events

Europe Sustainable Development Report 2021 launch – 14th December 2021

By SDG Watch Europe

The Europe Sustainable Development Report will be published on the 14th of December 2021.

On such occasion, SDSN and the Institute for European Environmental Policy have organized a webinar for the long-awaited Europe Sustainable Development Report.

The event will be held on Zoom at 14:00 CET. Registration is required to participate.

For detailed information and registration, please visit the following link: LINK

As SDG Watch Europe, we are very much looking forward to knowing how the EU is performing on the SDGs. The event will have experts & practitioners talking about priorities and transformations to achieve the SDGs.

ONLINE: Building Back Better: Towards achieving SDG 8 – 22. Nov 2021 15:00-16:30

By Caritas Europa

Caritas Europa is organising a webinar to assess how the EU and its Member States can advance towards achieving SDG 8, in the context of the COVID-19 recovery. This webinar will build on Pillar II of Caritas Europa’s Social Model on inclusive labour markets – work as a source of well-being and contribute to achieving a more human-centred economy.

Background:

For Caritas Europa, decent work (SDG 8), which respects the rights and dignity of every worker, is an essential part of a human-centred economy. However, decent work for all is still far from being achieved in Europe and the COVID-19 crisis has further worsened the labour market situation across the European States. COVID-19 has had severe socio-economic consequences, especially for those in vulnerable situations, and has impacted the progress many countries had been making with regard to decent work. In the context of the recovery, it is now more important than ever for the EU and its Member States to refocus on achieving SDG 8. What actions could be carried out now to help get us back on track toward achieving SDG 8 by 2030? These questions will be the focus of this webinar with input from people experiencing labour market hurdles, along with the Project Director of the SDG Index, the European Commission, Caritas Europa, and the dicastery for Integral human development.

Programme:

Moderator: Shannon Pfohman

15:00 – 15:10 Maria Nyman, Caritas Europa – Welcome and introduction

15:10 – 15:20 Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University – Assessment of the state of play on achieving SDG 8, especially following the outbreak of COVID-19.

15:20 – 15:35 Darvas Magdolna, Caritas’ Elderly Care Volunteer Programme and Hebrea Fernandez Bautista, A Todo Trapo Zaragoza – Presentation of their experiences related to employment/labour market

15:35 – 15:45 Cardinal Peter Turkson, Dicastery of Integral Human Development – Perspective of Catholic Social Teaching on the labour market and how to put it into practice.

15:45 – 15:55 Mirzha de Manuel, Member of Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis’ cabinet – Presentation of the Commission’s work on implementing the SDGs at EU level and guiding the Member States towards implementation at national level.

15:55 – 16:25 Q&A

16:25 – 16:30 Wrap-up & conclusions

REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/3HIa1vY

Circus Show on Migration/Climate Change in Brussels

By EEB (European Environmental Bureau)

29 October 2021

TOUR & TAXIS – Eight artists and acrobats, four musicians, an impressive scenography and many stories to tell. After a tour of 10 European countries, the contemporary circus company MagdaClan is coming to Tour&Taxis in Brussels from 10 to 13 November to offer you an artistic experience full of reflections on migration and global warming.

With the support of the European Environmental Bureau and the Association of Local Democracy Agencies, the artists of MagdaClan want to engage the public in understanding the complex relationship between climate change and migration and create a movement of informed people ready to change their lifestyle and demand new development policies.

They will stage a dramatic representation of the climate crises taking place in different corners of the world, posing as entire populations brought to their knees by floods, melting Arctic permafrost, desertification and fires. How will artists deal with these realities, with just a few objects and words?

Be part of the change!

Join us at Tour&Taxis on 10/11/12/13 November, 7.30pm, free, CST and registration required, link at the bottom.

More info on our Facebook event.
Register here
Share the event on Facebook
Check out the teaser

Green, digital and social recovery: How the recovery plans are supporting a wellbeing economy for people and planet?

Online event – EESC 22/10/2021 | 9:30 – 13:00

Green, digital and social recovery: How the recovery plans are supporting a wellbeing economy for people and planet?

On 22 October 2021, the EESC will hold an online event on ”Green, digital and social recovery – How the recovery plans are supporting a wellbeing economy for people and planet?”.
Europe is facing many challenges as a result of the pandemic of COVID-19. Crisis management and recovery is in the focus of the activities of the European Institutions and the Member States in 2021.

The three Observatories of the European Economic and Social Committee were following the negotiations of the new multiannual financial framework for 2021-27 and the Next Generation EU. It is crucial to ensure that recovery funding is sustainable as well as inclusive, and that it entails a ‘bounce forward’ for progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promotion of wellbeing-related goals, rather than a return to business as usual.

The main purpose of this event is to present and discuss about the involvement of civil society in the implementation of the recovery plans, through concrete examples. The event will focus on three economic sectors in transition to analyse the opportunities and challenges to shift towards a wellbeing economy, aligned with the SDG Agenda. The three panels on energy, car industry and digitalisation will have a regional kick off presentation of the underlying main drivers, potentials and challenges and will be based on concrete national experience. Each panel will allow time for contributions from participants.The programme is available here. This event contributes to the process of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Please register through this registration form. Registration is possible until Tuesday 20 October, 12.00 p.m. A link will be shared with registered persons before the event.

The Conference on the Future of Europe – How could it be used to advance Agenda 2030 in Europe?

By SDG Watch Europe

On 28. September 2021, one of our members from Finland, FINGO hosted an event on how the Conference on the Future of Europe could be useful to advance Agenda 2030 in Europe.

“In the absence of an overarching strategy for implementing 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, civil society organisations and other stakeholders are calling for a rethink on how to make policymaking more collaborative, inclusive, transparent, and therefore more effective for stakeholders at all levels” (FINGO).

The Conference on the Future of Europe is a short-term civil-society engagement mechanism established by the European Commission for European citizens and other stakeholders to engage in the design of Europe’s common future. Could this be one solution for more stakeholder participation and structured dialogue between stakeholders, citizens and the European Commission, Parliament and the Council?

These questions were be considered in this webinar, organised as part of the European Sustainable Development Week to promote active engagement on sustainable development.

As SDG Watch Europe, we attended the event, and engaged in the 15-minute discussion.

Here the main key considerations from the webinar:

We (CSOs and individuals) must prevent the Conference from becoming a “EU-bubble” Conference
If the majority stays silent, the voices heard will be the ones of demagogues, and people who already have a say in EU policymaking
To prevent this, we must mobilize ALL citizens – regardless of their field of work, class, gender, nationality
The Conference could have been built directly on Agenda 2030/SGDs, since all themes are part of it

Overall, the event gave participants the possibility to reflect on the main goal of the Conference, which is to allow for civic engagement; yet, it also gave the possibility to consider the flaws and possible discrepancies that lay within the initiative.