The issue of "Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns" has gained a new impetus in international debates as a result of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002. The States now face the challenge of fleshing out the "10-year-framework for programmes" by integrating programme content at their respective national levels. Germany currently faces a multitude of approaches and initiatives to promote sustainable production and consumption patterns,  and the challenge now lies in how to consolidate these methods. Ecologic supports the German Federal Environmental Ministry and the Federal Environment Agency in this project.

The development and realisation of a conference constitutes the main focus in the first stage of the project. The conference aims to bring together all relevant actors in the sector of sustainable consumption and production patterns, and seeks to give an overview of the current developments and impulses for the formulation of additional processes.

In the follow-up to the conference the following issues are to be clarified:

• With the help of which measures can concrete progress be made in the coming years?
• What can Germany contribute to the ongoing processes at international (Marrakech-Process) and European level (Integrated product-policy)?
• Which perspectives arise for designing a long-term process at the national level?