The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission held its fourth annual governance network conference at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies on the weekend of 8th-10th March 2008. Co-organised and run by the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit (CPSU), the event brought together 30 current award-holders from a diverse range of academic backgrounds to discuss this year’s theme: The Environment and Governance in the Commonwealth.

Sessions included:

Environmental governance: who does what?

Dr. Vasannt Jogoo from the Commonwealth Secretariat, gave an overview of how the Commonwealth facilitates environmental progress within the larger climate change debate.

Environmental stewardship in relation to good governance

Land and water issues including management challenges in relation to natural resources

The human impact of climate change

The issue of climate wars and conflict prevention

The final session gave attendees the opportunity to summarise what they had gained from the conference and to propose how they might act on their newly acquired knowledge. Participants identified a need to establish an exact relationship between governance and the environment and to develop adequate governance structures to facilitate reduction in environmental degradation. Local projects were proposed and suggestions to share contacts and engage with established organisations were put forward.

Some scholars were also given the opportunity to showcase their current research, contributing ideas more closely linked with the policy issues surrounding environmental challenges. Insights into the present climate regime, natural resource policy and spatial decision support in a local context were provided. The most popular themes that arose were the placement of civil society within a Commonwealth context and the practical policy changes that could be made to face climate change.