Our work

The SDC's role is fourfold:

Advisory:
• drawing on expert opinion to advise key Ministers and others across Government; and
• producing evidence-based public reports on contentious environmental, social and economic issues.

Capacity-building:
• establishing good working relationships with key parts of government to build understanding and skills for sustainable development; and
• encouraging, stimulating and sharing good practice between all the UK administrations.

Advocacy:
• deepening awareness of the concept of sustainable development within key sectors, increasing awareness of the issues it raises, and building agreement on how to address them;
• facilitating debate on controversial subjects; and
• responding openly to Government policy initiatives.

Watchdog:
• reporting publicly on the effectiveness of government in promoting sustainable development in policy-making and in the way it runs its operations and procurement.

» A Catalyst for Change - SDC Strategy and Business plan 2007-2010
» Work Programme 2009 - 2010
» Our policy areas

Getting access to our work

Our activities are divided into work streams - each led by a steering group chair and administered by a members of the secretariat. Work streams are agreed during our quarterly Plenary meetings, held across the UK. Some of our work is reactive i.e. in response to broader government initiatives, whilst other work streams are proactive - arising from our specific expertise or areas of concern.

» Explore our workstreams
» Browse or search our free publications

Attending conferences, workshops and briefings
Our annual conference is open to anyone in the UK wishing to share ideas and inspiration on sustainable development. Our Commissioners also speak at numerous events across the UK – most of these are listed on our calendar along with many other useful events.

Informing our work programme

From April 2006, the SDC has a strengthened role - with additional resources and funding - as Government ‘watchdog’. To ensure that our work is robust and informed, we will be extending and formalising the way we take evidence from the public and experts. The information below outlines existing and new methods of working and opportunities available for you to participate.

Becoming a Commissioner
Commissioners play a central role to the SDC, developing and steering all our work programmes. They are appointed by UK Government, the Welsh Assembly (for the SDC Vice Chair for Wales) and Scottish Government (for the SDC Vice Chair for Scotland) and serve for three years and for a maximum of two terms.

You can apply to become a Commissioner. Posts are advertised in the national press and candidates are short-listed according to the competencies of the post. To be notified of vacancies, join the SDC network.

Informing our policy analysis
To ensure that our advice to Government is informed by a broad range of opinion, we have set up a virtual panel of 1,000 people, from a range of backgrounds, who will debate issues that the SDC is involved with – as diverse as nuclear power, the education curriculum and school meals, democratic politics and carbon taxes on flights.

This information will occasionally be supplemented by public polls. Panel members have been individually selected to ensure a wide range of experience and skills across many sectors, as well as good geographical and gender balance.

The panel is invitation only (to ensure the balance of skills and expertise). However, we will also be running parallel online debates for the broader public. The debates and discussions arising from the Panel’s deliberation will be accessible to the public, as will the SDC’s response to the Panel’s recommendations.