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The WSSD will take place in Johannesburg from the 26th August to the 4th September 2002. This summit will bring together tens of thousands of participants, including heads of State and Government, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses and other major groupings. The summit will focus on the world’s attention on actions to achieve sustainable development. The summit will also evaluate the obstacles to progress and the results achieved since the 1992 Earth Summit. The Summit presents an opportunity to build on the knowledge gained over the past decade, and provides a new impetus for commitments of resources and specific action towards global sustainability.

Sustainable development calls for improving the quality of life for all of the world’s people without increasing the use of our natural resources beyond the earth’s carrying capacity. While sustainable development may require different actions in every region of the world, the efforts to build a truly sustainable way of life require the integration of three key areas namely social, economic and environmental.

VENUES
To ensure maximum participation, the summit is divided into four main venues. These include:

The Sandton Convention Center will host the official conference. Between 110 and 190 heads of state and 6000 government officials are expected to attend. About 3000 journalists are also expected at this venue.

Naserc will host the Civil Society Global Forum, organized by the SA NGO Coalition. About 30 000 to 40 000 people are expected to attend

The MTN Sundome will host local government delegates and labour representatives.

Gallager Estate, Midrand will host business representatives. About 2000 global business leaders are expected to attend.

SIDE EVENTS
Side events are events that take place in the margins of the official inter-governmental meetings, organized for the purpose of sharing experiences and increasing opportunities for dialogue among the official meetings' participants. Side events have been an important part of the meetings of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and are expected to be similarly important in the World Summit on Sustainable Development.  The main side event will be that of the Ubuntu Exhibition at the Wanderers Club. This giant tent, called Tensile One, is the size of three rugby fields.

Tensile One will house café and bar facilities, as well as the main SABC studios and editing suites. The Ubuntu Exhibition will be part of a host of events to be staged at the Ubuntu Village at Wanderers. These include a South African pavilion, a conference centre, an arts and craft imbizo and a cultural programme at the Theatre Village. Ubuntu Village will serve as a place for summit participants and members of the public to interact. It will also serve as the central transport interchange. It will be open from August 10 to September 10. 

The exhibition in Tensile One will open from August 17 to September 7 and will showcase exhibits of "best practice" in sustainable development from around the globe. The exhibition is the first of its kind to accompany a United Nations summit.  The themes of the exhibition will include water, education, health, rural development, agriculture, food security, urban development, waste management, transport, energy and technology. 

Street forums will form part and parcel of side events. Side events being staged at major cities in South Africa will run parallel to events at the summit.