2020 European Week of Regions and Cities, session: #EURegionsWeekUniversity: Localised Trends and Strategies for SDGs.

    Join tomorrow Prof. Phoebe Koundouri for her speech on “Climate challenges and the need for a systemic economic change under the aegis of the UN Agenda 2030 (17 SDGs) and the European Commission’s European Green Deal” at 2020 European Week of Regions and Cities, session: Localised Trends and Strategies for SDGs.

    2020 European Week of Regions and Cities, session: #EURegionsWeekUniversity: Localised Trends and Strategies for SDGs.

    • Session title: #EURegionsWeekUniversity: Localised Trends and Strategies for SDGs
    • Date: 14/10/2020
    • Time from: 16:30 CET 18:00 CET
    • Time to: 17:30 EEST 19:00 EEST
    • The session will be supported by the digital platform Zoom and it will be organised remotely
    • Log-in details will be sent by the EWRC Organisers directly few days before the event.
    • Around 100 participants: practitioners, policy makers, civil servants from local, national and EU government, researchers, etc.
    • Session webpage: https://europa.eu/regions-and-cities/programme/sessions/1119_en

    Short description of the proposed workshop

    In post-COVID era, we have to make sure that economic recovery and socio-economic development is sustainable and aligned with the European Green Deal and 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development. Environmental commons and climate change as well as sustainable food system are of uttermost importance to local communities. Quality education and international partnerships are enablers to achieve the system change. The objective of the session is to discuss these key sustainability issues and reflect upon the localisation of policies, actions and instruments. All this will be approached also from the optics of international collaboration and partnering for the achievement of SDGs.

    Detailed description of the proposed workshop

    In order to achieve the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals, governments will face complex and systemic challenges that require the combination of interconnected actions at the local, national, regional and global levels. Surely, top down approach is important but bottom up is necessary to mobilise actors. It has been proved that local communities are more agile, responsive and flexible then national authorities when it comes to addressing the socio-economic, developmental and environmental challenges. Therefore, localisation of strategies to achieve desired objectives and impact seems inevitable. Smart Specialisation for Sustainability is one of existing Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Roadmap methodologies implemented by EU countries and regions and piloted in non-EU countries promoting research and innovation for the achievement of SDGs. Smart Specialisation for Sustainability puts emphasis on international cooperation across countries and sub-national territories (SDG17) because it is instrumental for knowledge exchange and learning, development of new value chains or easier access to existing ones, easier identification and unlocking of international investments, sharing of STI capacities, infrastructure and knowledge and more efficient technology transfer. During the session, three academics will present scientific work and evidence on environmental commons and climate change, sustainable food system and education. These are among the most important policy areas for the European Union for the next multi-annual programming period 2021-2027, as well as important entry points and horizontal actions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. The three presentations will be followed by a discussion of four representatives from local, national and supranational authorities. The discussants will reflect upon scientific evidence and present specific actions in support of Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals, in particular on climate action, food system and quality education. Specifically, representatives of two regions (Andalusia and Food Valley), the country (Italy) and the European Union (DG DEVCO) will present their work on Sustainable Development Goals from the perspectives of local authorities and international partnerships.

    3. Presentations from 3 distinguished academics:

    Moderator:

    • Dr. Katerina Ciampi Stancova, European Commission, Joint Research Centre

    Speakers:

    • Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece – Title: Climate challenges and the need for a systemic economic change under the aegis of the UN Agenda 2030 (17 SDGs) and the European Commission’s European Green Deal
    • Prof. Angelo Riccaboni, University of Siena and Chair of PRIMA programme, Italy – Title: Sustainable innovation to tackle Mediterranean food challenges: evidence from the field
    • Prof. Alessio Cavicchi, University of Macerata, Italy – Title: Higher Education Institutions dealing with Agenda 2030 and EU Green Deal: co-creation pathways and multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainability.

    Session webpage: https://europa.eu/regions-and-cities/programme/sessions/1119_en