#EURegionsWeek: Localising the SDGs – A Roadmap for Recovery

Within the framework of the 19th European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC), the largest annual event dedicated to cohesion policy, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions – PLATFORMA in collaboration with the European Committee of the Regions, EUROCITIES, Regions4 and the OECD organises on 13 October the workshop: « Localising the SDGs – A Roadmap for Recovery ».

Nearly two years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time to dedicate all efforts to the recovery. At the same time, pre-existing challenges, such as the climate crisis, poverty, inequalities and vulnerabilities did not cease to exist and are now requiring immediate action. Therefore, the recovery assumes a universal purpose, to imagine and shape a better world from the ashes of the crisis. Since 2015, the Agenda 2030 serves this universal purpose and contains the coordinates to address social, economic, environmental and health challenges, without losing sight of the final goal, to build a sustainable future.

How did the pandemic affect the progresses made towards the localisation of the SDGs? How did Covid-19 shift local priorities? How are we imagining a sustainable recovery and what are the tools to achieve it? These are some of the questions that this workshop aims to address.

In perfect accordance to the theme of the Week, « Together for Recovery », the workshop starts from taking stock on the consequences that the pandemic produced for the Agenda 2030. The growing engagement and motivation that cities and regions around Europe showed in their initiatives for the localisation of SDGs have been exposed to the unprecedented stress generated by the pandemic. Therefore, the European Committee of the Regions and the OECD launched a joint survey, to identify these challenges and collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic for the implementation of the SDGs. The OECD will present the elaborated results of this consultation and the upcoming report they are publishing.

From this starting point, the aim of the workshop is to emphasise the role of the SDGs as guiding principles for a sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Our panel speakers will show that it is possible to adapt the Global Goals to local realities and to persevere in this endeavour despite Covid-19. Their examples can inspire other local and regional representatives and highlight the fundamental contribution that subnational governments around Europe are providing to the advancement of the?? SDGs.

Agenda

Welcome: SDGs as a Roadmap for recovery – The light at the end of the tunnel

Introduction Video

Evidence on the consequences of the pandemic for the implementation of SDGs in regions and cities

– Results of the joint CoR-OECD survey on « Cities and Regions Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals ». (Stefano Marta, OECD)

Q&A

– Video animation: Results of the CEMR survey on « European Territories Localise the SDGs – Continuity and Change in Times of COVID-19« 

Building a post-pandemic world based on the SDGs

Panellists

• Ms. Julia Dumay, Deputy-Mayor of Strasbourg (France) in charge of international and European affairs (Cités Unies France);
• Mr. Jonan Fernández, General Secretary for Social Transition and 2030 Agenda of the Basque Country (Spain);
• Mr. Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga (Portugal), Member of the CoR and Rapporteur of the CoR Opinion on the SDGs;
• Ms. Krista Kampus, Head of Development and International Cooperation at Tallinn Strategy Centre (Estonia).

Q&A

Concluding Remarks