ESDN Youth Workshop 2025

The ESDN Youth Workshop 2025, took place on 12–14 October 2025 in Berlin. It brought together around 30 UN Youth Delegates and National Representatives on Sustainable Development (SD) from across 20 European countries to discuss issues most relevant to them on the topic of “Our Future Beyond 2030: Youth Visions for Sustainability & Security.”

The beyond 2030 discussion is just starting – it is a good time for youth to think about what their needs are and what they could contribute. One emerging theme is security, which is increasingly recognized as a vital dimension of sustainability. Traditionally, security has been defined in terms of military strength and institutional control. Today, however, it must also encompass ecological, social, economic, digital, cultural, personal, and global level. True security is not merely the absence of threats but the presence of conditions that allow people, communities, cultures, and nature to thrive.

This workshop invited youth to reflect on what sustainability and security mean for their future — and to transform personal insights into collective contributions for the post-2030 discussion. Closely linked to SDGs 13, 15, and 16, the program combined inner reflection, the Inner Sustainability Game, dialogue circles, “How Might We” questions, and structured policy labs with policymakers. Step by step, participants moved from personal awareness to a shared vision and concrete action, resulting in both a stronger sense of agency and a youth-led policy product.

Several ESDN members joined the workshop to engage with the youth participants. As an outcome, the young participants will collaboratively draft a Youth Policy Note, summarizing their perspectives on the Future Beyond 2030.

The Workshop Agenda and Discussion Paper can be found here Workshops. The Policy Note will be published soon and can be found on the ESDN Policy Note page.

European Sustainable Development Week 2025

This year's edition of the European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW) is now over! However, there is still time for events to be registered that took place from 18 September - 08 October! We highly encourage everyone who has not yet registered their SDG-related event(s) to do so over the next couple of weeks! So far, the ESDW has 3.819 registerd events that have taken place in 24 European countries! 

As always, the ESDW is open to anyone and everyone who wants to take a concrete action to support the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Initiatives, foundations, schools, kindergartens, universities, churches, companies, social institutions, environmental and development associations, municipalities, public utilities, authorities, offices and ministries, but also private persons who would like to start an action in their personal environment, are encouraged to organize and register events through the ESDW. You can find the registration page here

3^rd Topic Exchange 

The 3^rd Topic Exchange is a continuation of a new and exclusive ESDN event iniative that began in 2024 that is reserved for the ESDN Advisory Board countries (those supporting the work of the ESDN). 

The 3^rd Topic Exchange was held as a virtual, 2-hour long webinar that took place on 16 June. The topic that was addressed was "Sustainability policymaking and capacity-building: Experiences of public administrations in their policy management efforts”. 

In part one, we heard from Wales, sharing with us their experiences with sustainability policymaking.

In part two, we heard several short presentations on the current situation and activities/practices in ESDN Regular Member countries, especially on how to best embed sustainable development into the government ministries and how to guarantee a continuation of SD/SDG implementation in times of disruption, recent changes in governments, etc.

2030 Agenda Stakeholder Forum

The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the ESDN organized the 2030 Agenda Stakeholder Forum in Warsaw on May 27th 2025!

The Forum was an international gathering of public administration and business, aimed at building synergies for sustainable development through experience sharing and dialogue on the challenges and needs of both parties.

With only five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, now is the time to accelerate actions and strengthen partnerships. More information, including the agenda, Discussion Paper, and presentations can be found here

The Policy Note, which offers recommendations by the participants on tackling the issues, can be found here

10^th Peer Learning Platform

The 10^th Peer Learning Platform took place on April 23^rd 2025 in Brussels, Belgium!

The title of this year’s Peer Learning Platform was “The Integrative and Framing Power of the SDGs – Keeping Sustainable Development Relevant in Europe”. The Platform was organized by the ESDN in cooperation with the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management.

With only 5 years remaining to reach the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, we want to continue to keep the SDGs high on the agenda and continue to push for sustainable development in Europe. Some of the questions we addressed in this Peer Learning Platform were: How can Europe continue to keep up momentum for sustainable development and keep the SDGs relevant in the context of the geopolitical challenges we find ourselves dealing with? How do we re-engage our stakeholders for the SDGs? How will the new Commission address the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs? These are some of the broader themes we will be discussing and learning about at the Platform. The format of the Platform was a mixture of keynotes presentations and ESDN Exchange Spaces, which featured good practice cases and offered a chance for in-depth discussions on some of these challenges.

An ESDN Policy Note, which formulates recommendations based on the presentations, the good practice cases, and the discussions that took place, will be published very soon. You will be able to find the Policy Note here