Joint Conference on Consumer Education

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www.oecd.org/sti/consumer-policy/education

OECD Headquarters, Paris, France
24 October 2008

The conference is organised jointly by the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Marrakech Task force on Education for Sustainable Consumption (UN MTF ).

The conference will examine major issues and seek to identify good practices in consumer education. Participation in the Forum is restricted to government representatives and selected representatives from the business community and the civil society. For more detailed information, contact us.

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DRAFT AGENDA
(as of 9 October 2008)

Opening session (09.30-09.40)

Michael Jenkin, Chair, Committee on Consumer Policy

SESSION I: Overview of Consumer Education (09.40-10.30)

What are the roles of consumer education? Why is it important? What kinds of challenges does consumer education today face?

Isabella Marras, Program Officer, Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, UNEP
Ginette Nabavi, Principal Administrator, Director General for Consumer Affairs, European Commission
Victoria Thoresen, Hedmark University College, Norway
Anna Fielder, Senior Policy Advisor, Consumer Focus, UK
Thom van Mierlo, Senior Consumer Affairs Officer, Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands

SESSION II: Good practices in consumer education (10.30-12.30)

Brief summary of the analytical background report (OECD Secretariat)

Roundtable discussion

Moderated by Professor Heiko Steffens (Member of Scientific Steering Committee, Federal Ministry of Education and Research)

Discussion Themes

(i) Setting objectives and goals, and measuring and evaluating effectiveness

How governments set objectives for consumer education programs? What has to be done to set up an evaluation program to identify good practices?

(ii) Identifying major approaches to consumer education

How do governments and educational authorities define priorities in implementing consumer education? What kinds of practices are used and have been effective?

(iii) Establishing institutions and promoting co-operation among stakeholders

How do governments work cooperatively with stakeholders (i.e. educational authorities, organized civil society) to respond to the needs of consumer education?

(iv) Reaching different types of vulnerable consumers

What should be done to reach various vulnerable consumers (such as immigrants, elderly, and children) in an effective and sensitive way?

Panellists

Christophe Bernes, Education and Training Project Manager, Institut National de la Consommation, France
Nieves Álvarez Martin Director of the European School of Consumers, Spain
Inge Huijbrechts, Manager, CSR, Toyota-Europe, Belgium
Uwe Bergmann, Sustainability/CSR Management, Henkel and WBCSD Sustainable Consumption Workstream
Takao Nishimura, Professor, Yokohama National University, Japan
Sue McGregor (paper), Professor, Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada
David Istance, Senior Policy Analyist, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, OECD

SESSION III: Breakout session (14.30-17.00)
Towards defining good practices in consumer education – good practices in pilot areas

Session A: Sustainable Consumption

1. Introduction

Graham Branton, Director, EU and International Consumer Policy Team, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, UK

2. Setting objectives and goals

Fabienne Pierre, Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, UNEP
Andrea Innamorati, Ministry for the Environment, General Directorate for Environmental Research and Development, Italy
Candice Stevens, Sustainable Development Advisor, OECD

3. Institutions and co-operation among stakeholders

Valérie Martin, ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency), "Economies d'énergie. Faisons vite ça chauffe"

4. Reaching different types of consumers

Andrea Collier, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

5. Major approaches to consumer education

Päivi Palojoki, Professor, Helsinki University
Uwe Bergmann, Sustainability/CSR Management, Henkel and WBCSD Sustainable Consumption Workstream

6. Conclusions

Session B: Digital competence

1. Introduction

Hanna Turetski-Toomik, Consumer Protection Board of Estonia

2. Setting objectives and goals; measurement and evaluation

Taina Mäntylä, Senior Adviser, Finish Consumer Agency, Finland
David Anstead, Specialist Adviser, Office for Standards in Education Department, UK

3. Digital safety and consumer rights and obligations

Gry Hasselbalch, (and report) Project Officer, The Media Council for Children and Young People, Awareness Node in the EU network Insafe, Denmark
Jennifer Leach, Consumer Education Specialist, the FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education, US
Bjørn Erik Thon, Consumer Ombudsman, Norway

4. Institutions and cooperation among stakeholders

Celia Hannon, Senior Researcher, Demos, UK
Daisuke Fujikawa, Associate Professor, University of Chiba

5. Reaching different groups of vulnerable consumers

Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud, Assistant director, Norwegian Institute for Adult Learning

6. Conclusions

SESSION IV: Conclusion: Summary and conclusions of the whole conference (17.10-18.00)

What actions can we take to promote consumer education further?- Views of stakeholders

Professor Heiko Steffens [Moderator of Session II]
Candice Stevens [Rapporteur of the Breakout session I, OECD]
Susan Grant [Rapporteur of the Breakout session II, Director of Consumer Protection, Consumer Federation of America, US]
Paolo Soprano (Director, Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, Italy)
International consumer/business associations [CI, BIAC, and others]