-up Sheet for Sub-Committees

Opening Remarks

The meeting began with corrections of the previous Planning Committee Meeting Minutes. The minutes for future meetings will be handed out in hardcopy, emailed to planning committee members and posted on the web. Please see www.un.org/dpi/ngosection and click on ‘Planning Committee Meetings’ on the right panel, or go directly to: http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/agenda-minutes.html.

The new meeting agenda was adopted, and the previous minutes were approved. The participant sign up sheet for the Sub-Committees was also distributed.

Sub-Committees: Nomination of co-chairs

The nomination of co-chairs for sub-committees continued, with Paulo Tagatas confirming his post on the Resource Centre Support Sub-Committee, Vicky Soames taking a co-chair position on the Multigenerational Sub-Committee, and Dan Uitti taking a co-chair position on the Internet Sub-Committee. However, Dan will not be able to attend weekly meetings of the Internet Sub-Committee, and there is still one more vacancy for co-chair on that committee. There is also one more vacancy for co-chair, alongside Mary Norton, for the Midday Workshop Committee. Elizabeth has agreed to work with Mary on the midday workshops, but has not decided whether or not she can be a co-chair this year.

Sub-Topics for Conference:

The sub-topics need continued refinement, as many of them are inter-related. Furthermore, UN Reform should go beyond the scope of ‘Greening of the UN building’, and include NGO engagement with a ‘new UN’, and the debate surrounding the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol. It was also pointed out that ‘Health’ and ‘Education’ should be on the list of sub-topics relating to climate change. It was agreed that a more concise, coherent, and defined list of sub-topics should be developed as soon as possible. Only then can we move to the next stages of conference planning, such as nominating speakers.

Conference Structure:

The upcoming conference will not include as many plenaries as the previous conference. However, it will include more roundtables, which will allow for a more interactive discussion, better coordination, more focus, and more networking opportunities between sessions. It was agreed that the conference structure be as follows:

Wednesday: AM: Opening Session
PM: 1st Roundtable

Thursday: AM: 2nd and 3rd Roundtables simultaneous
PM: 4th and 5th Roundtables simultaneous

Friday: AM: 6th and 7th Roundtables simultaneous
PM: Closing Session (summary of roundtables, and end-note speaker)

Comments on Conference Structure:

1. It was pointed out that making the conference more participatory is important. The audience should be more actively engaged in discussion, rather just listening to a set of speakers.

2. Moderators, it was agreed, are the key to making conferences more participatory. Furthermore, handing out cards asking participants to detail how the conference might affect their routine on the following Monday morning would also make the conference more participatory and solutions-oriented.

3. It was suggested that we could increase participation through new techniques of interaction. At the end of a roundtable, participants could cluster into groups, discuss the topic presented in the roundtable, and a representative from each group would report the conclusions of the discussion back to the other participants. However, it was remarked that such a procedure might require too much room and space.

4. While there will be seven roundtables, it was pointed out that there are currently a lot more than seven sub-topics. It was proposed that we need to develop broad sub-topics so that we can include aspects of climate change in seven roundtables.

5. It was proposed that we set time aside for active discussion and networking. Networking opportunities need to be more than just a tent outside, networking needs to be a part of the conference structure.

6. Webcasting is important because it opens the conference up to a larger audience. It is also a way to involve people who might consider hosting the conference in the proceeding year.

7. It was decided that an index of participant’s contact details should be distributed at the end of the conference. It was also proposed that participant name tags display the participant’s home country to facilitate networking processes.

Choosing a Title for the Conference

Suggested titles for the conference were revised, and following is an updated list.

• Protecting the Planet: Global Partnerships
• Protecting the Planet, MDGs, Climate Change, and the NGO role
• Protection of Future Generations, the Logic of Peace
• Saving Our World: Climate Change and Human Civilization
• Controlling Climate Change: Forming a Global Partnership and Preserving Life
• Climate Change: Global Partnerships to Preserve Life
• Climate Change: Our Responsibility to Protect
• Climate Change: The Survival of Our Planet
• Climate Change: The Life of the Planet
• Climate Change: Civil Society Accepts the Challenge
• The Protection of the Global Climate for Present and Future Generations
• Protecting the Planet: Climate Change, the MDGs, and the UN agenda
• Climate Change: Global Partnerships to Preserve Life: urgent!!?? SOS
• Climate Change: The Survival of the Planet and Human Civilization
• Climate Change: Protecting the Planet, the NGO role
• Climate Change: The Challenges and Role of NGOs
• Protecting the Planet: The NGO Role
• Climate Change: Partnerships for Survival

Remarks on Choosing a Title:

It was noted that the words ‘protection’ and ‘partnerships’ are in most of the titles. However, it was also remarked that we focus on ‘saving’ rather than ‘protecting’, as it instills a sense of urgency.

It was also noted that only a few titles have the term ‘NGOs’ in it. However, it was also remarked that NGO and DPI are already implicit in the conference, and don’t need to be repeated.

Concluding Remarks:

The NGO Journal has selected a title, ‘Celebrating NGO’s 60 years with the United Nations: The Journey Continues’. A local printer has been selected, and all Journal specifications will be available next week.

Rumi was also acknowledged.

Attendance: Elizabeth Carll, Choon-Whe Cho, Joan Davis, Bill Gellerman, Jeff Huffines, Richard Jordan, Irene Kagoya, Sherrill Kazan, Joan Kirby, Pamela Kraft, Judy Lerner, Joan Levy, Linda Misek-Falkoff, Jim Nelson, Mary Norton, Estelle Perry, Ann Riccitelli, Joanne Robinson, Nadia Shmigel, Elisabeth K Shuman, Stephanie Sigg, Mary V Toumayan, Moses Williams, Anne Zanes, Goerge Weinstein, Charles Hitchcock, Margo LaZaro, Moki Kokoris, Robin Dellarocca, Britanny Carter, Mary Christina Pennisis, Alivia Osborne, Ella Kim, Marc Jorgenson, Nicholas Rees

Next Meeting: Thursday, 25th January, 2007. 3-5PM, Room: Conference Room C