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Within the framework of the 19th European Week of Regions and Cities, 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 organizes 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 emphasize 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
- Mr. Giulio Federico, European Commission, Head of Unit Recovery and Resilience Task Force.
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 message: 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
Panelists
- Ms. Julia Dumay Vice Mayor of Strasbourg (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
