Enhancing Science Partnerships for Innovation and Sustainable Development

The German Day of Action for Sustainability will take place on June 4th 2012. On this day, public and private organisations which are committed to the cause of sustainability will present their products all over Germany. Lots of interesting events – encompassing mobile phone collection drives, clothes swap fetes, coaching seminars and online debates, to name but a few – will entice and encourage you to take part in this campaigning day. The German Day of Action for Sustainability is being held for the first time this year. The organisers' intention is to hold the Day of Action regularly on June 4th in future years as well.

Sustainability is also playing an important part in the German-South African Science Year 2012/2013 – climate change is the GSASY's topic of the month for June. What are the causes of climate change? And how can we adapt to climate change without curbing economic growth? Over the next four weeks, these and other urgent questions will be the main focal point of projects and events to be held under the umbrella of the German-South African Science Year 2012/2013.

The German Day of Action for Sustainability is an initiative launched by the German Council for Sustainable Development. With its appeal "Let's take the future into our own hands," the Day of Action is urging all citizens to join forces and actively promote greater sustainability. Not only ministries, city councils and companies, but also theatres, clubs and societies, foundations and other initiatives can use June 4th for their own events and campaigns. In this way, the Day of Action for Sustainability wants to sensitise the German population to the interrelationships between environmental protection and economic development as the UN conference Rio+20 draws closer.

Rio+20 is the follow-up conference to the "Earth Summit" that was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. From June 20 to 22, 2012, the participating heads of state and government will endeavour to reach agreement on the development of a "green" economy, the struggle against poverty and the institutional framework of sustainable development. As part of this process, strong research partnerships between countries in the northern and southern hemispheres – such as that between Germany and South Africa in the German-South African Science Year 2012/2013 – are making a fundamental contribution to scientific and technological progress, and therefore to the success of this international summit.

For information about the German Day of Action for Sustainability and an overview of all the events that will take place on that day, please go to the website www.aktionstag-nachhaltigkeit.de (in German). You'll find information about the UN conference Rio+20 at www.uncsd2012.org. This website is providing a constant flow of information about the themes and projects associated with "topic of the month" climate change throughout the German-South African Science Year 2012/2013.